March 18, 2019

So this last six weeks, I had volunteered to help someone re-design a 23 foot rv as a temporary living space.  I came up with lots of new ideas and used some old ones from Pinterest.  I learned alot, stretched a lot, and figured out that while I might want to redesign another RV, I would prefer to do it on my own.  I may want to buy one, redesign it, and then sell it.  That way, there are no misunderstandings about who is to do what when, and no waiting time when someone else's schedule get's busy and they can't do the part that your part is dependent on.

At any rate, a flaw for living in an RV, is that they are really not designed to be lived in, they are designed to stack as many sleeping spaces in as possible.  When you are planning a living space, you want to go back in and take out the extra sleeping spaces and other spaces that are not needed, and put back in those that are desperately needed.  In this RV, we took out some partial walls in a very tight bedroom space, a dinette that jutted way out into the middle space, a huge closet, the water tank, and a bunk area.  We added a table/bar, a huge storage area, a pantry, a new closet, and added about 10 inches to the bathroom.  While the RV is not quite finished at this point, much of the design part is complete.

First the storage wall was placed to take advantage of an oddly angled wall, and the outside storage was made into inside storage.  It is just behind the futon that will serve as a couch and a bed, that has storage drawers below it (not visible in the picture.  The storage wall will serve as a table for your coffee cup or whatever, and also has a hinged lid.  Trash cans will fit in it nicely to categorize the storage.


Secondly, the dinette table that took up too much space and was too short to be a bed for adults, really, was taken out and replaced with a bar top table which folds down into a longer single bed (using the old dinette cushions the long way end to end, which are stored inside.)  As you can see, it has not been painted (white at the bottom), nor the table top stained and polyurethaned.  Final decisions are still pending about the light.


Thirdly, a pantry area was put in over the wheel well which will house the fuse box at the bottom.  At this point, the edge trim has not been added, nor has it been painted white.  At 16" deep, there will be plenty of storage for food, or whatever else needs storing.  You can also see in this picture the book shelf that has been secured over the bar table.

The only place to hang a picture was the bathroom door, and since the color scheme was peacock accent colors, I painted a picture of a peacock on an old canvas that I bought for .99

10 inches was added to the bathroom, because when you walked in before, you would run into the toilet.  enough space was added to scoot back the composting toilet and a sink cabinet was re-designed and will have a sink made from a stainless steel bowl.  At this time, the sink is waiting for the plumbing to be installed so it can be completed.  I used the old plastic medicine cabinet mirror to make a new medicine cabinet that even comes with a shelf to store extra toilet paper.  A bucket was hung on the wall made from a laundry detergent bucket with marble contact paper.  This will house composting medium.  A matching bucket will be placed on the floor for bathroom trash.  Also, as you can see in the mirror, a metal wall basket was painted and installed as a towel storage space.


Lastly, a new closet space was added in with hanging bar, baskets, and it will have two shelves, one of which will be over the new hot water heater.

The kitchen area, was left as it was, with just a coat of white paint to open out the space.

What is left is a much more functional space for temporary living.