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Full time RVers need to maximize living space, and one way many choose to do this is by converting a toy hauler garage into an extra bedroom, living area, or office. Below are some examples of what people living in a toy hauler have done with their garage space to inspire you to get creative with yours!
Warning: If you don't already own a toy hauler, after reading this article you may find yourself wanting one!
Give a Toy Hauler Garage a Makeover With a Few Simple Changes
You don't have to do a full renovation or make any permanent changes to a toy hauler garage in order to repurpose the space. A few simple things you can do that make a big impact include:
- Adding a big area rug
- Laying down carpet or floating vinyl flooring
- Adding a comfy sofa, desk, or other furniture
- Hanging a large curtain or tapestry over the garage door entrance
- Hanging curtains over the windows (with or without removing the original window treatments)
- Adding decorative touches like throw pillows, hanging plants, and string lights
If you read on, you'll see examples of these ideas and more!
Carpeting a Toy Hauler Garage
Carpet can make the cargo area of toy hauler feel less industrial and “garage-like” and more home-like, as seen in this photo of a comfortable living area and guest room created simply by adding a carpet remnant and a trundle daybed sofa.
Putting vinyl flooring in a toy hauler garage
RVer Shanna and her husband wanted to create a bedroom for their daughter but keep the option of returning the garage to its original function of hauling toys, so they laid down a plywood subfloor, covered it with peel-and-stick laminate flooring, and hung a curtain to disguise the ramp wall. They screwed down the subfloor, but there might be an alternative way to fasten it down that didn't require drilling into the floor.
Adding Decorative Touches
Curtains help make the garage area of this toy hauler fifth wheel feel cozier by covering black and metal components. When the bed is raised, an area rug makes the living and office space underneath feel more inviting. You can see more photos of this RV on Instagram at @TheTravel_Lab.
Toy Hauler Garages as Multi-Purpose Rooms
Many people who live in a toy hauler full time turn the garage into a “multi-purpose room” that may include space for extra storage, large appliances like a freezer, a second refrigerator, or a washer and dryer.
In the photo below you can see how the Bauman family added extra storage to their carpeted toy hauler garage. More photos of this RV can be seen here.
Area rugs, full-length sheer curtains, residential furniture, wall decor, and plants create a homey vibe in this toy hauler garage that provides a place for the full-time RVing owners to put things like a freezer, mini fridge, air fryer, bread machine, and extra counter space for baking and preparing food.
Living in a toy hauler with kids full time presents additional needs. The Lane family used the garage area as extra living space, a homeschool room with a desk and extra storage as well as their kids' bedroom. They've since sold this RV, but you can still see photos of this camper and and follow their ongoing adventures on Instagram.
The Selm family converted their toy hauler garage in a similar way. They left the top bunk but removed the lower built-in benches. Then they added new flooring, a sleeper sofa, and a dining table so the room can be used for sleeping, dining, and homeschooling. (By the way, that drop-leaf table with the drawers seen in so many renovated RV's is from Ikea!)
Toy Haulers Used As Kids Rooms
Adding custom bunk beds
The Ticknor family has been traveling full-time for over 10 years. They have 12 children, eight of which live with them in their RV, so in their toy hauler's garage they added bunk beds for their boys as well as a stackable washer and dryer, a deep freeze, and extra storage. You can see more photos in this article on their blog.
Adding a wall plus bunk beds
When the Taylor family bought an old toy hauler RV to convert into a tiny home on wheels, they still had teenage girls living at home, so they added two extra walls: one as a partition to create a bedroom for their girls separate from the living area, and one at the back of the RV to make a shallow garage storage area.
They've redecorated several times since the photos below were taken–you can see their latest pictures on Instagram.
Teenager's paradise
Below is a photo of the amazing bedroom / homeschool room / music studio the Howard Family built for their teenage sons in the back of their toy hauler. They built a narrow bed using part of a dresser as the base, and a second bed is lowered down from the ceiling above. (They explain the complete process in their Instagram stories.)
