Creating a Space You Love

I have never needed a lot of things.  I have never been “it has to be the best” or it has to be fancier than the Jones” type of girl. Sweet and simple and above all else comfortable. That makes me happy!

A couple of weeks ago I started my transformation of the back of my van. I loved my King size bed and the room to sleep but really, I had no comfortable space to sit.

I think when I retired I realized I do more sitting in my van then sleeping now a days. Working in an office 8-10 hours a day, when I came home it was a couple of hours and I was crawling into bed. Now I needed a comfortable place to sit and write and watch disaster movies and Murdock Mysteries.

I love the new sitting area I have created. It is so much easier to keep everything organized and neat. Making that bed was a hefty job.  Those blankets were heavy and the whole crawling thing, trying to pull the blankets up towards the back was getting as old as I am! Lol! With the bed on one side and a comfortable sitting area on the other I have created a very comfortable space.

Getting used to a single bed from a king was an adjustment. Not only that but the foam would move around on the cushions as I tossed and turned, and I do that, and it would feel like I was falling into the middle. I really had to fix that. To fix the sliding I took the rubber matting you put on shelves so that things do not slide around and put it between the foam and the bench seat cushions. This would keep the foam from moving too much. I still felt I was falling into the middle. Like it was too low on that side. I know there are hinges under the cushions on the outside part of the bench, could that be it? I tried to think of something that would give me maybe 2″ of height but only along the inside edge. I thought about a v shaped foam that would give a little lift to the inside but not all the way across. Then I would have the same problem but a longer fall. Lol. I really could not find what I needed. I thought if it was foam would it have to be thicker than I want to get an even effect? Contemplating the problem as I only needed 2 or 3″ on the one side I thought of folding one of my many blankets trifold, length ways and putting under the cushion running the hole length of the bed. Oh so worked PERFECTLY!! My bed is comfortable and I do not feel like I am going to roll off.

My sitting area was perfect with the bistro table in the middle to put my coffee on. My grandson gave me his lap desk and I can work on my computer in comfort. For movie watching I would just turn my computer into a tablet (taking off the magnetic keyboard) and hang it on a cupboard on the wall. I would like to be able to have the TV on as background when I am working. A little bigger screen would be nice also.

Talking with Tom and Kim I thought about buying a small smart tv with a firestick and mounting it on the side of the cupboard. But the smallest I could find at a reasonable price was 32″ that was too big as the width of my cabinet is only about 16″. They did have a 24″ but it was way over priced and still too big. Tom had an old acer 18″ monitor that would be compatible to a firestick. All I would need would be a small folding mount and we could set it diagonal to the cabinet. I could pull it out straight when I was sitting and leave it diagonal for when I am laying in bed. Oh thats perfect!!

There was only one issue. See all the wires? My electronics cabinet is the perfect  place but all the wires coming out the front was well, just messy. What if we cut a hole in the back and ran the wires through the back, then you would not see them.

There are a few more things on my list to do. A purple mat to cover the beige, of which I cannot find at the moment and I want to replace the cabinet door. It is a roll down and has worn with time. It slides way too far down and things fall out of the top. I was thinking a half and half door with the hinge in the middle. Made of plexiglass I think it would look really good with a Smokey grey color. Goes with the purple.  🙂

I am so excited to have created such a comfortable space. With one book done and another started, starting my freelance writing career I have created an enjoyable living and working space!

Ohhh know what else I got this week? Running water!!! Oh YEA!!!! A little earlier than most years and I am taking a small chance at freezing but looking at the weather I will take the chance!

Thanks for coming along on my Chipmunk Adventure!

See you next week!

🐿