Dining booths take up valuable real estate in an RV. These RV owners decided to remove and replace their RV dining booth with furniture that makes better use of the space.
In this article, you’ll see how much space (and style!) you can gain in your camper by removing the dining booth and replacing it with something else!
How To Remove an RV Dinette: The Booth Removal Process
Before we dive into the “after” photos of RVs without a dining booth, you may be wondering exactly how to remove an RV dining booth.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”7Rawz6Po” upload-date=”2023-10-11T12:46:00.000Z” name=”remove dining booth.mov” description=”null” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
Well, it turns out it’s fairly simple: you look for screws and remove them. If you can’t easily lift away the pieces after unscrewing them, you may need the assistance of a pry bar.
Below is a photo of an RV dining booth being removed. You can see how it’s just a wooden frame screwed to the wall and floor.
You’ll probably also need to fill some holes in your wall, which you can do with some spackling.
But before you completely remove your old dinette, consider if you want to leave one side and replace the other with chairs. This is a popular way to open up your RV floorplan and you can add chairs to match your design style!
Replace an RV Dining Booth with a Table and Chairs
Replacing the dining booth with a traditional table and chairs makes a camper or motorhome feel less like a vehicle and more like a house.
Here are a few examples of how campers have replaced their booths with tables and chairs.
1. Small Table and Two Chairs
If only two people ever sit at your dining table, you can save space in your RV by replacing the 4-person dinette with a table for two. This opens up the space and also doesn’t stick out as far, creating more room for walking. In this case, you may lose the storage from under the benches, so this particular type of table might not be a good idea for you if storage is something you’re short on.
Plus, swapping out your dinette for a table and chairs is a great way to add your own design aesthetic to your RV, like this couple who wanted their camper to feel like stepping back in time:
2. Glamorous Dining Area
The owner of this RV loves Victorian decor and decided to remove the dining booth in order to create an intimate dining area better suited to his taste, complete with new full-length curtains and a chandelier.
Related: Easy RV Window Makeover Ideas
He used museum putty to secure decorative items on shelves and walls so that traveling requires packing away only a few things and securing the furniture.
3. Drop Leaf Table and Pair of Barrel Chairs
The owners of this RV chose to replace their dining booth with a set of 2 velvet barrel chairs and a round pedestal drop leaf table to create a homey environment in this trailer.
4. Swapping the Dinette and Sofa
Want to shake up your RV floor plan?
This RV owner wanted to change the arrangement of where the sitting and dining areas were located, so they decided to remove the jackknife sofa as well as the dinette and replace them with a sleeper sofa in a lighter color as well as a small table for two.
5. Replacing the Dinette with a Breakfast Bar
The latest trend we see in renovated RVs for sale is replacing a bulky with a breakfast bar. This opens up the floor space and can still seat a couple or small family.
Plus, these tables could easily double as a desk for a home office.
6. Removing the Dinette Benches and Keeping the Table
Keeping your existing table, particularly if it is already anchored to the wall and floor, might limit your renovation options, but it does save you from worrying about a table flipping over while you drive!
This RVer grabbed these comfy chairs off Amazon.
[amazon box=”B0BQ9B229N”]
7. Replacing the Dinette with a DIY Sofa Bed
The dining booth in this camper was removed and replaced with a custom-built sofa that adds additional seating as well as an extra bed. The drawers from the original dining booth were kept and used to create storage underneath.
Related: Looking to replace your RV couch? Try these DIY RV Sofa Bed Ideas!
8. Removing the Dinette to Add Storage
The people who own this RV felt that the storage under the benches was an inefficient use of space, so they built this custom dining and office area out of a set of three kitchen cabinets with the center doors removed.
Replace the RV Dining Booth with a Bar
One of my favorite uses of space in an RV is a bar eating area with storage underneath. Not only does this solution add extra counter space, which is often limited in an RV, but it also lets you enjoy the view out your window during your meal!
9. Dinette Replaced with Bar
The professional team behind Traverse Design Co. continued the countertop and added stools to replace the booth in this camper. Now the kitchen boasts extra surfaces for food prep and kept a spot for two people to sit at a table to enjoy a meal.
10. Bar with Shelves Behind for Storage
To create this space, the owners of this RV bolted together two Walmart bookshelves and placed them behind a sofa table of a similar height and length.
11. Bar with Cabinets Underneath for Storage
I can’t figure out how you can easily sit at this bar because of the height difference the slide-out creates. But with the right spacing, this is a great way to keep your storage options and still have a spot to eat.
Removing Just One Dining Bench
Half the work with major benefits!
12. Bench Seat with Chair
Professional RV renovators RVingDogsAndWine decided to leave one of the dinette benches in this stunning fifth wheel they renovated. This is a great way to free up some space and make the area feel more open without losing all your storage.
Related: 99 Ideas for a Budget RV Makeover
13. Turn the Booth Sideways
Completely transform a space by turning the booth sideways. Use one bench flush against the wall and add a table and chairs.
Or move your booth to the back of your trailer or fifth wheel, like in this design:
This may require rebuilding a bench seat to fit the right dimensions of your space. If you build your own dining booth bench, you can create a flip-top seat or add drawers for more storage.
14. Remove just the backs of the dinette booth.
Open up your RV by removing the backs of your dining booth but keeping the bench seats!
