At the Oregon Gathering, I saw SO many 13s with the front dinette mod. I actually had only seen Lizs until then, and the jury was out at the time..

The more I see them, the more I like. Seeing that there ISN"T that much loss of space, I am goin' ahead with it.. but in a fashion I can reverse (Like most of them are.)

Porta Potti can live under the bed, Dogs can lounge ON the bed instead of stinkin up my goucho, and I don't have to futz and worry about the cushion coverings as much. I saw some chaise lounge padded covers in the right color I am going to chop to bits to make the seats.. off to Lowes!!!

(Wheres my Credit card???)

Happy chopping!

Gina are there any pic's of the mod your talking about? You have sparked my interest.

Thanks, Clint

ps. I went to see the Trails West Camper you had given me the link to. It was very nice but my wife thought it was too small, so it will be a 13' egg. Thanks Again!

The bed is done, that was easy. It's it's normal set up with the big table down and the cushions in place. I put foam on top of that and have two of the same 25 degree bags that are rather festive made into one big double bag (Well, it will be when I get down to Freds to get one of them back)

The front table is already up. That was fairly easy as the former owner FINISHED the cubby covers just like the cabinet doors, in maple, so the piece was already cut, trimmed and finished

Hey, take the easy way out when you can.

I used the pole and sockets from the big table. Have to stop at Camping World and get new ones in case I ever want the big table up again, to seat more than three.

I am working on the cushions now.. also will be easy, but I will save the pics til a little later. I only came inside to cool off in the shower.. for the 3rd time today.

Cant wait to see your new mods!!

Gina, if it's anywhere near as hot there as it is here, you must be melting! I can't wait to see pics of what you are doing. I too, am curious about the modification.

It has cooled down to 90

OK.. Here is what I USED to have:

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a place that the dogs lived on and a very heavy cushion that added to my tongue weight, collected "stuff, and in general, was not usable unless the kids stayed home (That doesn't happen often.)

This is what I have NOW:

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A bigger table, but not the monstrosity the Burro supplies, a place for 3 to eat (With an extra chair) and an area closer to the heater, which is directly opposite the seat with the door under it there.

I can leave my computer set up, no tearing down at nite and stowing on the kitchen counter, and with my swing TV opposite the dinette, I can watch movies etc from either the bed, or the table.

The table top was already made. It was the support between the two seats. As mentioned earlier, I simply used the hardware from the big table to fasten it. I had to add a spacer to the bottom so the screws would not penetrate the top. A bit of my nieghbors excess flooring scrap did the trick.

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I glued the scrap on and drilled, put the socket on. The I inserted the pole, fastened the floor socket to it, positioned the floor socket, drilled and installed hardware. I used caulk in to screw holes just in case they went thru the floor to the outside world. Didn't look like they did tho.

As you can see, the former owner went a little overboard on the cubby covers.. his work.. my gain.

Those cubby covers are a little crunchy. I did NOT want to butcher the gaucho cushion, so I went in search of an alternative.

Ended up with 4 2x22x22 foam craft squares from Micheals Crafts. I stacked 2 together for each cushion and cut out the contour for the curve at the wall..

On top you see doubled sided foam tape.. I am using this to secure the covering I bought. Cant sew for.. uhm.. beans, so I used a cut a square and tuck method. The tape is gooey and real sticky.. keeps the covering from sliding on the foam. (Yes, it really works!)

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I took the car upholstry racing red faux leather and wraped and tucked.. leaving me with this:

Even tho the foam width was a perfect fit for the seat, there still is a sizable gap behind. My solution was a couple therapuetic pillows I had lying around. They are the same foam, but 4 inches thick. A perfect fit to fill the gap.
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I cut each pillow so there would be a backrest and a small arm rest. This worked out perfectly.

... and it don't L K "chopped" at all.

Now, as mentioned earlier.. I can't sew.. the flying monkeys are better at it than me..

BUT, even tho I have this female domestic malfunction, I CAN do what ALL women can do from birth. Wrap Presents.. I used this ingrained skill to cover the pillow foam.

