5th Wheel Kitchen Remodel Reveal

Our 5th wheel kitchen remodel is complete with white countertops and open shelving. See how we turned a 5th wheel kitchen into a light and bright space with a custom pantry! Check out the RV kitchen ideas in this post!

Welcome to our second RV kitchen remodel! We’re sharing all of the details about the projects that went into this RV kitchen remodel. (To see the remodeled kitchen in our last RV, checkout this post.)

If you’ve been thinking about renovating an RV, we hope that you’ll find some ideas and inspiration from our renovation.

You may have seen some of the behind the scenes of this transformation over on our 5th Wheel Reno Series on YouTube (and I’d love for you to subscribe to our channel if you don’t already), but today I’m spilling all the details of our 5th wheel kitchen remodel.

If you like video content, checkout the video below – otherwise keep reading to see all the kitchen before & after pics!

Video Tour – Our RV Renovation!

Note: all sources are listed at the bottom of the post!

5th Wheel Kitchen Renovation Before and After

To give you some perspective of how far this kitchen has come, here’s what it looked like the day we purchased it:

The original kitchen wasn’t terrible, however it was dark had a really small cook space. We had big plans to extend the kitchen by removing the fireplace/entertainment area and adding a custom pantry in its place.

We also knew that we wanted residential appliances to ensure that the trailer would hold up to full time living.

Another thing that was important to us was finding space for a dishwasher. We did the whole wash-every-dish-by-hand in our first 5th wheel, and let’s just say not having a dishwasher in this RV was not an option.

For an RV, this kitchen wasn’t the worst, but it was far from glamorous. We knew with a little creative design work, the layout could be improved for our specific needs, while adding more storage space AND making it pretty in the process.

Ready to see how we transformed our 5th wheel kitchen into a functional (and pretty!) space?

5th Wheel Kitchen Remodel (After!)

By adding new cabinets, some open shelving and extending the existing island we were able to accomplish all of our wants/needs for the space.

(Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more information see my disclosure, here.)

5th Wheel Kitchen Cabinets

Since we completely reworked the kitchen layout, all of the existing cabinets were removed and replaced with basic pre-assembled cabinets from The Home Depot.

The new cabinet layout (as well as the custom pantry Mike built) added so. much. storage. The cabinets are all standard residential cabinetry – not RV specific.

For cabinet pulls we went with these modern brass handles (Amazon).

5th Wheel Kitchen Trash Bin Cabinet

With an all new cabinet layout we were able to make space for something we’ve always wanted in our kitchen: a trash bin cabinet!

A trash bin cabinet is a great solution for small spaces since there’s not a lot of extra room for a stand alone bin.

Plus it makes cleaning off the cook space above super easy. Simply wipe it all into the open trash bin drawer. So convenient!

5th Wheel Kitchen Backsplash

Ok let’s tackle a frequently asked question I get anytime I share our kitchen over on Instagram: the faux brick backsplash.

We used 4′ x 8′ sheets of brick-look wood paneling from The Home Depot. It has the touch and feel of real brick, but much lighter in weight and easier to install.

It comes in the traditional red brick color but we painted ours the same color we used throughout the RV (Sherwin-Williams Alabaster) in a high gloss finish for easy cleaning. (Checkout our tips for painting the interior of an RV here!)

To install, we used Liquid Nails construction adhesive designed for paneling.

5th Wheel Kitchen Open Shelving

I knew I wanted to incorporate open shelving in this design and was able to make room in the kitchen for one along the back wall. I love that open shelving can be both stylish and functional, and really open up an entire space.

The shelf houses a mixture of pretty things and functional items like dishes and glasses. (The rest of our dishes are stored in one of the drawers below.)

During travel days, I simply collect all of the items from the shelf and store them in a basket on the floor. Easy peasy!

We also added under-cabinet lighting to the bottom of the shelf. These low profile light bars from Amazon are a great choice for under cabinet lights, and they come in a variety of sizes.

