Sheila's Imitation RV

[Sheila]

Well, are we ready to build my RV style Garage?

First is the size. It's 12 x 32, and I hope to get a kitchen, a queen size bed, a single bed, a living room, and bath in it.
We will be building a new addition on the back for the bath this summer, before we actually move in, but we do use a porta potty now.
My son, who is 35 lives with us, he is 6' 3" and weighs 210 lbs, so there is no downsizing there
He was hit by a car and had a serious concussion, so he can't always help, but I do need to consider his living spaces too.
He reads a lot, and has to do a lot of small projects, using his hands, like beading, making model planes, things that take little space, but are necessary for improving his motor skills. Right now, he uses his bed to work, with a small table.
We have tons of OTHER storage space, so no problem with that. We plan to empty the garage and start from scratch.
Insulation, walls, etc. My children have filled my garage from top to bottom, back to front with their junk, and it's in the process of being removed now. I plan to change the front door and the windows, so floor plan is the most important. The layout is, from the lift up garage door, first the kitchen, then the living room, then the bedroom. That is how we had it before the kids invaded it, and hope to do it again. My job is to figure out how to get everything in it, that we NEED, with no "fluff" only what is necessary. I already have a nice refrigerator, a counter top, some kitchen cabinets, the queen bed, a single bed, and just about everything else, problem with that is, dressers are too big, so I need help with what else we can use that will help with clothes, and all that is needed. Below are photos of my garage, in terrible shape, but with your help, I will get there. Any suggestions will be very welcomed

[Sheila]

Did I mention that we have a pier and are close to the water? That's the reason for all the fishing stuff, and it will go in another garage. The kitchen starts at the garage door on the right side when looking at the garage. Then the living room, which is why the door will be taken out and moved, then the bedroom area. It was pretty spacious when we had it that way before, but need to replace the dressers with cabinets or something else. The front door will go in the far left side in the back where the bathroom is going this summer. There are also 3 lofts in the top of the garage, great storage area!
More bad photos of the pier, and more of the junk areas.

[Sheila]

The kitchen is almost empty right now, I plan on getting more recent photos, so you can see it, and although it's not at all what it should be, I will need some input on what should go into the space where the kitchen is. The area is about 12 x12 right now, with one side being the refrigerator and the countertop area you see in the photo, the other side is a long line of small dressers lined up along the wall, full of kitchen stuff, and then in front of them in the center of the garage is a 50's table and chairs, along with a bunch of "stuff" all around. Should I make this something else? all storage? Where the beds are, there will be little room left for clothes and anything else, so should I use that? or what else? This layout thing is making me nuts. The living room will be a TV, laptop and 3-4 chairs, or a sofa whichever works best. I also thought of using (my sons) Chris's bed as a daybed type of arrangement in the living room, in place of a sofa.

Since the garage is 12 wide, that would be the size of the rooms (deep) and then, maybe Kitchen 8x12, living room 12x12, and then the bedroom 12x12. ????????????????????

Left to right looking at the front of the garage, Bedroom, Living room, Kitchen.

That's about it!

[avalen]

over the years when I've had to contain all my stuff into a small space I did alot of stacking.
At one point in time I moved into a buffet apt, I had a housefull of furniture! Put some in
storage but utilized my dressers by stacking them on top of each other, or nightstands on
top of dresser to one side, I had bookcases stacked on top of each other and in one
instance it made for a "divider" from the entry area to the bed area. Luckily I was happy
with a twin bed, and it was set high on two tiers of underdresser from the old waterbed.
Anything I didn't use on a daily or weekly basis was stuffed in the back of a closet. Now,
I've downsized alot since I moved into my fifth wheel, but space is at a premium in a
fifth wheel as well. Summer clothes go into tubs and they are stacked on top of each other
in the corner of the bedroom. Stuff I don't need all the time is under the bed and in closets
that are not easy to access. When summer kicks in I put the winter clothes in those same
tubs. I have only 2 sets of towels (bath towel, hand towel and wash cloth) and 2 lg beach
towels. All the rest of my towels are in tubs with extra linen that I don't need either.
I really like the rubbermaid tubs for storage as compared to just using boxes. I've found
that over time the boxes get ate up by silverfish and other creepy things. With the tubs
they are sealed and protected and stack all the way to the ceiling if I want.
At our cabin we used a bucket to poddy in at night then emptied it into the outhouse.
I had a porta potty but the bucket was just easier.
Hope I've given you some ideas, personally I'd not worry about having a sofa, sitting on
the bed works fine for tv or even just a recliner or two.

