Interior details and trends, spotted at the Calgary RV Expo!

Leaves have changed colour and snow is already on the ground, which means we’ve reached the end of camping season in Alberta!

We took a trip out to Kananaskis Country earlier this summer and, as always, the scenery is absolutely GORGEOUS. The mountains are truly beautiful year round, and I absolutely love the lush greenery of summer time, but nothing beats the gorgeous array of colours that appear in September and October!

Earlier this year my husband and I wandered through the Calgary RV Expo Show & Sale at the BMO centre. We don’t have a camping trailer ourselves, but we’ve been considering it. Hopping in and out of campers, trailers, fifth wheels and motor homes, I was blown away by some of the interiors! (and not so blown away by some of the others, to be honest… but today I’ll focus on telling you about the cool stuff!).

While camping season may be over for this season, I know some of you are already looking ahead to next year! If this is you, then I’m happy to share some of the trends I spotted in the world of new RVs and motor homes at the show. High ceilings, kitchen islands, marble pattern countertops and statement lighting… in an RV? You bet!

This was the first time we’ve gone to the RV show, so I had no idea how much the interiors have changed in the last 10 to 20 years. My camping experience is based on summers spent in my parents’ trailer from the mid 1990s (what fun we had!!). Picture this: our trailer had warm wood veneer cabinets with shiny brass hardware, blue laminate countertop, a blue & white vinyl floor, and blue patterned fabric sofa cushions (it felt like a velvety microfibre, whatever it was, it was soft and comfy!). We had bunk beds in the back, kitchen in the middle, and a master bedroom at the front. For several weekends and two solid weeks in August, this was our summer home!

RV interiors today have changed a lot in some ways, and yet in many ways stayed exactly the same! The cabinets are still mostly the same functional designs and the sizes are about the same. But the biggest changes I noticed were the huge variety of layouts that buyers now have to choose from, and new features such as outdoor kitchens and lots of interior upgrades (a fireplace and mood lighting? Yup!).

Read on for more about the top eight trends I noticed at the RV show, from kitchen islands to statement lighting!

1) Kitchen Islands

I spotted several larger RVs and trailers with a centre island in the kitchen. An island has been top of the wish list for most home buyers for many years, but I had no idea this was an option in an RV too! The one pictured above even had a double sink and full size kitchen faucet. Bonus points for those moldings and ceiling details!

2) White Cabinetry

White shaker cabinets were very popular in a lot of units. The brushed silver hardware and grey flooring though is a bit of a give away that these RV interiors haven’t caught up with the more recent trends for gold or black hardware and warm wood floors in home design (a look that has reigned supreme in the design world for the last couple years). Grey tones have been on the way out in interior design for a while now, but white cabinetry is classic and still very much in style.

3) Marble-look countertops

Nope it’s not real marble, but the marble-look laminate was pretty popular in a lot of the RVs we saw. I liked that this unit had mirrored medicine cabinet above the sink. In a tiny space, every little bit of storage helps!

4) Outdoor Kitchens

These outdoor kitchens - built in to the outside wall of a trailer or motorhome - are fantastic! Complete with a sink, cabinets and drawers, lighting, countertop prep space, and a mini fridge, this is the perfect set up for outdoor cooking at the campsite. No more need to go in-and-out of the RV all the time to access the fridge or the sink while you are busy cooking outside over the fire!

5) High Ceilings

This fifth wheel trailer pictured above was one of my favourites. I couldn’t get over how high the ceilings were in the kitchen - which of course had an island too! Wow!

6) smaller is Better

All the comforts of home crammed into a teeny tiny space, ready for a trip to the great outdoors! While the big fifth wheels and motorhomes brought the wow factor at this show, the adorable little itty-bitty trailers like this one still received plenty of attention from the crowds. Perfect size for two people!

7) Indoor Fireplaces

Flat screen TV, sound system, AND a fireplace! This motorhome really did have all the bells and whistles. Some may wonder (ahem - not me) is it really camping, when you don’t even need to go outside to sit by the fire? I dunno, this sure looked enticing to me!

8) Statement Lighting

Pendants over the kitchen island, LED lighting around the countertop edge, under-cabinet lighting, ceiling accent lights, AND even the stove dials are back-lit. This RV unit had the ultimate wow-factor lighting package for sure! Too be honest though, I felt like the blue LED strip around the countertops was maybe pushing it too far (do I really want a nightclub vibe when I’m camping in the woods??), but it would sure make for a fancy night-light in the middle of the night!

And with that, we’ve reached the end! What did you think? If you are in the market for a new RV or Trailer, I hope this gave you some insight into what’s new and available.

Let me know if this post was helpful, and I might revisit the topic again next year!

Thanks for reading!

Amanda :)