At times we struggled with the layout of our van. Nothing is perfect, the original family floor plan with rear single beds & the front lounge/double bed arrangement its 15x7 & weighing in empty well under 1000kg the classic 1973 Viscount. It's now just the two of us travelling with the van & with lots of complaining from me it was time to decide what to do maybe sell or renovate?? We really love the van, it's in great nick & have had some fantastic trips so we decided to change it to suit our needs.
First to go was the front configeration, the decision was easy, recliners!!!! I have read on this forum that others have made a similar modification, I thought this was the way to go as all caravan lounges we have sat in suffer the same problems. Being very solidly built the removal of the front furniture posed a challenge but the original wall panels were not damaged, just the original floor vinyl has been replaced.
I was able to source on Ebay two leather recliners in excellent condition for the transformation, not going to bother with a table permanently fitted inside as we have the camp table for outside use under the awning, & we can always use a stable table for meals inside. Here is a pic of the finished product at the front, I'm very happy with the result for very little outlay & the van will be way more comfortable now for watching TV, reading or snoozing!!!
-- Edited by Jafan on Tuesday 17th of November 2015 06:27:50 AM
I'd love to do similar to my Jayco Westport but am just not game.
Perhaps take out the passenger side L shaped lounge / dining suite & fit two recliners. It would be easier if I could do it at the front end but my kitchen is there & the ensuite at the other end.
Unfortunately I'm a pretty rough bush carpenter ... definitely not a cabinet maker.
we did something similar with our van. Removed the dinette and L shaped seating. Phil built a covering over the wheelarch (reused some of the under seat cupboard and a piece of pine for the top) so we have a low shelf behind the recliners. Collects a lot of crap!!
Opposite dinette was a lounge. he removed this too and put in a 3 door cupboard with varnished pine top. Our TV sits there and a lot of other crap as well....flat surfaces should be banned!!
For tables we purchased 2 fold up tables (from Magnamail or somehere similar) the ones with feet designed to slide under a lounge or chair with adjustable table top. They do fold flat if you want to store them. Ours just stay there all the time with laptop on it, puzzle books etc...we tend to read, do puzzles,play games on the putor while the tv is on .
The lamipanel that is in our van is obsolete but we were able to source some with a slightly different colour and pattern (beige woodgrain is probably what you would call the colour) and Phil made new doors with fancy trims so it all matches the rest of the van. We were even able to colour match the painted bits so it looks like it is original. Does help when you are a carpenter and have access to all the toys!!
