Updated April 2021
This post contains affiliate links, for more information please read our disclaimer on affiliate links.
We lived full time in our 1989 Toyota Dolphin RV for two years, and there are a few camper accessories that were absolute necessities. Our top 10 essential motorhome accessories are the items we used so much that our travels would not have been the same without them!
Click on the item titles to check current prices!
1. Memory Foam Mattress Topper
A comfortable bed is a definite essential in such a small space. When you live in a motorhome you use the bed for reading, writing, working on your laptop, etc. For us, having a super plush, comfortable bed is a luxury that helps to make our motorhome feel like home.
Combine this with soft sheets, a big fluffy comforter, and our next essential RV accessory:
Again, a comfortable bed makes an RV feel so much more cozy. We upgraded our bed with soft sheets, a big, luxurious feeling comforter, and these amazing memory foam pillows.
Knowing we will always get a good night’s sleep makes long drives so much easier, and it’s a great feeling to crawl into our comfortable bed at night. In fact, since it’s an over cab bed it feels like climbing into a cloud to sleep.
NOTE: You may have to fight your dog for the super fluffy bed you’ve created! Memory foam is one of the best RV accessories you can buy!
We boondock frequently (boondocking is camping without any hookups), and our solar power is what allows us to go off-grid for weeks at a time. This 120 watt panel provide us all the electricity we need to run our lights, water pump, and other appliances. Plus we have enough power to charge our electronics!
Solar panels have become one of the best motorhome accessories, especially now that they’ve become so affordable.
We prefer folding solar panels because we can park our motorhome in the shade, and set this panel up in the direct sun so we always get the power we need! We consider our solar panel essential motorhome equipment!
This camping toaster ROCKS!
This is one of the most simple and USEFUL RV kitchen accessories. We are rarely plugged in, so electric appliances don’t make much sense in our motorhome. But everyone likes toasted bread, right??
Enter the amazing camping toaster.
It sits over a burner on our stove, and can toast 4 slices of bread at a time. Discovering this toaster made our breakfasts SO much more enjoyable! This toaster is a must have motorhome accessory!
This one may sound strange, but having a tent in the motorhome has proven to be very useful, and often fun!
We like to have friends visit us on the road, and traveling with a high quality tent makes that possible. Since our RV is very small, it’s pretty crowded with 3 people sleeping in there. When we have visitors we give them the RV bed, and we set up this super-comfortable tent for ourselves.
One of the features we love about our tent is that it is extremely easy to set up and take down, which means we have a private sleeping area in minutes!
Another awesome feature of our tent is the mesh material that makes up the top. In warm, beautiful places (like Mexican beaches!) we will set the tent up, leave off the rainfly, and sleep right under the stars. Sometimes going on a camping trip outside the motorhome is a fun change!
When you’re boondocking and trying to conserve power you still need a way to make a good cup of coffee. A french press is definitely the way to go for making coffee on the road.
Using a french press is easy, as you just heat up water on the stove and pour it over ground coffee in your french press. It has a built in, reusable filter which cuts down on extra trash.
For nearly 6 months we used wooden boards stacked in all kinds of funny configurations for leveling our motorhome. This often resulted in cracked boards and foul language. In fact, we like to joke that leveling a motorhome is the truest test of a relationship hahaha!
So we finally decided to purchase a set of leveling blocks, and oh my goodness we should not have waited! Leveling blocks are considered an RV necessity for a reason; they make leveling a much easier process. These are an absolute must-have, cannot-live-without RV equipment!
8. LED Light Bulbs
We replaced all of the old school, incandescent light bulbs in our RV with LED bulbs, and we highly recommend you do the same.
The LED bulbs use only a fraction of the power that incandescent bulbs use, which means our battery lasts much longer! This is a huge plus for us, since we frequently camp off the grid using solar power. LED light bulbs are one of our must have motorhome accessories!
This is such a simple item that makes our kitchen so much easier to manage. We don’t generally use it as a dish drying rack. Thanks to the tray top on this drying rack we can turn our sink into more counter space, which we always need in such a small space!
We also will stick dirty dishes inside the rack to be carried outside for washing. Note: We do most of our dish washing outside using a two-basin system that makes RV dishwashing MUCH easier!
10. Folding Flexible-Height Card Table
This table is such an essential for when we set up camp! What makes this different from other card tables is the ability to adjust its height from coffee table to regular dining table height.
This is super convenient because we are often sitting on low camp chairs (or even on towels in the sand) at our campsites.
A small table comes in handy for all sorts of things- washing dishes, eating dinner outside, or an off the ground spot for snorkeling equipment to dry! This table has become one of our must have camper accessories!
11. Sea Eagle SE 370 Inflatable Kayak
Okay, it’s not a true essential, BUT this inflatable kayak has quickly become essential to our fun while traveling! We often find ourselves camped near water, and until 6 months ago we had to borrow or rent a boat anytime we wanted to get out on the water since kayaks and canoes are BIG and very difficult to haul around when you live full time in your camper.
Luckily, Tom’s dad sent us to Sea Eagle to check out their high quality inflatable boats (they make kayaks, canoes, and standup paddle boards that are ALL inflatable)!
We purchased their 3-man sport kayak, and we’re SO pleased with it! Now, to be fair, I wouldn’t put three adults in it, but we have had two adults and two small children ride in it comfortably. It’s plenty of space for Tom, me, and Indy to all go out paddling!
The best part is that the kayak deflates and folds up into a carrying bag that we stow in our RV closet while we travel! Inflating it again is easy since it came with a high quality foot pump.
We hope this top 10 guide has given you a starting point for supplying your camper, RV, or van with the best RV accessories! If you would like to see many of these items in use, check out this video tour of our camper!
Want even more ideas for decorating and accessorizing your camper? Check out our complete RV gift guide here!
If you’d like to read more about our camper lifestyle check out these posts:
Why we Chose a Toyota Motorhome
10 Reasons to Fall in Love with Camper Life
How to Find Beautiful, Affordable Campsites
Did you enjoy this post? Pin it to Pinterest:
Would you recommend an awning? If so, what manufacturer?
Hi Rich! We don’t have an awning on our motorhome because we tend to travel in pretty windy areas (beach and desert), and most awnings don’t withstand wind well. When we are in the desert and need extra shade we use telescoping tent poles, guy lines, and a lightweight tarp to rig some extra shade.
I have heard good things from fellow travelers about SunWave Awnings, but cannot personally attest to their quality since we don’t have one ourselves.
Thanks for the comment, and feel free to contact us with any further questions! 🙂
In the first picture – memory foam mattress – where did you find the Southwest (Native American) design sheets. I love them. We like anything Southwest.
And in No. 4 – where did you find the Camper Toaster? I haven’t seen one of them in years. My grandparents had one in our home when I was a kid. Plus we used one when I was a teenager when my family went camping. Would like to find another one.
Thanks for these items.
Thank you this is very informative for a new RV owner