The Front storage cabinet is a simple frame with an open front for slide-in clothes bins. It is only screwed into the floor and the side bench wall, not the front camper wall. We wanted the left hand side (looking toward the front) to be very sturdy to hold the Lagun table mount so it has two walls and the space between them forms another narrow cabinet accessed from the top. (The board that says "Buffalo" is a hardwood (poplar?) from a furniture dolly that we reconstructed to hold the camper). The rest of the frame is pine and the sides are half inch Baltic Birch Plywood.

Because we wanted the table support to be strong, we used a combination of pocket holes and angle brackets to build the front storage cabinet (Ok, maybe four angle brackets is excessive in this picture, but I tend to be that way). The pocket holes are made with a Kreg Jig (blue part) and specialized drill bit seen here in the RYOBI drill.

On the top of the front cabinet you can see the two small hatches we added later to make better use of the space behind the bins and the narrow space between the bins and the Lagun mount. We store our dirty laundry bag behind the bins and we store adult beverages in the narrow space between the wall for the bin space and Lagun mount.

The side bench expansion required some teardown. We removed the hinged top for the long narrow compartment that housed the 12v components and some storage in the shell. Then we removed the two small hatches for accessing the turnbuckles and the finished panel that covered the side of the bench, exposing the 12v gear on the back wall. This was all straightforward. You can see our 7 gallon fresh water tank propped up on the remaining shelf.

Finally, we screwed on the top half of the original side panel to complete the bench. After this we found some similar carpet and re-carpeted the bench.

As before, with the Front cabinet, we used original side panel (cut in half) and the same "finish washers so it all matches the style of the original cabinets. I will get into the 120v AC system and the fresh water system added to this new compartment in later posts.

The final touches on the side bench include the black 1' x 2" pine cleat along to top to support the lower bed boards when we convert the sitting/dining area into our "lounge mode" or "lower bed mode". There are two air vents to help cool the charger when we plug into the 120 volt system to recharge or maintain the battery. Finally, we make good use of the space below the bench overhang to store shoes/boots and coats etc. (usually in stuff sacks). They are retained by an mesh material with bungee in the top and side hems, and fastened by easily detached clips for access to the turnbuckle hatches so that we can check them frequently.

This video from our YouTube Channel may give you a better idea how these two construction projects came together. Please Subscribe to be notified when the next one is posted!

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