The Problem with RV Furniture--and the Solution

The Problem with RV Furniture--and the Solution

Planning on a big vacation in the RV this year?  Then how are the living quarters?  Are they cut out to be a temporary home for you?  Unfortunately, with many RVs, the answer is a clear "NO!"  This is especially true of the furniture.

Here's the problem:  Most RVs are made for the casual user.  They design them for the person who takes the RV out for a camping trip maybe once or twice a year.  For these people, the furniture inside is not terribly important.  For some, having inferior furniture is even considered part of "roughing it."  For those who go on extended vacations, though, that creates a problem.  They need to feel at home, and most RV furniture just doesn't allow for that.

Here are the problems you'll encounter with most RV furniture:

Often, the furniture is not much more than the seats you'd expect to find in any large passenger vehicle.  There's a bit more padding, but not much.  Sitting on it for extended periods of time becomes uncomfortable with time.

• The furniture has inferior upholstery when you consider how the furniture will be used. Keep in mind that the furniture inside an RV will be used, on an extended trip, more than the seats in a regular vehicle.  What's more, they're used more, during that trip, than even a living room sofa is.  There is no place else to sit than in this confined area, so people will be there frequently, with their food and sharp edges poking around.  That means it's easy--and common--for furniture in RVs to become damaged on extended vacations.

• The most common solutions are not much better.  Many people bring in old furniture from their home to try to make the RV more comfortable.  Others buy huge living-room sized furniture to try to squeeze it onto the RV.  This is a major headache getting the furniture in, plus it leaves very little room for moving around.  What's more, even stores that sell RV-specific furniture offer just more of the furniture that looks drab or offers inferior padding.

That's not to say you can't find smaller sofas for the RV; you can.  Nor does this mean that all of the RV-specific furniture is poorly padded; it's not. However, it's extremely difficult to find the perfect combination, of small size, attractive looks and comfortable padding.  When you do, they are usually outrageously priced.

The Solution:  Apartment Furniture

There is a surprisingly easy answer for this:  Stop looking at RV-furniture dealers and instead explore the rapidly-growing world of apartment furniture. Several furniture dealers have started to realize that apartment renters have furniture needs that are different from what house owners have.  For instance, couches and sofas usually need to fit into a smaller place, on shorter walls in an apartment.  They need to be more portable and easy to put together (since people change apartments more than they change houses).

Today's apartment-specific furniture focuses on these needs.  They're shorter, lighter, and in some cases, easier to move.  It's not always the case, of course.  Some dealers just capitalize on the trend and call their furniture "apartment furniture."

And these same benefits for the apartment owner make their apartment furniture great for the RV. Most RV's don't have super-long walls for a full-sized couch, but that's ok: the better furniture dealers offer sofas in a nice compact size. Simplicity Sofas specifically has them as short as 66 inches—or love seats for as short as 56 inches. Yet, you never get the feeling that it's less than home-quality furniture.

Choosing Your RV Furniture

As you're looking for apartment furniture to put in your RV, keep the following suggestions in mind:

• Make sure everything is well-padded. You'll be doing a lot of sitting, and you don't want to get more tired as a result of the sitting.

• Make sure the cushions have a good bounce. Since lots of people will do lots of sitting on the same furniture pieces, they need to bounce back firmly and consistently.

• Consider the space-saving benefits of a sofa-bed. These don't cost that much more than standard sofas, yet they add so much more in comfort and functionality.

That next long road trip doesn't have to be days of uncomfortable sitting and sleeping. Get the right furniture and it can be as relaxing as a good vacation should be. And for many, the right furniture just might mean apartment furniture.

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Find RV-sized apartment furniture that is high quality and affordable at Simplicity Sofas.