Do you like your front living room? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

In Laymans Terms · RV-Dreams Family Member

Do you like your front living room?

Barb and Frank · RV-Dreams Family Member

We purchased a 5th wheel earlier this year and looked at plenty of floor plans. Although we liked the amount of living space in a front living room - we didn't like the closed-in feel when walking in the door. We purchased a rig with the living room in the rear and are very glad we did. The space is better used for closets, drawers and general storage - so the decision was also a practical one. As you said - front living rooms create the feel of three separate rooms rather than an open floor plan (kitchen/living room).

Good luck with your decision.

Barb

mds1 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We are still in research mode. Our favorite two floor plans so far are the front living room and also the rear living room. We also liked the separation of space in the front living room models.

But, we were having trouble finding a front living room that had good outside storage, did not have a slide under the main awning and at the same time have access to the bath, fridge and bedroom without having a second entrance door.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Take a look at at a KZ 381REF. Rear living room with a very defined living space. Just google "381REF" there will be a whole page with several dealer YouTube videos.

-- Edited by RonC on Wednesday 31st of August 2016 07:03:50 PM

-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 6th of September 2016 07:37:50 AM

Rob_Fla · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have been fulltiming in my Front Living Room 5th Wheel for 2 years now, love it just as much as the day I bought it.

The Front Living / Rear Living debate is about the same as the Ford / Chevy / Dodge debate.

I like the separation of the different areas, lots of room, decent storage, it is just a floor plan that works for me, but not everybody.

fun2travel · RV-Dreams Family Member

I wanted my high ceiling in the room I was awake in the most so I could enjoy the open feeling more.

In Laymans Terms · RV-Dreams Family Member

Mark, have you ever looked at the floor plan and storage for the 2015 Heartland Big Country 3700FL? That's the model we are really interested in. Incredible amount of exterior storage. We looked at a new 2015 a few days ago but it really seemed beat up. Didn't give us a good feeling so we passed and will keep searching.

We love the open feeling when you first walk in the door and can see all the way up through the livingroom, and across and through the kitchen. The bedrooms seem to have a lot of closet and drawer space too, with the high ceiling.

I see what you mean about wanting the high ceiling in the livingroom, fun2travel, but we seem to get that same feeling from being up higher in the livingroom in the front model. Of course we haven't lived in one yet though!

I like your analogy about the trucks, Robert - I think you're right on about that :)

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another thing to think about is window locations. A rear living room can give you a nice picture window on the rear wall, which is nice if you are backed up to a view. Otherwise, maybe not so nice. A front bedroom coach has the windows (emergency exits) pretty far off the ground, and usually located over a dresser. Spend an hour or so "living" in a coach, "doing" normal things, and you will soon learn what will and will not work for you. Example: many front living room coaches put the television on the front wall and two couches opposite each other on the sides. That's find for conversation, maybe, but not so great if you like to watch a lot of television.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

just my thoughts on Front living room layouts,

Pro:

Living room "feels" larger but the predominant layout is with the TV at the front whereas I prefer it on the side. We don't care for the models with tiny "theatre seating" facing the front wall positioned TV.

Bathroom shower has tons of headroom (being on the lower or main level) vs rear living room rigs where the bathroom is up in the front portion with obvious overhead restrictions.

Con:

Basement storage is much smaller than rear living room rigs although, some rigs offer raised bedroom areas with additional basement storage under them.

Whatever you choose, there will be compromises. We have not ruled out any floorplans yet with the exception of most toyhaulers as they don't fit our envisioned lifestyle. Even then we can alway change our minds. How's that for "fence-sitting" biggrin

FWIW, Brian

-- Edited by BiggarView on Saturday 3rd of September 2016 01:26:17 PM

mds1 · RV-Dreams Family Member

In Laymans Terms

I have never seen the Big Country 3700FL in person. We did look at the Keystone Montana 3790RD (rear den) when it first came out. Kind of the same idea, having two sets of stairs up. Really adds to the basement space. They may even have more total basement space than a typical rear living room fiver.

With the Big County 3700FL I’d seen that same layout in the kitchen area refrigerator slide before. I was worried that with the slide in the bedroom access would be blocked. Looked at the Heartland Big Country 3800FL. I liked the double recliner chairs in the living room of the 3800FL, but it’s a 42” long trailer which is a bit more than we are looking for. I could see sticking with the one recliner in the 3700FL would open up the view to the area from the kitchen. Both the 3700 and 3800 don't have a slide under the main awning and basement space is not a problem which is another plus. Wife loves the idea of a window in the kitchen sink area also.

