Twelve Kitchen Upgrades for Your Airstream

Custom White Corian Countertop

We were so impressed after switching our bathroom's mottled green Formica for white Corian that we asked our trusted Airstream technician, DJ Mastin of Broken Rivets, to do the same in the kitchen. The galley install was trickier — it called for precise cutouts for the cooktop, sink, and trash bin. Judge for yourself from the before and after. A great upgrade.

Custom Trash Bin in the Countertop

While installing the white Corian countertop, we added a small trap door over an under-counter trash bin, putting otherwise wasted space to work. A discrete finger-lift hole lets you drop small items straight into the bin without lifting the cover at all.

Tall Mixer Faucet

Our Airstream came equipped with a rather plain faucet and separate sprayer head. We swapped it out within a couple of months for a tall single-lever faucet, giving excellent clearance and a wider reach over the sink — with the spray built right in. A far more elegant solution.

Furrion Cooktop & Range Replacement

Six years down the road, our Atwood range gave up entirely. The pilot light feed line gummed itself up six inches from the burner — a length of telephone wire cleared that. The door hinges went limp soon after, and we resorted to a bungee cord to keep the oven door shut during cooking. The final straw was the stainless lid's front edge, which cut deep into Margaret's finger; four months later she still had no feeling in the fingertip.

Finding a replacement during the supply chain chaos of Covid was a challenge, but we eventually ordered a Furrion 21" gas range directly from the factory and had DJ install it locally. This unit needs a 12-volt supply for its illuminated knobs, so DJ tapped into the furnace's 12V line. We also upgraded to a heavy-duty cast iron grate that really sets the new stove off. In six years, we've now replaced every single Dometic and Atwood OEM device on this Airstream — the water heater no less than three times.

High-Intensity LED Hood Lights

Watching your battery voltage creep lower and lower while boondocking is depressing. Tracking down the vampire culprits is real detective work — we found the woofer speaker was permanently drawing power, and once that was fixed, discovered our supposedly "all-LED 2015 FC" still had halogen range hood lights. Not exactly power-conscious to run those for long. We ordered brighter LED replacements that draw a fraction of the current; an easy ten-minute upgrade for about $25.

Under-Sink Door Magnetic Catches

More than once we've opened the Airstream door after a long, bumpy ride to find a good portion of our under-sink storage scattered across the rig. Lashing the handles worked, but it's inelegant and easy to forget. To the rescue: doubled-up magnetic catches, two per door, each rated to 20 lbs. Problem solved — ready for I-10 in Louisiana.

Propane Usage Level Display

Tank capacities — fresh water, gray, black, diesel, DEF, propane, and let's be honest, beer and wine — are always on your mind on a long trip. Propane in particular was always a mystery until we installed Mopeka sensors. The first generation, app-only, was a bit unstable and left something to be desired. The latest version pairs the app with a physical monitor panel and is excellent: propane tank levels are shown on a five-LED color gradient display, for real confidence at a glance.

Drawer Cup Divider

We used to wrap our coffee cups and mugs in tea towels or bar towels when traveling, but it was always a hassle, so we dedicated the top kitchen drawer to our favorite cups instead. We built interlocking dividers from 1/4" oak to form six compartments, lined the drawer floor with yoga mat, and wrapped a loop of the same material around each section. Fine porcelain and bone china deserve looking after — though we're still not entirely sure about the Charles and Di stoneware wedding mugs.

Racks in Overhead Storage

The lockers above the kitchen counter, above the rear bed, and above the dining table are notoriously hard to use efficiently — few items ever need the full cabinet headroom. We installed a mid-level wire shelf, easily found at Lowe's or Home Depot, cutting the ends to the exact shelf width and leaving the cross bars exposed at least half an inch on both sides. Those cross bar rods fit into oak end pieces drilled to receive them. We mounted ours at half height, but you can choose any level to suit. Voila — double your storage.

Paper Plate Storage on Doors

Frustration with under-sink storage pushed us to rethink how we kept medium and large paper plates, which see heavy use — not just for dining, but for meal prep and serving too (our best Corelle still comes out for guests). We designed two plate racks mounted inside the curved cabinet doors for immediate, easy access to both sizes. As the door closes, the racks do encroach a few inches on shelf space, but it's a worthy trade for the convenience. Built from 1/4" and 3/4" oak board using the Kreg pocket hole system to attach to the door.

Stove Top Toaster

Best thing since sliced bread — literally. Our Chinese stainless stove top toaster has no moving parts, toasts quickly, and offers controllable browning levels; with a pair of tweezers we can fine-tune two slices side by side to just the right shade. We also use it as a stand-off heating pad for sauces that shouldn't see direct heat.

Under-Sink Storage Organizer

You have to wonder what's going on at Airstream on a Friday afternoon in the design department. Under the sink there's a curious cutout meant for a tiny mini trash bin — an enormous amount of wasted space. Using a jig saw, we removed a large portion of the cabinet base and built a storage organizer that makes full use of the space, with higher sides to keep items from traveling during hard braking.