Let The Games Begin

So I have been driving this van around for a couple of months to get a feel for it.  Took some short trips and it gets thumbs up. I have also been playing around with ideals how to convert it.

Oh, and lets not forget, collecting stuff. I picked up a 12V battery operated fan and found a 12v cord to fit it in my electronic junk.  My Son donated a 1000 watt inverter to the cause. ~grin~ I have such wonderful children -- not only do they NOT frown on my out-of-the-box ideas.. they support them.

Hmmm... got side tracked ... back on subject.  So I have been thinking about how to create a light yet sturdy bed.  I don't want wood, too much weight overall. I thought about using a white plastic table top and change the legs but I could not find a size I am happy with. They are all too wide,  24 inches is plenty of space for me. Because of a physical disability, I can't roll over in my sleep unless I wake up. So I rarely turn over. Anyway, I finally found the bed solution.  Before I tell you about it, I need to clarify this.. I am not crazy (well, maybe a bit) and it does work.

Have you seen the three tier shelves at the home improvement stores?  They are two by three molded shelves with pvc tubing that separate each shelf.  Not the el cheapo dollar store variety but good sturdy ones.  Believe it or not, they claim to hold 750 lbs. The catch here is that the weight needs to be evenly distributed because of the pvc legs.  Well with a few alterations they make a perfect bed for my mini RV.

I took the pvc legs and cut them to 11".  This happens to be the perfect height for my van and for the single 29 qt single storage drawers.  Once this was done I inserted the legs into two of the shelves, set them end to end and zip tied the legs together.  The final modification was to cut 11" sections of 1 1/4 wooden dowel rod and insert it into the pvc legs thus making them more sturdy.  The pvc legs are the weak link in these shelves but the dowel rods solidify them.

Once all of that was done I added a foam mattress and bedding --- Perfect!  Oh, and what made this better than perfect .... I already had the shelves.  I only had to buy the doweling. So the total cost of the bed was $8.00.

My $8.00 bed....