Bedroom and Closet

Whether it's a house, an apartment, or a motorhome, nothing is more indispensable than a place to sleep. Somewhere to store your clothes is also pretty important. Thus, of all the "rooms" in my RV design, I had to get the bedroom and closet just right. After considering a lot of alternatives, I believe I have.

To be frank, the bedroom really isn't much more than a bed. My first Sportsmobile (SMB) design used a foldout couch as the only bed. A second design used what SMB calls a gaucho, which is just a different type of foldout couch. Both of these always seemed a bit extravagant since I knew from the beginning I wanted something that I could leave made up as a bed most the time, removing the bedding and converting it to a couch only when necessary to entertain company. So, since the third and final design has a separate couch in the front of the van, I was happy to gain some badly needed storage space and save weight by using a platform bed in the rear.

A platform bed is just a raised base with a cushion on top. In my design, the sleeping surface is 30" above the floor of the van, which leaves plenty of room beneath the bed for storage and is easy (for me) to climb in and out of. For SMB, the mattress is actually an upholstered cushion of foam rubber. The SMB design is unique from what I've seen: they use 2" of soft foam on top of another 4" of firm foam. It sounds like a very comfortable design, and though I haven't actually stretched out on one, I have sat on their seats cushioned that way and found them very pleasant. I've certainly gotten a good night's sleep on much more spartan arrangements. If I really want to go luxurious, there's nothing to stop me from putting a memory foam topper over that; something that would be awkward with a fold out couch. As you can see in the image above, I'm having the cushion upholstered in a burgundy fabric that should breath well and is considerably less expensive than the Ultraleather I'm using on the couch in front.

The nominal dimensions of the bed are 72" long by 45" wide. Although the width is plenty for one person, I'm 6'1" tall, so the length would be tight. Luckily, though furnishings per se can't be installed any closer than 5" to the rear doors, SMB offers a 5" bed extension to fill that space, bringing the total length of the bed to 77". The image above shows this extension in place. That will provide a comfortable length. 

The couch in the front of the van folds out into a bed 44" wide, but when I invite a couple along on an excursion with me, I want to offer something a bit more commodious. The way that SMB couches convert to beds is that the back cushion drops down as the seat cushion slides forward to provide an extra 12" of width for sleeping. I asked SMB if they could build a similar sliding arrangement for my platform bed, and they said yes. So for company, the bed can extend to 57" wide, which is just shy of the width of a standard double bed.

When I've got houseguests, I'll be perfectly content to use the front couch in its unextended configuration as a 32" wide bed; this retains easy access to the galley area. The width extension cushion for the platform bed would be a nuisance when not in use, so I plan to store it along the underside of the upper cabinets. If you look back at the first image in the post, you'll see what I mean. I can hold the cushion there with velcro, or if I get really fancy, I'll use magnets. The option to extend the width of the bed this way is made possible by having a shower curtain instead of a solid wall on the interior side, and by using a narrow wall at the front of the shower.

(The following may fall into the category of TMI, but I think it's a clever solution to a difficult problem.) As you can see above, the portapotti is inaccessible when the bed is extended. I've reached an age where at least one nocturnal visit to the bathroom is required, so an alternate arrangement has to be found. A big advantage of a portapotti is that it can be repositioned, specifically to an open area between the two beds. There's also a curtain on a ceiling track to shield the rear bed from the front of the cabin:

The curtain will be useful in other situations, too, allowing someone to shower or change clothes while others are in the forward part of the van. In the worst case, occupants of both beds might need access to the toilet during the night. For that, I can hang a temporary curtain/bedsheet between the two tall partitions on the forward side of the toilet to enclose it in its own isolated, curtained room. Is it ideal - no, but it's better than what people sharing a tent, or even a pop-up trailer, would have.

