I wanted to have a simple page on my site that is dedicated to how we create a comfortable space in our popup camper. I hope this is helpful! I will be updating it often as we go and learn from our popup camping trips this summer.
How To Create Comfortable POPUP CAMPER BEDS
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- Memory Foam Mattress Toppers – You will need 2″ memory foam mattress toppers (or 3″ if you have room for it**) for both beds (I bought a king memory foam mattress topper and a full mattress topper for the smaller bed). LOVE them. It’s made the beds so comfortable my husband slept in it 2 nights while it was parked in the driveway. 🙂 They are a bit pricey but absolutely worth the investment. You will notice that if you measure your pop up camper beds they most likely aren’t the same size as standard mattresses. These memory foam mattresses will most likely be too big. To fix this, I laid the PUP mattress on top of the memory foam mattress and traced it using a sharpie. Then cut it using scissors and it’s a perfect fit!
- Jersey sheet sets – I got ours from Target. I wanted something that would be cool in the summer but also warm in the winter. Jersey sheets are great for this!
- Blankets and lightweight comforters – Get these from a store like TJMaxx to save money (or use extras you have at home). Some people get heavy comforters for their pop up camper beds but I am a big fan of layering. The only thing missing from our new pop up camper is an air conditioner. I did not want to commit to an expensive comforter when we won’t use it most nights. I bought a queen blanket for the king bed and it is plenty big. For the full bed I purchased a lightweight full comforter. Even though it is a bit large a twin would have been too small.
First Popup Camping Trip Lessons Learned (and what we got right!)
- HUGE ROOKIE MISTAKE: If your popup has a toilet, do NOT forget to put Aqua-Kem into the canister for the toilet. We did forget. We only used our toilet for night-time peeing (no poops) and boy was it stinky after 2 nights!!
- One thing we didn’t think of is an outdoor rug. As you can see from the picture this was not a concrete RV park. All dirt. I think I swept our popup 40 times in 3 days. Seriously. An outdoor rug would have helped A LOT.
- Speaking of dirt…… we did not bring wood pieces (or jack pads) to put under the stabilizing jacks. We were only there for 3 days so it wasn’t a big deal, however, if we were there for an extended period of time it would’ve been a problem. Lesson….. always have them on hand!
- We love a good fire pit. We were so excited to build on our first night out and it was SO smokey! It was painful to be around it. Our neighbor had a “campfire in a can“ and literally had ZERO smoke. I purchased one as soon as we got home!
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Hang Shelves above toilet for toiletry items
I highly recommend some sort of shoe bin to keep outside the door during the day. You could put it in your vehicle at night. Even if we had an outdoor rug (or were on concrete) we would still track tons of dirt inside. And it’s such a small space that anything you can do to help keep it clean is important.
- I purchased a trash bag holder to go on the picnic table (each site also had its own table). So I decided not to get a small trash can for inside. My first thought was that I’d just hop outside whenever I needed to toss something. That was not a good decision. You really need a small trash can inside.
- We had a french press that I thought would be perfect for the pup. And it was. Except that I have a 3 year old and getting up with him and making coffee for my husband and I in the press was a total pain. My husband ran out and bought a small programmable coffee maker and it was AWESOME! It was so relaxing for me to get up and have coffee ready to go so I could start on breakfast.
What I Got Right……
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Ikea shelving for Popup Pantry
I LOVE the IKEA shelves I bought for the storage cabinet across from popup camper dining booth. It fit perfectly on the counter and I used it as a tiny pantry. They come completely apart and do not take up a lot of space stored in the pup. I may even get a 2nd one to go right next to it.
- We added a hanging wire basket next to the sink (used the small top basket for keys and sunglasses. We hung the collapsible shelves above the toilet to store toiletry items and toilet paper. These shelves came with our popup but I found one on Amazon that would work. Use S-hooks to hang it up.
- We hung the paper towel roll using a rope and the snaps that secure the door when the pup is collapsed. I’m certain I’m not the first person to do this but I felt pretty good about myself when I figured it out. 🙂
- Since we had not tested the stove top prior to this trip I brought along an electric burner as a backup. Our gas stove top worked just fine but I loved having it anyway! I’d use it to quickly heat up water in the morning for oatmeal when that’s all I had to cook.
- The other item I was so happy to have….. a collapsible dish tub. Our popup is quite small and having this allowed me to wash dishes as I was cooking and toss them in the dining on the dining table. This kept the sink clear and the cooking area uncluttered. Also gave us a spot to dry dishes throughout the day and not have the sink full of dirty cups.
Cleaning Products for your Popup Camper Exterior and Interior
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Make sure to read this helpful post on cleaning the interior of a popup camper too!
Know How Much Room You Have!
**Use the Kleenex box test to see how many inches of space you have in your popup camper when fully closed and latched. Place an empty tissue box on your mattress and then fold the camper up as you usually would. Take out the crumpled tissue box when you open the camper and measure the height. This is the amount of space you have for the mattress toppers.