15. Buy a Table and Bench Set
After removing the booth completely, this family still wanted bench-style seating. They added in a matching set (and turned the bunk beds into a laundry room!).
16. Bar Added to Kitchen Island
Adding a piece of countertop to a kitchen can create a new eating space, allowing the dining booth in this RV to be removed and the space to be used for other furniture.
Replacing the Dining Booth with Custom Furniture
17. Dinette Replaced with a Pull-Out Table and Desk
This fifth wheel now has a dual workspace and a dining table with this unique setup.
18. Dinette Replaced with Storage Compartments and a Folding Table
If you are good at woodworking, you can create a custom dining and office area like the unique cabinets and folding table motorhome owner David Barber built.
19. Dining Booth Replaced with a Fireplace, Entertainment Center, and Pull-Out Table
After removing the dining booth from their motorhome, RV owners Eric and Katie built this incredible combination entertainment center, dining table, desk, and fireplace. You can read about how they removed their dining booth and made it on their blog.
20. Trading the Dining Area for a Coffee Station
As part of the process of turning her RV into a tiny home, this RV owner removed her dining booth and replaced it with a baker’s rack to use as a coffee station. A small electric fireplace shares the space to supplement the trailer’s propane heat.
If you often eat your meals outdoors or sit on the couch to eat, why not use the space for something else?
21. Swivel Table Top
Professional renovators BB and the RV transformed this toy hauler into a stunning tiny home. To make the dining space highly adaptable, those chairs are patio furniture that can easily be moved onto the back deck.
The table swivels out and a leg is added for support.
22. Small Square Table with Stools
If you want to save space, opt for stools instead of chairs! They can store easily under your table and give you more open floor space.
Shop space-saving RV dining table options here.
How to Replace Your RV Dining Booth: FAQ’s
Q: Is weight a concern when replacing the original furniture with residential furniture?
A: You always need to be mindful of weight when modifying or adding things to your RV. Not only do you need to make sure that anything you add doesn’t put your total weight over your max weight limit, but you also need to be careful to keep roughly the same weight distribution so that you don’t put too much weight on one axle.
However, you’d be surprised how heavy RV furniture is. The solid wood dining table and chairs and sleeper sofa my husband and I removed from our fifth-wheel RV were both heavier than the residential furniture we replaced them with.
Q: If you buy a residential sofa to replace the dining booth, how do you get it through the door?
If you order your sofa online (or purchase it from IKEA), it will come disassembled in a box. You can put it together inside your RV after carrying the pieces through the door.
Additionally, when shopping online you can see the exact dimensions before purchasing to make sure that it fits.
Q: How do these people keep the furniture they’ve added from moving around while the RV is in motion?
A: Larger furniture items like a sofa are not likely to move around. But just to be safe, you can screw D-rings to the floor to hook RV furniture straps, just like the RV manufacturers do at the factory.
Bungee cords are also helpful. For example, you can wrap a bungee cord around your table and chairs to hold them all together.
Items like shelves can be anchored to the wall. If you’re worried about screwing into your RV walls, remove a screw from one of your window valances on the same wall. Make sure to choose screws that are shorter than that one. Then you don’t have to worry about it punching through your RV’s exterior wall.
Read my article about securing your belongings during travel for more ideas!
More questions? Drop a comment below and we’ll be happy to answer!
If you’re still undecided on whether or not to remove your dinette, give it a makeover! Find inspiration in these articles:
Ashley Mann spent three years living full time in a 38-foot, 5th-wheel RV with her husband Josiah and their cat, Kitty. Her favorite thing about RV life is the challenge of finding the perfect way to organize a space, and she loves seeing all the creative and clever ways people come up with to customize their RVs.
Do you have the blue prints for this build? Custom Built Murphy Bed/Bar
Unfortunately I do not. I believe the people who built it created their own design.
Our camper is 18′.. The dinette is in the slide out. The under bench storage is not drawers; we have to lift up the cushions. 1. Would a jack knife sofa work? 2. Could we convert the storage to slide-out drawers?
Most RV dinettes we see are set up like that! You could fully remove it and replace it with a jack knife sofa, Drawers would require a little more DIY (this is a good article: https://www.woodshopdiaries.com/diy-storage-bench-with-drawer/) but if you’re skilled in building, it would definitely make for easier storage access!
I took my dinette out and made a bar with 2 stools.ga e me alot more room.
Replaced my dinette with bar and 2 stools.gave me alot more room.
Hi love all the ideas. Am hoping you could tell me the depth and height of a comfy l shape lounge. We are building into our camp and want to get it right.
We have a few options in this article: https://staging.rvinspiration.com/staging/rv-furniture/sofa-bed-ideas/ You can find them in many different sizes, so you’ll have to double check the specs. This one https://amzn.to/3Jw61Sm is 54″D x 86″W x 35″H
all these renovations are for trailers with slides. Ours is 24 feet long and no slide. I want to replace our booth bu not lose all the sleeping area if possible . I wish there were more examples of trailers without slides that aren’t huge campers. Do you have any ideas for those like us???
You can still do many of these renovations without slides! What would you want to replace your booth with ideally? A couch that folds into a bed? Bunks? A table and chairs?