The Floorplan

Coming up with a floorplan we liked involved a lot of discussion.  There are so many options that two people could talk about it for a year before coming to an agreement.  Compromises must be made, and priorities set by each person.

The best way to decide what you want is to get out there and look at a bunch of RVs, see what you like, talk about it and then make your decision.  Yea, I know that's just common sense.  But I think a lot of people just sit and look at floor plans and think they know what they want without even walking through some real RVs.

In our first discussions, some things quickly became priorities.  A king size bed was one of them.  We have always had one and can't imagine getting anything smaller.  It had to have a nice dinette, lots of TVs, and a comfortable bathroom with a reasonably-sized shower.  We have loved having houses that had open floor plans, so it was important to us that the RV didn't have hallways and narrow walking spaces.  Having rented and walked through a lot of RVs, we knew how size-limited they were.  But knowing our priorities meant that we could look at them with a more critical eye, and begin to focus on other things besides our basic requirements.

One of the key things in selecting a floor plan is how many people will be living in the RV and how many sleeping spaces you'll need.  If you're going to get a motorhome and you have three children, you'll probably want to get a "bunkhouse" model that has bunk beds.  If there are just one or two of you, there might be more interest in things like a basement refrigerator, a space to play cards with visitors, or a place that you can use for an office or craft area.

As we looked at more and more motorhomes, we begin to see things that we liked and added them to our wish list for that "perfect" RV.  Examples of things like this include a recliners, a bath and a half, day/night window shades, and a washer/dryer.

We knew what kind of floor plan we liked and models from several manufacturers met almost all of our criteria.  But that's just the inside.   Next up:  the chassis and external features.