Get the floor plan you like. It's all about compromising.

Really like the Heartland fifth wheels in their price points. Spent some time looking at the 2016s.

-- Edited by mds1 on Saturday 3rd of September 2016 02:51:41 PM

mikec54 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Mark,

We too are in the discovery process. As of now, we are leaning towards the Grand Design Solitude 376FLTH which will give us more storage. The 376 FL is another choice is the 376FL. The struggle I'm having is with which truck to pull with.

Glenn West · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most of the front living room units we looked at had 5 slide outs. We were turned off by this. Also more steeps inside to use. These were Heartland units.

jayc · RV-Dreams Family Member

We've got a 3 slide Landmark with the two rear slides covering almost all of the back side of the trailer, approximately 35 feet in two slides. Over five years old and no problems.

Glenn West · RV-Dreams Family Member

jayc wrote:
We've got a 3 slide Landmark with the two rear slides covering almost all of the back side of the trailer, approximately 35 feet in two slides. Over five years old and no problems.

It is not a front living room unit is it?

Camper Chronicles · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have lived in my front living room Open Range for two years and love it. We have the extra storage under the bedroom and I cannot stress enough what a benefit that has been for us. That was actually the feature that sold us on the floor plan. We also took out one of the two couches and made a large desk area that has worked very well for us. I like the three room separation and the high ceiling in the kitchen and relatively high ceiling in the bedroom. Personally I spend more time in the front than anywhere else and find it very cozy.

What I am not crazy about is we don't have a ton of space when friends come over, but that was largely our choice as we took out living space with the desk. The other thing is we use electric heaters when on hookups and needed to have three small heaters to make it work...one in each room. Now that we have one in each it's fine, but the kitchen did get cold prior to that. For me it feels more "house - like" than the standard plans.

One other piece of advice is pay close attention to the divider between the kitchen and the living room. Mine is an wire bannister which gives the floorplan and open feeling. I am really glad I did not go with the ones with a solid piece of wood because then I would have three smallish rooms.

Trace

mds1 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Trace,

When your awning side slide is in, does it block access to your bedroom or bath and if so, has that ever been an issue?

Thanks for the heads up to consider the open railing between the kitchen and living room. I had not thought about that. Might be worth giving up the extra recliner. Believe that was one of the appealing things about the Heartland model the original poster was interested in.

I had sat in the sofas on the 2015 3X front living room. They seemed narrow which would be fine for those with shorter legs. However, I had not sat in any other front living room sofas at the time and therefore the narrow feeling could be exaggerated. I was comparing the front living room sofas against the rear living room models. That particular 2015 front living room model had two recliners.

If we were to get a front living room plan, which is still on the short list of floor plans, we would have one with the second stairs up to the bedroom because of the outside storage underneath. Frankly, I'd rather have the separated large storage spaced than an extra large single basement. I'd think it would be easier to access stuff having it separated.

Slightly off topic but I read in RV Business.com that Highland Ridge (Jayco) is going to be offering aluminum trim around cabinet faces. That will be interesting to see.

Be safe on your trip back from Alaska!

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

BiggarView wrote:
just my thoughts on Front living room layouts,
Pro:
Living room "feels" larger but the predominant layout is with the TV at the front whereas I prefer it on the side. We don't care for the models with tiny "theatre seating" facing the front wall positioned TV.
Bathroom shower has tons of headroom (being on the lower or main level) vs rear living room rigs where the bathroom is up in the front portion with obvious overhead restrictions.
Con:
Basement storage is much smaller than rear living room rigs although, some rigs offer raised bedroom areas with additional basement storage under them.

