Filling Up and Getting Tighter

As we continue with the installation of cabinetry, the space gets even smaller. Maybe because I'm 6'4" and 250 pounds, I just have a hard time seeing two people camping in this tight of a space although the owners are very compatible so it will work out. We installed the fresh water tank and cabinetry that encloses it along with the seating/storage cabinet on the passenger side. That slot is a site window for checking the water level in the tank. Seat tops are in and now its time to wire, plumb and run propane lines.

Stay tuned.

A Few Alterations Along the Way

As we began to put this cabinet together, we realized a few adjustments were in order so the layout was modified to suit the client's requests. We are now building the countertop and working on the seating cabinet for the fresh water tank which is just to the left in this picture.

One of the biggest challenges for this build out is there are four turnbuckle access points, one in each corner just above the floor, that the client needs to be able to reach in and connect the camper to the truck bed. They don't plan on taking the camper off of the truck very often but we still need to leave access to these areas.

Here's a picture of yesterday's progress. Looks much better with the drawers and doors.

Talk About Tight Spaces

After camping off and on with some close friends of mine over the past few years, I kept asking them if they had ever gotten anything done on their pop-up camper which was just an empty shell. The conversation got around to me picking up the project by designing and making the interior cabinetry. Now this pop up camper fits on their Toyota Tacoma four wheel drive pickup so it has a small footprint and with me at 6 foot 4 inches tall, its kind of tight for me.

They have already purchased a 12/120 volt fridge, 2 burner cook top, sink, foot pump, 20 gallon water tank, deep cycle battery, and a solar system which was already installed. My task was to get all of this to fit into this small space and still make it comfortable as well as useable.

As with any project of this type, many discussions took place as well as matching up their conceived ideas and then getting mine to match. After many trips to the camper for measuring, I made a 2 dimensional mock-up in Adobe Illustrator. After this was agreed upon, I went to Sketch-Up for a 3-dimensional version of the driver's side where most of the previously purchased items will be going.

We moved the camper from my house to my friend Bob's house as he has a complete woodworking shop. He graciously allowed us to invade his private domain. Thanks so much Bob.

At this point, the driver's side cabinet is complete with the facing put on. Now we're working out the counter top and will be applying a white laminate. Here's a few pictures of our progress and copies of the digital files.

More to follow...