[Echo]

Hey Sheila, don't know if it will help or not? The house that the X-boyfriend and I use to live in had the smallest bedroom I ever used. I think it was suppose to be the dining room as it was directly off the kitchen. But it measured 9' x 9' square. I fit a queen sized box springs and mattress in there along with 2 dressers and an entertainment center. With room left over for a garment rack. And I had room to walk around both sides and bottom of the bed to be able to make it. Your sons of course could be smaller with only a single bed. Figure a small bathroom with shower stall, commode and hand sink. Then the rest is of course kitchen, dining? and living room in the rest of the space. It's really up to you how much furniture you want to stuff into the space. You can get away with a lot less than you think.

With your garage being 12' x 32' that's a lot more room than an RV!!! Maybe not where length is concerned but for width, oh yeah !

[snowball]

This is an idea actually two for one ok?
One go to check out rv's get the booklet on the models you like they will have a floor plan
also the other idea is take a piece of graph paper cut to scale and cut to scale furniture and play house
move it about lots easier on paper then moving that piece of furniture....
don't stress about it either!!! when is this all to come about? you probably said but hey this is a forum with lots
of older people on it and you may have to repeat ..... often
but I would check lots of rv's different plans in different models but you will get the feel of it when you walk through
we are in a 5th wheel slides not sure how big the slides make it but length is comparable we have a hide a bed which is an idea
for son but the day bed /futon works two another place to get ideas would be trailers used ones probably single wides you can probably find
used ones and get idea's on how to work on yours
the other "sheila"

[OutandAbout]

Overhead cabinets would work. If you don't have the floor space, think UP, use the walls. The cabinets would probably give you as much storage space as the dressers would. Pick an area. Possibly floor to ceiling cabinets?. They can be double duty in sectioning off an area as well. Just a few thoughts, hope it helps. Linda

[Pooker]

The building looks almost tall enough - how about loft sleeping area? Would give storage space underneath. Think of those kid units where the bureau is under the top bunk. Ya don't have to stand up in a loft - just crawl up the ladder and into bed!

Heck, the smallest bedroom in our stick house was only 7 x 8 and each of the kids had a turn living in that room. It can be done. We had a twin bed with drawers underneath on one side and large double dresser on the other. AND room for a child's desk, too!

Good idea about checking out floor plans in RVs, especially trailers and fivers. They tend to have more efficient room than motorhomes. Focus on one area at a time instead of your mind jumping all around.

[Sheila]

I KNEW you ladies would have some great ideas! I had thought of the under the bed idea, but the rubbermaid is a great one. I've used the cardboard and it falls apart every time. That's a good one. I have also stacked furniture, but had forgotten all about it, that's a good one too. The floor plans are a wonderful thought, and I can find tons of them. I did think of cabinets but since I have one really long empty upper wall I thought that a Do-It-Yourself shelf type closed cabinet would be good??? or will it just get in my way? it would be over the TV in the living area, about 8 feet long. Too long?? I know I could use the room. The loft idea is good, but he is just too big for the loft. It's strong, but him jumping down on my brain is not in the cards. I will use them for long term storage.
The bedroom can be really small, I don't really need much in there, but I did think of putting 3' cabinets on each side, upper and lower. The upper being a small closet for hanging clothes, and bottom a small dresser with a top like a nightstand.

I really wanted to know how to make the bedroom more private, and the bookcases are just the thing. One or two of them will block off the entire bedroom as a wall, without getting in the way of the walkway, same thing goes for the bathroom, and they will match!!!! Fantastic!

I'm trying to list all the cabinets I have, so I can get an idea what I can use. Some of the big furniture goes out tomorrow, so that will be a wonderful start. God bless my brother who is going to help me. He's a go getter, so a lot will be out of there by tomorrow. I will take my camera so I can get some current photos for ya. You guys have sure given me a ton of encouragement. I can't thank you enough for being so kind. It's so nice to be around hopeful human beings again.

