Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Friday, October 19, 2012

"home" remodeling

this is how the RV looked when I purchased it
Today, I removed the dinette (on the left side of the picture)


No turning back now....... the smaller dinette is gone.  Before I did this, I talked with the maintenance manager here at Mesa Verde to ask permission to put the parts in the dumpster, he said it was ok.  One of the other RV'ers is going to take the cushions.

I saved all of the angle irons and screws that were used to attach the dinette to the walls and floor, so that I could reuse them during the remodeling.



This thin piece of wood is the only thing protecting the wires for the outside outlet.
I see some water staining on it and now I wonder if the outside outlet has leaked.
I will have to check the caulking and keep an eye on this.

I originally created a bed out of the other, larger dinette, it is wider than a twin size and narrower than a double size. I had purchased a twin size memory foam mattress and I do not like the extra space between the mattress and the wall.  I do not like the tall sides of the dinette benches and the aisle between the dinettes was only about 20" wide.

I hope to have my son-in-law help me build a bed in this now empty space. I want a hinged platform that can be lifted for access to a large storage area.  One of the dinette benches had the propane furnace underneath it. I had the furnace removed last week, so that gave me the incentive to get going on this remodel.  



After my new bed is built, I will remove the larger dinette and create a desk area on the other side of the RV.  This will give me a larger open area in the middle.  I have been wanting to get back into doing yoga and currently do not have enough space in the middle aisle of the RV.

My fresh water tank is under one of the larger dinette benches, I am hoping that I can move the tank against the wall of the RV instead of the way it is positioned now.

Under the other larger dinette bench is an inverter, I think.  And the water pump.  I don't think it is a good idea to have these situated on the floor next to each other.  I will have to figure out where to relocate these items. 

I am hoping to have an "L" shaped desk and some type of lounge chair. I will have to find a small cushioned bench to use when sitting at the desk for sewing.  I will probably sit in the lounge chair with my laptop and not use the desk for the computer. I have plans to sew some things for the RV and need a comfortable place to work.  The dinettes that are built for RV's are not comfortable, I think they are intended for families that want to use the space as an extra bed.

My new bed will also function as a couch.  I will sew pillows to go all around it.  I tried to do this with the current bed I have set up, but the bed is too deep to be a couch and the pillows kept falling between the mattress and the wall.

The rest of the remodeling won't get finished until I get to Texas at the beginning of November.  At least the demolition is done and I have a clean slate to work with.

Tomorrow I will take a ride to the Resale Shoppe in town to drop off some more "stuff".  I have been full-timing for almost a year and there are things I have not used and do not need. I will also stop at Walmart to get some items to help keep my kitchen drawers organized, some small baskets or containers to corral all the little things in the drawers.


20 comments:

  1. Wow, that's an ambitious project. I bet it will be wonderful when it is all done. Nice to make the space fit your needs.

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  2. Sounds like spring cleaning in the fall is underway. Have fun making things work for you.

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  3. That's a very ambitious plan. I guess I'm one of the few people alive that likes my dinette. It's a good thing we're not all alike. :)

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  4. That's great! Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

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  5. Very impressive! Keep us posted on the remodel.

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  6. I really don't like those dinette booth thingies. If we ever get our small travel trailer, that will probably be the first thing we do. Get rid of it. All it is is a junk holder for me. We have chairs and a table and right at the moment I can't see the table for the stuff on it. I'm excited to see your "after" pictures. It sounds like it is really going to work well for you.

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  7. I sit at my dinette all the time, that's where I do everything. My seats are comfortable, but after a while, they get depressed right were I sit, so I flip them over, turn them around, and switch the seats back and forth. They plump back up so I can keep changing them every 4 months or so.

    Most people hate these dinette seats, though, so I'm not surprised you took yours out. Your plan is going to be perfect for you when you're done. Quite a project to do yourself - you go, girl! I'm looking forward to the finished photos.

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  8. Have I said before how much I love your header picture? If not, I do. If so, well you know how it is. >:-)

    I am just in awe of your bravery in doing all this remodeling. It really will be your home and perfect for you when everything is just the way you like it. Can't wait to see it.

    Oh and I'm a dinette rather than a dining room table lover too. I think it's because I'm so short that there are few chairs in which I am comfortable.

    That said, having room for indoor yoga is a problem for me as well.

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  9. Getting exercise in a small RV that doesn't have slides is a challenge. I can fold my jack knife sofa down to do some of them, but still don't get the full range of motion that I'd like to have. I took my dinette out of my RV not too long after I bought it. But in my case, I needed to make room for the dogs crates, so it's now a wall of crates...hmmm, I guess one could say I turned my rig into a zoo! ;-) But I also saved my table as I only took out one bench & left the side wall there to help contain the crates in. I did leave the other dinette seat as I did choose to keep my furnace. My furnace & converter are under that bench. My table is a pole kind, so I can set it back up & take out the crates (would do this for resale). A fold up type of chair would work well in that area if a buyer wanted to keep the dinette area.

    Can't wait to see how it all turns out!! Space can be a challenge, but I think we can manage to make the best of it with our ideas.

    I want to put new wallpaper up one day.

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  10. PS, what is it with us & the woods. I can sit there & look at that photo all day & feel quite at home!

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  11. We have a table that has a flip up leaf. We use two chairs, and keep two in one of the bays. The onlything is the chairs are not comfortable. Also thetable has flipped out of place a couple of times when we we in motion. My brother's rig has huge drawers under the benches and they really hold a lot of stuff. I almost wish we had a booth.

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  12. You sure are going a long way in your remodel. Have fun. I also dislike booths. I turned mine into a sofa by buying 4in foam the width of a twin bed and folded in half and covered to match the other seats it made the couch less deep so it was more comfortable to sit on. I did keep all the parts so when I sold it they had the option to go back or keep it as a couch.

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  13. wow are you ever busy...can't wait to watch the reno progress pictures...we have a booth by choice in this latest coach of ours...(grandkids)...I do love the storage under the booth, bug drawers...I find we use the booth more than we ever used the free standing table setup...can't wait to see more pictures...

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  14. I always get excited reading about your adventures Teri - way to go on this! You inspire me to live life and get out there in spite of the fear in our losses. Keep trekkin'!

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  15. By the way - I'd love to have you guest blog sometime on my blog brendaleefree.com - email me at BrendaBoitson at gmail dot com. Thanks :)

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  16. I am inspired by your story, I am starting with my shower now.

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  17. Glad to see you making your space more suitable for your needs. Full time for a year...Wow! Congrats!

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  18. Sounds like you've got some good ideas brewing! Very wise to wait until you had lived in your rig a year to figure out what changes you really wanted. It took me 3 years of frustration with my dinette to finally do something about it-- I had come very close to tearing the whole thing out (but it would require furnace removal, so a pretty major decision! So I decided on an intermediate mod first (just remove the dinette table and leave the benches/cushions in place).

    Wow, did that little change really open up the space! I found a comfy, leatherette low-back office chair w/arms that swivels and reclines. The chair fits between the 2 benches and serves not only as a dining/work chair, but it's also quite a comfy recliner for TV watching or reading! I use a folding table as my new dining/work table so it's out of the way when I don't need it.

    So far, I'm no longer feeling as urgent about removing the rest of the dinette, but who knows-- if you post gorgeous remodel pics showing all your new floor space....I might have to "keep up with the Jones!!"

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Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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