Using rag rugs and red cording, I made little packages. Everything is double knotted and tied at the junctions. It will be holding together for the cockroaches to enjoy after the holocaust

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Thanks Liz.. an offshoot of the rug idea comes to life!

Table and hardware = $0 (already had it)
Price of foam = $24
Obnoxious Red Covering = $40 (I have enough to cover all the other cushions under the bed, to keep them dry in case of window leaks)
Rag rugs = $1 each (Big Lots!!!!)
Big fluffy bed I don't have to manufacture every nite = Priceless.

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Don't look at that Porta Potty and junk under there. Pete will be making me a dust ruffle shortly.

Gina... I am SO disappointed... your job looks great. It a pro upholstery job. I looks like a factory install. It'll work perfectly. It improves the Burro tremendously. It's just that I was expecting... well... I dunno... a CHOP job... like:

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or...

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You know... CHOPPED!

Roger

Rog, I already did that.. It's a transformer deal..

I put the wheel on the tongue jack and crank that sucker up as far as it will go!

Works great in a crowd of Harleys.

Looks GREAT Gina! You must be one determined lady to work in this heat The most I could accomplish yesterday was turning the pages of a novel.

Very impressive Gina!!!

Ah, Gina - what a terrific job with your mod! It looks wonderful and seems to be such a practical improvement for the way you use your Egg.

Hmmm - what Donna said, too ... so much energy in the heat! We spent most of yesterday helping a son & dad team (from the Sacramento area, where it was 119 or something!) with preparations to haul our '55 Spartan restoration project which they are "adopting". Phew, had to take lots of water breaks in the shade or in the house with the swamp cooler churning our coolness. We are glad this gem will shine again ... we just ran out of resources & inspiration at the same time.

It was a pleasure to meet face-to-face at the Gathering, and wish there had been more time for just visiting ... future meets and other campgrounds down the road, eh?

Take care & don't melt! L 'n D

Wow! Gina, that looks spectacular. I especially love how you did the pillows with the cording. Very cool! The whole modification looks professional.

And your dogs are sooooo cute.

It looks great Gina and is such a better use of the space in my opinion (unless the kids are bigger than your little furry ones!!)

Regarding the mess under your bed ... LOL... this is what I did to disguise mine- 1/2 yard of fabric and one tension curtain road and voila!

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Yes, it has the dreaded sewing, but just a few very basic straight seams! OR... I just happened to think, if you used a couple more of those rag rugs I'll bet you could just weave the tension rod in between every few inches and have no sewing at all!

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Jaye

I used one of the rag rugs to hide to potti when it was under the gaucho. Unfortunately, the fit is so tight under there that a pole is out of the question. Even a small scrap of carpet under the pot to make it slide easier lifts it just an enth too high to get it under there.

I will use some of the red leather to fashion a ruffle..

unless Pete has a better idea

It can still be made into a bed, no problem. I don't generally have kids with me, the two legged kind, but if need be, it's there.

Now, I have to find a place in the tiny house to store the gaucho cushion!!!

How about if you used adhesive to attach one part of a velcro strip to the front edge of the table top / bed platform, and staple the mating part of the velcro strip to the edge of the rag rug?
No sewing, no lack of clearance problems... E-Z P-Z

Thought of that, and I can sew enuff to add velcro LOL!

I don't want to do anything to permanently disfigure the table. The wood is so pretty and may be a selling point, should, heaven forbid, I ever sell it.

A spring rod across the whole front there, higher up, might work tho.

Perhaps I can think of a way to use my new DREMEL tool to do this...I am much better with power tools than a sewing machine...

My second thought was to somehow use those last pretty cubby covers to make a set of hinged doors there. Thats a lot of work, but doable. Would actually look classy too.

GREAT job Gina! I don't sew very good myself,but I have 3 girls that do it all,go figer on that on.........just to add to the fun 2 of the girls & myself can use All of their Dad's power tools( now that he is retired he builds furniture for them) better than their husbands as well as do basic auto up keep( you know change oil,flats etc...) The oldest girl just does all girl stuff, teaches school ,and trains dogs (don't know what happened to her) So I can still say Girl Power Rules...LOL!

