We found the closest-to-ideal travel trailer...and then we set out to make it even closer-to-ideal. We were blessed to purchase second hand from an owner who took meticulous care of her. We learned from our test week renting a travel trailer at Myrtle Beach Travel Camp that none of the three kids would scooch to the back of a u-shaped dinette. And we knew our family of five was too large for a booth dinette. That's a problem as those are the two standard options for travel trailers.
We also know that we love family couch time. Whenever we would check out an RV one of the kids would inevitably call out "butt check!" to which all five of us would proceed to see if we could simultaneously sit on the couch. Not many worked and it was something we were aware of. Couch time is important to us.
Enter our new-to-us travel trailer with a lovely, large u-shaped dinette and a like-new condition loveseat sofa. What were we to do?
Take them both out, of course. With only a bit of hesitation (were we sure of what we were doing??) we removed the sofa and disassembled the dinette. The sofa went to our new friends whose land we are currently parked on and the dinette cushions are set to be sold. The table base that came with the dinette was strong but the top was too small.
Enter Facebook Marketplace! God blessed us with really good finds. An IKEA couch close to the one I saw in the store but for a fourth of the cost fit perfectly in the space and provided storage that the other sofa did not permit. We took the table top from another marketplace score and attached it to the dinette table base for less than the cost of a new tabletop. We found five folding padded stools at Ross and a new light fixture from Amazon that doesn't come down as low as the original so Josh doesn't bump his head as much. We also removed the decorative valances over the windows to let in more light.
In our room there was a standard queen bed with cabinets on both sides. It had storage beneath but we felt that (1) we would miss our king size bed and (2) we could better arrange the storage space. So Josh and I took out one of the cabinets and the queen bed mattress and platform. We built a bench-like platform to extend the bed area and it can fit a combination of four large rubber-maids or eight milk crates, giving us plenty of storage. After much research we ordered a foam mattress off of Amazon and cut it down to a custom size to fit the space. We are thrilled with how it turned out! And Teddy likes to have a comfortable place to survey the surrounding area.
We also removed a carpeted step from the kids' bunkhouse, opening up much needed floor space. Mom and I have painted the large wall in the slide out that has the couch and table against it as removing the dinette pulled some of the factory-installed wallpaper off the wall. The color is a neutral, compatible with the rest of the rig, but really lightens up the place. She stopped me from painting any more walls, which was the right choice, but I'm bringing the paint with me just in case.
We are almost ready to give a video tour. Almost.
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