Day 329: Dinning room / living room. The Lagun table mount is a great addition to the build. It adjust on 3 axis. That table top is still the temporary version but we ran out of time before I could glue up the larger replacement. Huge thank you to Nanny for helping with all the fabric work on the cushions and curtains!
In every RV we have owned had a floating trash can which roamed around the place while driving or sitting. We extended the kitchen cabinet just enough to add this tilt out trash organizer. The bottom of the unit is heavy enough to securely hold it close even during driving so no springs or latches required.
The toilet cabinet opens by flipping up the counter top and swinging open the fan fold doors. Working out the latches here was a bit tricky. We decided to mount the latch inside the cabinet which requires opening the top first before you can access the latch. However that arrangement does hide the latch for a clean finish.
With the top down and doors closed toilet is hidden and the space is usable as a counter top again. Curtains below the bed help hide the packed garage area.
The rear view and here the sliding shelf is extremely useful for storing all those necessary articles while making accessing them extremely easy.
Added a shelf to the back door along with some hooks. The tops shelf is perfect height for a bed side night stand. The horizontal lines are quarter inch bungie cord. I'm not thrilled with the look but can't complain about the utility. I plan to dress this up a bit in the future.
A complete view from the rear. Here we are packed and ready for the shake down cruise.
A view from the bedroom looking forward. You can tell my wife color coordinated everything. I must admit it looks very homey.
The bedroom view from the kitchen. In a tiny space keeping things in their place is a requirement. We make the bed every morning. Otherwise it adds to the cluttered look which makes the van seem much smaller. Note the wall between the kitchen and the bedroom covered in stick on tile paper. The design of this wall came together as we held a cardboard template over the desired location and just began drawing lines until we both agreed on the one we liked the best. It pays to not overthink these things.
The bedroom cabinets fully packed and ready to travel. We added a cargo net in the top of these cabinets since there was additional space. Also Gina added a fake wall in the back with additional storage for clothes we hoped were not going to be necessary. We have no plans for camping in cold weather but just in case the required coverings are back behind the fake wall.
The spice rack mounted over the sliding door comes in handy for more than just spices. Even though it sticks out a bit from the door frame we have not bumped into it... yet.
First meal cooked on the road using the installed induction cooktop. Funny the cooktop has a child lock mode which we some how accidentally activated during the build. It took reading the manual and several attempts to figure out how to un-child lock it.
Everything and the kitchen sink! Here we have the flip up counter top engaged. The sink is deep and spacious enough to handle all we can through at it. With the water heater mounted in the cabinet below the sink it is like having instant hot water. Which is important since we have very limited water storage and a 17 liter grey water tank. Thanks to the Recpro water pump we have ample water pressure.
Overall view of the kitchen. The paper towel racks are visible above the cooktop and yes we have them both packed with necessary items. With the battery power we have on board we can run the water heater, water pump, cooktop and microwave oven for at least a couple of meals before recharging.
The microwave and fridge are firmly secured to their cabinet spaces. The fridge sticks out of the cabinet just enough to allow the door to fully swing open. Otherwise it would only open about 90 degrees.
Rounding out the kitchen is the cooler placement. The cooler cabinet doubles as storage and seating. The original plan was to have the seat flip up to reveal the cooler. But that didn't workout so well as it involves moving the cushions and anything one them first. Also the cooler lid requires additional space behind the cooler to fully open and the cabinet was just not wide enough. Plan 'C' developed into a small plyboard sled for the cooler to sit on. The sled has carpet glued to the underside to allow it to slide. Two small hardwood ends hold the cooler firmly in place.
Found this little open/close valve on Amazon which connects to regular garden hose to drain water. With this little addition plus a 2 meter garden hose we no longer have to remove the cooler from the van in order to drain the water
In one of those unplanned stroke of luck type of results the cooler fully extracted from its hiding place fits between the closed door and the cabinet. Which allows access to cold items without the hassle of opening the door every time you need something. The slide out feature also cleans the floor ever time you use it so that is an unexpected bonus! But wait! There is more! The cooler can serve as additional seating space beneath the flip up countertop. This comes in handy for that meal on the run when you don't have time to swivel the passenger seat into position.
The view from the kitchen looking forward. The camera installation is barely visible now that all those cables are neatly hidden from view. The shelf over the cockpit came with the van and we have packed it tight. Note the curtains on either side of the cab. These curtains easily slide along the track at the top to provide privacy when you need it. The curtains also provide thermal protection to isolate the cab from the rest of the van.
The window box packed with food stocks. From the top row right to left we have candy bars, breakfast bars and snack bars. Middle row from right to left there is coffee, granola, coffee, coffee, coffee fixings. Bottom row left to right we have snacks, empty jars, raisins and cranberries. Hmm, may need to add more coffee
The cockpit view. Notice the little white boxes in the floor that Gina designed and built. These little additions turned out to be extremely handy. The one between the seats has a flip up lid to provide more storage inside. She carefully designed the box to match the contour of the cab floor so the top of the box is level with the seats. Way up on the dash is the camera system monitor. I went with the smallest monitor trying to conserve space but am rethinking that decision.