Everything you have done looks GREAT! Oh yeah..love the Red. Lynn M

Nice Job, Gina. It looks like something I would like to do after the kids get big enough to use the tent. They'll want to be out there by then, anyways.

Candi

looking goog gina......

Somebody here (Maybe it was Liz) said that the front table mod was the songle most useful and practicle improvement one could do to a 13.

I used it this weekend and can wholey agree!

My mornings went far better, not having to make up the table and re arrange the counter that stored everything at nite. The "kids" thoroughly enjoyed the extra spread out space I made JUST for them (Thats what they think, anyway) and I was not pestered by thier shuffling and whining to be right where Mom is. (It's hard to say no to all that extra room, they jumped up and settled in and stayed put)

It actually decreased set up and strike time as most stuff did not have to be moved from or to the floor. It stayed put and was only accessed when needed. I got in late friday nite, and didn't do full set up. I just leveled and chocked, pulled out the bins, set them outside, made a small dinner and crawled into bed.

No re arranging anything! It was drizzly and since I don't do fires, I was inside a good deal of the time. Had plenty of room and no work. I like that!

Hi Gina

I love your new decor and dinette mod. You really did a beautiful job.. and I also love the look of your packaged back rests.

You might think about a valance that you can purchase at K-mart or Wal-mart... That's what we used for quite awhile. We just purchased a spring rod and put it through the valance and it was done.

I'm looking forward to seeing your new mod...

Carol

Sexy, very sexy!

Yes it twas I that came up with all those wonderful ideas, yes it surly was.

My dust ruffle came from the 99 cent only store, whacked it to size and attached with thumb tacks. As Fred says EZ PZ.

You must get a red porch light.

Looks great Gina. If I had kept my front goucho model I had wanted a front dinette also. Definately the way to go.

Gina,
Would you be able to post pictures of your TV setup and your heater? We're trying to figure out the best way to do these things in our Burro. Right now we're using the table (like yours) for the TV, but we'd like to find a better way.

Also, we tried our propane catalytic heater while in Yellowstone and found that it caused the walls to drip water! Would a small electric heater be better?

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

here is a link to the heater and install

Wave 3 heater

The TV install pics were lost in the hack, but I could try more.

The one I got is no longer made and it was an eBay closeout thing.

Thanks. Your plans are very good! Our Black Cat does a nice job for quick warm-ups, but I'm really concerned about the condensation inside. Does anyone have one of those small ceramic electric heaters? I know you would need a plug-in or a generator, but these should solve the condensation problem, I think.

Kevin

Kevin, I use a cube heater when I have AC and no, they don't leave any condensation.

With a Cat heater, you need to leave one or two windows cracked about an inch. This is not only for your safety, but it also helps with the condensation.

I leave the one in the door by the heater cracked, and the one above my head when in bed.

With me and 2 dogs, the condensation has gotten really bad anyway, especially if it's raining out. Leaving the windows open helps quite a bit.

It' the nature of propane.

Really nice looking mod, Gina!

Just this morning I was thinking about Gina sitting in my front dinette at Bandon and talking about needing one of her own. I guess she wasn't kidding!!!

Gina,
We like our front table too. I bought a TV tray and suggested that we cut the legs off a chair, but I bought a set of chairs on ebay that didn't fit. Kevin A (my hubby) found a set at Goodwill. He ordered swivels, took the legs off the chairs and attached it to the front supports. Walmart proviced the chair pads. We just lift them off when we need to access the storage, but we would like to make doors like you did.
Those front mods are really great, aren't they? I love your reds.

CindyL

Gina I love the front dinette mod idea. You did an excellent job. I just recently (3 weeks ago) bought my first 78 Boler trailer and I just love that idea and now want to do that in mine as well. Thanks for the creative idea.

Kym
Surrey, BC