bench seat with slide out bed

[butterflyfish]

I am looking for opinions about a mod to the bench seat that converts to a bed.  In our camper, the storage under the bench seat is a drawer and a cabinet.  This results in a lot of wasted storage space (IMO).  I told DH that I would like to convert the bench seat into a trunk of sorts by putting a piano hinge on it and removing the drawer (or fixing the drawer so it doesn't move) so that we could put more stuff (mostly extra linnens and towels) in it.  Has anyone done this and can it be done?  We have never opened the bech seat bed so it may not work at all.  I just feel there is a good foot or so of space that cannot be used because of the drawer.  Any opinions or suggestions etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Recumbentman]

sounds like an easy mod. I would turn the drawer front into a door. (find matching hinges and door pull) your cushion top should open up easily so you can load your belongings and then if need be, you could use your new door to get to certain items.
good luck  

[wavery]

We hinged our top cushion. It makes that locker MUCH easier to use.

[butterflyfish]

We hinged our top cushion. It makes that locker MUCH easier to use.

Good to know it can be done... Wonder why that wasn't thought of to begin with...

As far as the cabinets go, I thought of that, but thought the hinge would be easier for DH to do...  
But the hinge and the cabinet doors might be the way to go... however, since it is DH who will be doing most of the work, I think I better stick with one project at a time....

[wavery]

Good to know it can be done... Wonder why that wasn't thought of to begin with...

As far as the cabinets go, I thought of that, but thought the hinge would be easier for DH to do...  
But the hinge and the cabinet doors might be the way to go... however, since it is DH who will be doing most of the work, I think I better stick with one project at a time....

This is why we hinged ours:



 

You have to remember to install the hinges far enough away from the wall to allow the back cushion to go in behind the bottom cushion. This will also allow the bottom cushion to open all the way, without it being stopped by the back wall.

[butterflyfish]

That's a great idea!  Our potti is in a corner between the counter and the bench seat it fits there almost perfectly, but no one is allowed to use it except in extreme emergency since I don't want to clean it and we don't dry camp...  We just have the bench seat straight across no sides and the fuse box is under it, but I (ahem DH) could box the fuse box off (if it isn't alreay) and we could have all that storage space...  I will try to take some pics of the inside of our camper this weekend.

[ScouterMom]

I LOVE your potty mod!

After a long night of pounding rain one weekend last fall, I've decided that I will make room for our 'honey bucket' somewhere in the camper, also.  I never really found a need for one before - never minded the walk to the bathrooms, even at night.  Rain on canvas- even a pounding one - makes me relax and sleep like a log. And years and years of Girl Scout camp, Boy Scout camp and spidery, dark pit toilets have my bladder well trained!

But that was a real gully-washer of a storm, and Paul kept thinking of the bathroom all night! If we had our little potty handy somewhere it wouldn't have been an issue and he could have gone right back to sleep.

So one of my mods this summer will be to creat a space similar to yours for our porta-potti.

['tiredTeacher]

So one of my mods this summer will be to creat a space similar to yours for our porta-potti.

Since you are a "seasoned camper," I will suggest this. We have a 5 gal. green bucket with a toilet seat on top. The top has a lid. It sits underneath the camper, unnoticed and unused during the day and comes in at night for those "wee" hours of the morning. Primed with a quart of water and 1 Tbsp. of waste water treatment, it is odorless. It is maintenance free and easy to service. Since it's so simply emptied and recharged, we do it daily, usually at the dump station if it's close. It is carried clean and empty of liquid and used to haul the chemical, TP, hand sanitizer, towels, etc. in the truck bed.

I think porta-potties are a PITA if used exculsively for nocturnal urination compared with just dumping a bucket. They are a unitasker and take up valuable space. (They even require the pup owner to make modifications to store and implement them, don't they?   )

BTW, I own a porta-potti. It came with my sailboat. I used it once. Now the sailboat has a bucket, too.

[wavery]

BTW, I own a porta-potti. It came with my sailboat. I used it once. Now the sailboat has a bucket, too.

JFYI, on the sailboat, you can "legally" dump a bucket overboard (not that I'm suggesting it). It's illegal to dump a porta-potti overboard because it, technically, is a "holding tank".

[butterflyfish]

here is a picture of the seat I want to convert to a storage trunk.  



I am not too sure if it will work.  But we have never used it as a bed...

[wavery]

here is a picture of the seat I want to convert to a storage trunk.  



I am not too sure if it will work.  But we have never used it as a bed...

Pic is kinda small :eyecrazy:

Is that bottom cushion all one piece? Does the cushion have the plywood inside the cushion?

If the cushion is all one piece, it might be handy to cut it in thirds. Put a piece of 3/8" plywood under the foam, inside the fabric (if it isn't already there). You'll just need to sew panels on the ends of the new 1/3 cushions. If the cabinet has a plywood top, remove it and put braces in the cabinet where the edges of each cushion rests. Then install your hinges.

[butterflyfish]

Pic is kinda small :eyecrazy:

Is that bottom cushion all one piece? Does the cushion have the plywood inside the cushion?

If the cushion is all one piece, it might be handy to cut it in thirds. Put a piece of 3/8" plywood under the foam, inside the fabric (if it isn't already there). You'll just need to sew panels on the ends of the new 1/3 cushions. If the cabinet has a plywood top, remove it and put braces in the cabinet where the edges of each cushion rests. Then install your hinges.

I don't know how to make the pic bigger, but if you click on it, it will bring it up in the album.  

[wavery]

I don't know how to make the pic bigger, but if you click on it, it will bring it up in the album.  

OK....I got it..... :p

It looks like your cushions do not have the plywood in them but they seem to be 3 separate cushions with a slide-out panel to make a full size bed.

If you modify this, you might want to keep the panels that you remove, in case a new owner may like to restore it back.

It would be an easy mod that should only take an hour or two to accomplish.

[butterflyfish]

I started a repliy earlier, but clicked the wrong button on my ultra sensitive mouse and lost it all !!

Anyway, the cushion is all one cushion I should have mentioned that before.  And me and a needele and tread just don't get along...    The cushion rests on a piece of plywood.  I was thinking of maybe making that plywood lift on a hinge the cushion would have to be removed to access it.  Since the potty fits really nicely into the space between the counter and the bench, I really just want the area for storage there is so much wasted space under the seat it is sad.    I was thinking of storing the grill and stove and maybe camp chairs there (yes there is that much space but it is wasted.  Right now the drawer hold extra linnens and the cabinet hold the toaster oven and misc. supplies.  Do you think that will make it too difficult to use.  I know it will probably be a little akward, but if it is only during set up and clean up then I don't think it would be too hard...  

Thanks for the tip about keeping the piece that slides out to make a bed for resale purposes.  I'm hoping to be able to keep it there, but if it has to be removed, we will hold onto it.  

DH isn't as enthusiastic about mods as I am, so right now I am trying to keep them really simple and ones I can do myself.  I thik I could do this one myself, but it is going to have to wit til winter and the camping season is over.  It would be so much easier if we didn't have an HOA on a power trip (got a letter last week for keeping the PUP there "overnight" how they knew it was there over night I don't know, but I do have a couple of suspects I mean theories...)  Since then we could leave the pup for a day or two and I could do the mod by myself while the kids are at school.  I really do have to learn how to hook the dang thing up myself!