Custom Conversions
Sofa to Dual Chairs Conversion
Our travel trailer came equipped with a jackknife sofa. It was certainly attractive and sufficient to its purpose as a spare bed. But in truth, it was not especially comfortable seating when we wanted to use the living area of the trailer. We also didn’t need the extra bed. We removed the jackknife bed and converted the area to an easier living space for us.
When we took out the sofa, we saved back some of the decorative fabric and trim to use later. Removing the sofa left the lower cabinets with one open side. We purchased hardwood with a grain that matched the cabinetry, had it cut to size and stained it to match the wood finish.
Before installing the wood panels, we finished the floor edge with a bead of welting covered in vinyl fabric that matched the décor. We then enclosed the open ends of the cabinets. We added a metal threshold to trim the carpet to the vinyl floor that had been beneath the sofa. We used some of the original fabric from the jackknife sofa as accent pieces. In the space where the sofa had been, we brought in two reclining chairs with ottomans (footstools).
Glass to acrylic mirror conversion
Our sailboat live-aboard life taught us a few important lessons. One of them was to put safety first. Our travel trailer came with stylish gold-trimmed beveled glass mirrors in the fronts of the shirt closets. They were lovely, but they could shatter.
We removed the glass mirror fronts and replaced them with acrylic mirror. It is half the weight of glass, which is certainly an advantage. The surface is highly reflective, so they have the intended to effect, to increase the sense of light and openness inside the trailer. They are also shatter resistant, safer than glass with ten times the break resistance.
We bought the sheets cut to size from a plastic shop in Portland, Oregon. Most big cities have stores of this type. The acrylic sheets are protected on the back by a durable scratch resistant coating. The front surface was protected with a clear polyethylene film that we peeled off on installation. The care is simple. We don’t use window cleaner, because the chemical in it will mar the surface. Instead, we wipe the acrylic mirrors down with a clean, damp cotton rag.