Toy Hauler Garages Used as an Office or Work Space
A wall-mounted drop-leaf table creates a work space in this toy hauler garage while leaving space for hauling “toys”. You can see more photos of this RV here.
Vinyl flooring, full-length curtains, and lots of windows make this garage office/bedroom combo make this space a place to work while enjoying spectacular views of nature! Looking toward the front of the garage, you can see that the RV's owners, Kris and Andy, also use their garage as a place for a laundry station and extra storage.
Visit Kris and Andy's blog for roadschooling resources including Kris's online course, Ready to Roadschool, to read about how they installed vinyl plank flooring in their toy hauler, to see more of their RV, and more.
Judging from the china cabinet in the RV pictured below, I'd say this camper is clearly stationary! I found this photo on the internet a long time ago and have tried unsuccessfully to track down the owner (if it's yours or you know who it belongs to, please let me know!). But I wanted to go ahead and include it to show how a toy hauler could be used as a craft or sewing room.
One crafter I personally know who uses her toy hauler as a workspace is Mandy of @188sqft. She has a lovely craft area in her toy hauler for her handmade jewelry business, along with a sofa for extra living space, and a deep freeze. (She and her husband Kevin have done amazing things with their RV, like tiling the kitchen and bathroom with real tile! Check it out here!)
Toy Hauler Garages Used as Living + Sleeping Space
My personal favorite use of toy hauler garage space is as a spacious living area that can be converted into a comfortable bedroom.
Vintage-style furniture, sheer curtains, and an area rug turn the space under the lift bed in this RV into a cozy reading nook. More photos of this RV can be seen here.
The talented sisters behind the interior design team Fox and Timber renovated the gorgeous camper pictured below for some members of their family.
This next RV is one I've previously shared on this site, in my article about Boho-style RV renovations. It's home to Autumn Bailey, her husband and their small children. They turned the RV's main bedroom into a kids' room and converted the garage into a beautiful master bedroom and living area with a drop-down bed. You can see more photos of their RV interior here.
The Mroczkos family's RV, shown below, doesn't even look like an RV, thanks to the addition of French doors and an electric fireplace. They too decided to remove the queen bed and build bunk beds in the original bedroom and create a master bedroom and living area in the garage.
The family lives in their RV when they're in the U.S.; the rest of their time is spent working in a non-profit organization in Kenya which helps families and children in need. To learn more about the Mroczkos family's charitable work (and to see more photos of their toy hauler), visit their Instagram page @HCOFamilyFullTime.
Below is one more example of a toy hauler garage that has been converted into a luxurious bedroom / living space. This RV is home to minimalism and decluttering blogger Meg, and you can read more about how she renovated this space in this article: How I Transformed My Toy Hauler Garage Into a Modern Master Bedroom.
Want to more RV Inspiration? Check out my Resource Page!
Some of these ideas will bring a toy hauler rv dangerously over their max load capacity. When designing and redecorating your garage, keep weight in mind. Some rvs don’t have the capacity for what your planning on building into it. Heavy 2×4 walls and solid wood bunks are just that, to heavy and if you haul that rv somewhere, you could get into serious trouble when the frame brakes or the axle snaps or tires blow out. If you get into an accident with a grossly overloaded rv and the police investigator finds your overloaded, the accident becomes your fault even if all other circumstances indicate it wasn’t.
Thanks for the reminder to always pay attention to the weight requirements as well as weight distribution! A good rule of thumb is to try to keep the weight approximately the same or less than whatever you removed from the same area. For example, many people will remove a dinette and replace it with a table and will find that the table is actually lighter than the dinette was. In the case of the RV’s pictured in this article, all of these are toy haulers, which were designed and intended to haul things like four wheelers and motorcycles, so beds and desks shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s a good idea to calculate the weight of everything just to be safe.