From Sofa-Bed to Sofa-Storage

Monday, 1 September 2014
Gulf Waters RV Resort  — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Hi 89F (32C) / LO 81F (27C)

A day that celebrates the American labor movement is as good a time as any to write about one of Mui’s labors Phaeton mods.

But first, a quick update on what we’ve been up to since my last post.  Busy with a variety of projects — as usual; the days have been flying by.  The good news is that the frame of our New Zealand trip has been established.  All but one of the many accommodations we need for the six-week trip are booked; the procurement specialist [read Mui] will take care of the last one tomorrow — fingers crossed … it turns out the Cricket World Cup Semi Final is being held in the city on our last day in Auckland and that means prices have skyrocketed!

On the weather front — hot and steamy continues to rule our days.  With one change.  We got some much needed rain this week.  And it looks like more is on the way for next week.  Yay!

Now for the project mentioned in the title of this post.

When we bought the Phaeton in May 2010, it came with two sofa-beds.  By September 2011 — in preparation for fulltiming — one sofa was out to make room for a full-size desk (post here).  Don’t know what I would have done without that desk these past few years!

From this …	… to this.

Fast forward three years — give or take a few days — and the set up is still the same.  The desk on one side; the sofa on the other.  But the sleeper mechanism in the sofa is no more.  Mui removed it and built a storage unit in its place!  What will we use this storage for?  Oh, a lot of things that are now stuffed here and there around the coach — including gear we use on our polar travels ;-)

First step; unscrew the bolts …	… to get the sleeper mechanism out.

Between the two of us, it was easy to get the whole kit-and-caboodle out of the Phaeton.
And a GWRVR work-camper was happy to take it off our hands to use for his guests!

This is the space Mui has to work with.  The gap between the end of the slide
and the inner edge of the sofa necessitates the building of a box with a base.

The back of the box will go up against the side of the fan register (right edge),
leaving a gap between the window / wall and the back of the sofa.  This design provides
space to store things like exercise mats on the far left without hindering air circulation.

Having the bottom, side (2), back, and top (2) pieces of wood cut-to-size at Home Depot, Mui used
his jig saw for the additional cuts needed to customize the pieces to the space under the sofa.

With a hole-saw, Mui cut an opening so that the slide roller adjustment bolt remains
accessible through the bottom of the box.  How did we make sure he cut the hole in
the right place?  We painted the top of the bolt with nail polish (top right inset),
gently dropped the bottom of the storage box over it, gently pressed down to
make a mark — et voilà; perfect placement!  Lipstick would have worked, too.
In any event, I made sure to wipe off the bolt before the nail polish dried.

Hmmmm!  Could fit a body in there, couldn’t I?

A few strategically placed L-brackets and screws, and all but the top of the
storage box is done.  Mui makes himself less-than-comfortable inside to …

… screw in place A brace along the top back edge to lend support to the lid.

A center-beam that spans the back (stationary) and front (hinged) pieces
of the lid, provides support against sagging in the middle.

And we have hidden storage!  Mui considered putting a couple of finger-pulls to aid
in raising the lid, but there’s enough of a lip on the lid that it wasn’t necessary.

With the cushions back in place, no one’s the wiser that the sofa-bed is now sofa-storage.

Mui was going to add batting or foam to the lid for cushioning, but I like a firm sofa; it’s better for my back.  We’ll revisit that option at a later date if I change my mind.

Personally, I think this was a genius idea.  You can never have too much ‘useable’ storage in a motorhome.  And it’s not like we’re adding more stuff to the Phaeton — we’re just re-purposing existing space to better organize what’s already in the coach.

So, you ask what will happen if we get overnight visitors?  The same thing that would have happened had the sofa-bed been intact — we’ll put them up at a campground cabin (if available) or a nearby hotel!