Whatever you choose, there will be compromises. We have not ruled out any floorplans yet with the exception of most toyhaulers as they don't fit our envisioned lifestyle. Even then we can alway change our minds. How's that for "fence-sitting"
FWIW, Brian

-- Edited by BiggarView on Saturday 3rd of September 2016 01:26:17 PM

Brian ... I wouldn't disagree with you about what you consider "tiny", but IMO the seats you sit in for watching TV should face the TV. Maybe it's just me, but turning my head one way or another for long periods of time (as in watching TV) gives me a crick in my neck that lasts for days. I once flew to Las Vegas and sat next to a really chatty guy ... for the entire flight of about 3 hours, my head was turned right listening to him go on and on. That was 15 years ago and I still have some problems with a stiff neck. For me I HAVE to be directly (or nearly so) in front of the TV. If you haven't tried looking to the side for long time, you might want to try it and see if it's OK for you. It would really bother me. Just my point of view.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree the seating for watching TV should face the TV. This is why we like TVs mounted in the side vs the front in front living room 5ers. Only a very "tiny" theatre/love seats often found in many mid level front living room 5ers can be placed facing TVs mounted on the front wall. Those "love seats" sorta squeeze 2 people onto a smallish space. Cozy is nice when you are snuggling but watching TV is a rather different matter. Personally we like the theatre seating that has a real console between the seats or a sofa that has a flip down middle seat back that becomes a console. Haven't seen any of the lattter as yet in 5ers, it seems they are still only found in S&Bs as they are typically too wide to fit into a typical slide out and just plain heavy as furniture goes.

Just our personal preference, Brian

-- Edited by BiggarView on Tuesday 6th of September 2016 12:30:33 PM

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sure it's a preference, but I agree with you. The reason it works for us is that I get the whole thing because my wife is a "curl up on the couch" kinda person. She prefers that position and I need the straight on shot w recliner ... so we got it worked out. If we were "sharing" the cozy seats, it would be less comfortable for both of us. Her side of the cozy seat is where the remote lives.

Camper Chronicles · RV-Dreams Family Member

mds1 wrote:
Trace,

When your awning side slide is in, does it block access to your bedroom or bath and if so, has that ever been an issue? It does and although to some people it's a big deal never been one for us. When we stop I open the slide just enough to get into the bathroom and when we boondock we do it with all slides out or at least the back out anyways.

I had sat in the sofas on the 2015 3X front living room. They seemed narrow which would be fine for those with shorter legs. However, I had not sat in any other front living room sofas at the time and therefore the narrow feeling could be exaggerated. I was comparing the front living room sofas against the rear living room models. That particular 2015 front living room model had two recliners. Should have mentioned we replaced the couch because I also found it uncomfortable with a standard zero clearance reclining love seat. My feet danlge off the ground but it's crazy comfortable. Currently we only have one chair and have discussed replacing the couch we have with two chairs and have looked at lots of RV specific furniture, but I haven't found any of the couches to be comfortable. Eventually I would like to get all new custom furniture but since that is crazy pricey I am ok with what I have right now. It's just me, but since I am planning on living in this for quite some time, I paid more attention to the "bones" than what was in it. You can't change the layout but you can change furniture etc. This worked for me because even after two years I am REALLY happy with the way it is laid out.

If we were to get a front living room plan, which is still on the short list of floor plans, we would have one with the second stairs up to the bedroom because of the outside storage underneath. Frankly, I'd rather have the separated large storage spaced than an extra large single basement. I'd think it would be easier to access stuff having it separated. We have two different storage spaces (one in the front and one in the back) but you lose a lot of space when they are irregularly shaped and the front one really doesn't hold that much.

Be safe on your trip back from Alaska! Thanks!!!

In Laymans Terms · RV-Dreams Family Member

There is lots of great advice here - thanks to all for chiming in. Some of the things I like and agree with are the railing instead of solid furniture at the steps up to the livingroom; needing seating that faces the TV straight on instead of from the side (I too suffer neck pain from an earlier injury and cannot keep my head turned either way very long); and the need for that raised bedroom for extra storage at the rear of the trailer.

I never thought about not being able to access the bathroom and bedroom with the slide in - good point. And the fact that air flow is not as good between the three 'rooms', thus perhaps needing extra heaters. There is just nothing like hands-on experience to tell the tale!

However . . . We are realizing we probably need to look at an older, higher-quality model as we cannot afford new (or even new-ish!). And I don't think there's much to find for front-end livingrooms in older trailers, is there? Anyone familiar with a model, perhaps between 2009 - 2012?

Twobits · RV-Dreams Community Member

Do you want to be going up and down stairs all day ?

Singing4MyJesus · RV-Dreams Community Member

We love our front living! We would not change that at all. :)