I was wandering around in Home Depot last week, looking for something else, when my eye was caught by a very nice looking redwood window box for flowers. "Hey" I said to myself.. "Interesting. That looks like the refacing on the cabinet doors I am doing in the Burro".

I wandered further down the aisle... *Ding* "HEY!" I said to myself.."That looks like the refacing on the cabinet doors I am doing in the Burro" Doh!...

That thing holds stuff! Since I am always looking for extra clever storage.. I measured it and sure enough, it will fit on the back bench that does nothing but hold an unused cushion. Since I also need a stand for my new TV, I got another idea... put a lid on it. (Yes, folks have been telling me to do that forever...)

I picked up a white shelf that is identical to the current cabinet doors.. and since I won't be refacing the lower doors in the back, it works great as a matching top and lid. A couple hinges later, I have a narrow but useful storage area for tacky awning lights and cords and other misc stuff that is only accessed for set up and tear down, a TV stand, a place to stow the cushion behind, and I will be able to stow my spiderleggs table back there as well, I get to block the view of the nasty unmatched seams on the interior of the shell...AND I have matching "furniture" for my cabinet doors.

All for under 20 bucks and a few minutes labor. I will be attaching the box with sliding bolts so it can be removed quickly and set on the floor should I ever want to use the big bed in back.

These were inexpensive, (9 bones) so I got two, one for a future use up front ... storage again (I'll post when I do that later)

Fancy smancy! Looks good! How are you liking the TV?

We just came in from ripping the carpeting off the stairs in the BF, starting to take apart said stairs (stupid design) and ripping out the carpeted step in front of the bathroom. Carpet was FULL of dirt. Will rebuild all with NO carpet!

eww... I HATE pulling carpet, especially when it has someone elses dirt.. my dirt, of course, is clean and sanitary.. :-P

I am tickled with the TV.. it weighs nothing, great picture, draws very little current, is easy to move and it has a really cool remote LOL!

It is large enough to see from up front of the trailer should I want to lie on the bed and watch, but I just move it and set it on top of the stove instead to watch DVDs from there.

The problem with that is the same as at home.. once I am in a lie down.. the TV puts me to sleep..

Looks great Gina, your ability to find and use things for purposes other than their original intention is amazing. The guitar/solar panel case will forever remain in my memory banks. Have you checked into your TV's settings? Many have a sleep and alarm function built into their adjustment settings.

I had to force my brain to reconfigure TV as a TeleVision not Tow Vehicle on this forum. Your comment reminded me of taking a crying baby for a drive around the block a few times so they would finally go to sleep.

That is.. when it's not in our living room. Yes, he copied the idea.

thats OK.. I have a guitar case or two in my living room.

Love the new (for Roy)Television(for Roy) stand. Very cool.

I'm getting a new television?
Thanks for the heads up Greg, the remote is dying on the old one.

uhm... that one is mine..

get yours here.

I really am pleased with it.. it's one of the nicest items I have for the trailer and was pleasantly suprised at the wieght and quality. It was far beyond what I expected.

nice mod, looks great

You always have such cool ideas Gina.Its exactly what I need. We always end up with the TV either to close or to far away.This will provide a perfect solution not only for the TV but providing extra storage which is something we always need more of.Going to get my planter box tomorrow. ...Thanks.

I am anxious to see what you come up with. When the idea hit my pea brain, I looked at other types of boxes, but the "decor" of this one just fit so well with what I have done it was a no brainer deciding on it.

here are my cabinet facings

Click to view attachment

it was too perfect, even tho the box is redwood and the cabinets are cedar. I *Hope* the redwood does not fade to gray, but since it is indoors and not exposed to any elements except filtered sun, I suspect they will remain this color for a long time.

If you're really worried about it fading, I don't see why you couldn't coat it with some clear polyurethane. You could either spray or brush it on. We used it on a wooden kitchen table that gets heavy use and lots of moisture and it did fine.

Hi Gina:I am trying to understand all the things of how your 12 v. tv works. You use an antenna cable cord type end thing to plug into your tv. You use solar energy for power. I know I am missing other things, but I can't think of the engineering words of what else makes all this work. I am in absolute awe of what you have done to make your Burro, a close 1st, but a 2nd home. Do you have a Phd. in Engineering? -Mary Lynn K.

Mary, the TV has a 12 volt power supply, meaning it runs on 12 volt dc directly. It has a cigarette lighter style plug that just plugs directly into one of my 12v sockets. It also comes with a wall wart.. a converter that takes 120v and drops it down to 12v. Small Electronic items actually run on dc voltage, the converter supply is just built into the "thing" and it plugs into 120. You can hack into these things if you know what you are doing and run it direct with the proper DC voltage, but I don't recommend trying if you are not experienced.

Nothing actually runs off my solar. The solar charges my battery only, and then stuff runs off of it.

I have a Winegard amplified antenna for getting over the air broadcast stations, and this tv has a digital tuner and HD. I don't need my converter box anymore.

I am not a degreed engineer, no. But I was an engineering tech in my past life...frankly, I like parking RVs better

Pamela, I thought of clear coating, but that usually also changes the color of the wood.. more noticeable on lighter colors, no? Or is that only certain kinds of wood? I know I won't be clear coating the cedar.. that effects the aroma. It will brown up with age if exposed to the sun.. but I had it in a spot on my walls in my house for over a decade with no fade.

Gina: Thanks for the info-I look forward to reading about mod.& helping others-Mary Lynn K.