Blessings to everyone, and thank you all so much. Keep the ideas coming.

[Liz]

I met a couple last summer who had built their own RV. One thing that worked really well for them was open shelves for their folded clothes. They were easy to see/find and access, and took up very little room.

[kelpie]

Another idea is since you are doing some building/remodeling anyway..maybe built in cabinets in bedroom and kitchen. You can design them however you want and they will free up floor space. Like in an RV or boat or mobile home. You could even do a wall-mounted headboard/night stand thing and just set the mattress/box springs right up against them or use a simple metal frame to gain some space underneath for storage.

[Sheila]

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a while, but we HAVE been working on the garage, and with the current snow fall, it has taken a lot longer than anyone thought it would.

I met my brother and his friend at our storage unit on Jan. 4, 2010. They were busy unloading THE FIRST LOAD when they informed me that INDEED we would need a lot more room. So while they were working, I ran off to rent another unit, and then meet them back at the Garage. Purchased a new 10 x 20 storage unit - DONE! I head to the property.

So proud, with the new unit papers in hand, I walk into my Garage and WOW! The huge gap the men had created was WONDERFUL, until I looked UP! How did I ever forget how much stuff that is up there in the lofts. Maybe I need and even bigger unit!

Oh well, the BEAST is finally getting "carved up" so Nothing can stop me now.
Since I had to check on some storage items I have been considering, I took off, leaving them to work on the garage, and
before leaving we decide that since it will take a LOT more trips, we will meet up again on Friday and Saturday.

Today is Friday, and because it snowed Again! I figured that hauling was off. THEN my brother called, and they are ALREADY at the property, and have made 2 more trips. They plan on being there all day, so right now, I'm sitting here waiting for them to show up with some of my pots and pans.

My ONLY sorrow in all of this is, I can't walk on snow so I don't have pictures. However, my brother promised to take me down so that we can get some. He is such a sweetheart. I like a lot of photos, so he promised to help me get as many as we can. I'm going to post them here, and make an album of all of it. (my first album)

So far, all is better than expected, even with the snow and ice and rain.

I'm so tickled that I can't stand it. So I thought I would come in here and tell everyone about it.
It isn't much yet, but I AM ON MY WAY!

Next post will have photos of the storage I'm considering. Hopefully an empty garage, and the rough floor plan of what I hope will work.

All your wonderful suggestions have really helped, I realized that regular size items, just Don't belong in my RVGarage.

What a revelation!

[AlmostThere]

Hey, Sheila, thanks for checking in and updating us on your progress. My you have been a busy girl! You just know we look forward to your pictures, too!
Be extra careful with all that snow and ice, hear?

[Sheila]

Snow, Record Rain, Hospitals, Husbands Heart Surgery, Mothers Heart Surgery, and about 1,000 other obstacles have kept me from posting here. However, you guys have been on my mind all the while, just waiting for the chance to get back in here and share with you what I have, and what I have not, been able to do.

First, my husband and mother are doing fine now, but my mom had a really hard time, and is just now getting better.

Let me start by saying, that although I could do little from Jan. until now, things are back on track, and I wanted to share what I have been able to do, in the few short weeks I have been able to start over.

When I left here, the garage was almost empty, with the exceptions of a couple of dressers, our large tool box, and a few kitchen base cabinets.

I have since installed all of the insulation, installed a lot of new electric, and organized and tossed a lot of the clothes that had been left in the dressers.

I purchased a new stove, and porta potty. I did make up a floor plan that I feel will work fine, but will see when I get in and move things around.

I purchased enough 4x8 sheets of wood to make up some nice floor to ceiling pantry type cabinets, and some of those rubbermaid storage boxes in different sizes.

I have already contracted someone for the small addition on the back of the garage. It's not much, but it will help a lot.

The attached photo is a bad one, but it shows the insulation, and although I had to replace a few, (grandson "helped") it's all done.

[VickieP]

It's good to see you've come through all the obstacles life has thrown you and your family's way and now are able to work on your new home. Keep us updated!