5th Wheel Kitchen Countertops

For this RV kitchen remodel we went with simple and affordable laminate countertops. We had The Home Depot make custom make the countertops using Formica ‘Bright White’ laminate.

The countertop fabrication cost was about $500, and we did the installation ourselves. Before deciding on laminate, we also got a few quotes for solid surface countertops – about $4,000. So going with laminate was significantly cheaper.

I love white countertops because not only do they brighten up the space, but they make it really easy to see crumbs/spills, so keeping the space clean is a breeze.

For another white countertop option, check out the solid surface countertops we installed while renovating our Montana house.

Custom Kitchen Pantry

We really missed having a pantry while living in our last remodeled RV, so we were excited to add one to this 5th wheel kitchen. Creating more functional storage for food, our espresso machine and other small appliances outweighed the con of removing the TV & fireplace from the original design.

Mike designed the pantry to have pull-out shelves for easy access to the items in the back of the shelves. He also made it extra fancy by installing soft-close drawer slides on each of the shelves. (See the tutorial here: How to install soft close cabinet hinges)

For the pantry door, we were able to repurpose the door from the mid-bunk room. We built a sliding barn door for that space instead. You can watch the video for the DIY sliding barn door here.

We painted the pantry door (and the island) in one of my new favorite greige colors: Sherwin Williams Jogging Path. A modern black handle gave the door a finished look.

5th Wheel Kitchen Appliances

We replaced the original fridge with a counter-depth stainless steel french door model that also has a full freezer & ice maker! We opted to replace the RV range with a sleek induction cooktop and convection oven / microwave combo instead. We loved this setup in our first RV remodel and knew we wanted to replicate it in our 5th wheel.

We get a lot of questions about the convection style microwave and whether or not it can be used like a regular oven. The answer is a simple: YES!

We use the convection oven feature all the time and the ONLY difference is that the size is smaller than a traditional oven. But other than that, it bakes like a champ!

And yesssss, I got my dishwasher! Mike had to extend the existing island just a tad to make room for this cute drawer-style dishwasher.

This thing gets a TON of use and has held up great. (If you’re working with a small kitchen design, I’d also recommend this 18″ STP dishwasher we used in our last RV remodel.)

5th Wheel Kitchen Sink

Another upgrade we made to the existing island was swapping out the small stainless steel sink for a white single-basin sink.

I chose this modern style brass pull-down faucet and love the sleek look. The high goose-neck design makes it super easy to rinse dishes and easily spray out the sink.

We used a gold sink drain assembly / strainer to match the look of the faucet and the other brass accents in the space.

5th Wheel Kitchen Lighting

Speaking of brass accents, let me tell you about our pretty light fixtures!

Over the open shelving we installed these gold sconces with glass shades. The modern light fixtures add a pop of interest against the painted brick backsplash.

Over the island we swapped out the old pendants for these vintage looking brass ones. Edison style LED bulbs look great in both fixtures. (We used these ones in warm white 3000K)

5th Wheel Kitchen Decor

Since we are short on space I wanted to keep the items on the countertops to a minimum. A couple of small plants grouped next to a thrifted framed watercolor print are displayed next to our wood salt pinch bowl and paper towel holder.

All of the kitchen decor items were things I already owned. I love how they instantly add some life to our 5th wheel kitchen.

We installed a magnetic knife strip to store our bigger knives and keep our big cooking utensils in a stone utensil holder. This helps keep the kitchen drawers organized and clutter-free.

There you have it! Our completed 5th wheel kitchen remodel!

Even though this RV kitchen makeover was the most labor intensive part of the entire renovation, I am beyond happy with how it all turned out. This little area is where we spend the majority of our time and it was so important to us to create a space we loved.

I’ve linked all of the sources below, but first let’s look at a side by side before and after!

Below is a full source list for our 5th wheel kitchen remodel:

You can checkout all of our RV posts here.