Here's a close-in view of the rear bed area with the side wall and rear doors of the van included:

I chose the height of the platform bed so that it would be just about even with the bottom of the windows. It's a happy coincidence that the extension cushion stowed along the bottom of the upper cabinets blocks very little of the windows. When I don't have neighbors close by, I think it will be great to have a view out to the moonlit scenery. When prying eyes are a concern, there are blinds to cover all the windows, or I can curtain the rear door window and the rear side window, and still have a view out the window at the left of the image above. (I'll sleep with my feet toward the rear door.) For warm nights, the rear side window tilts open to let in air. When I really want an open air feeling, I can leave the rear van doors ajar and use a screen that covers the opening.

Besides the bed, the only other furnishing in the bedroom consists of two overhead cabinets:

The cabinet along the side of the van I'll use for bedding and some items of clothing. At the left of that cabinet, you see a clothes hook, and below that, in black, is a gooseneck lamp for reading. The bluish thing below that is a plastic Command-brand basket to hold my glasses, watch, and an e-reader conveniently near the bed. The overhead cabinet at the rear of the van is nice and roomy, and for now, I've simply designated it for miscellaneous.The gray rectangle on its side represents a mirror I can use after showering. This cabinet also has a door on the back side so that its contents can be accessed when the rear van door is open:

I've limited the width of this door so that it can be opened even when the left van door remains closed (and yes, I've checked, the van door on the right can open without opening the door on the left, but not vice-versa). While we're back here, you'll see two more gooseneck lamps, one for the foot of the bed and one for the toilet area, each with their own independent switch. With the van doors open, these lamps can also be twisted around to throw light outside. Beside them are two more of the Command baskets for miscellaneous small outdoor things (work gloves? tire pressure gauge? cleaning cloth?) If you're curious about the big blue box under the bed, that's the freshwater tank that I'll have more to say about in the next post.

Look along the underside of the upper cabinet on the left and you'll see a horizontal gray bar. This is an extra clothes hanging bar. I don't expect to make much use of it myself, but when I've got company along, they can hang their clothes from it. Its position and length are a bit odd for the following reason: at night, when the bed is in use, the clothes can be pushed to the left, over the shower pan (also convenient for allowing clothes to drip dry). During the day, the clothes can be pushed to the right over the foot of the bed to allow access to the toilet.

Two more items for your attention: if you look on the wooden panel at the far end of the bed, there's a dark rectangle with a light rectangle beside it; Those are a light switch and a thermostat, respectively. The light switch controls the ceiling lights in the rear of the van, including the shower. The thermostat is positioned so I can crank up the furnace before I get out of bed on cold mornings.

No bedroom is complete without a closet. My closet is just a big open space with a couple hanging bars:

Why two hanging bars, you ask. In the right half of the closet, there's plenty of depth for regular clothes hangers, but toward the left, they'd make the passage into the shower very narrow. So slimmer things like pant hangers and hanging shelves will go in the left of the closet. To take full advantage of their slimness, they need to be hung closer to the outside wall. I experimented with designs that had one hanging bar in the front half of the closet and another in the back half mounted closer to the wall, but decided it was just simpler and more flexible to have both bars run the full length of the closet.

SMB offers several designs of enclosed closets, and I used one in an earlier design. But I got rid of it in an effort to cut weight out of my design, and ended up with more total closet space and a less congested floorplan. Someone has mentioned that without walls around them, clothes may get dusty. Most of the clothes I take with me I'll wear once a week, so they'll hardly have time to get dusty. Things I wear less frequently (e.g. a sport coat), I'll keep in clothes bags. Off-season clothes I'll store away in space bags.

The utility of this closet space is more apparent when I add some representative contents:

At the left is a set of hanging shelves I found at the Container Store. They're just the right depth to hang on the bar closer to the outside wall. I'll keep sweaters and maybe rolled up t-shirts in them. Will things fall out of the shelves as I drive? I actually don't think so, but if that turns out to be a problem, it will be easy enough to rig a strap to hold things in. I show just a few items hanging from the nearer bar, but in fact, I'll keep the right half of that bar packed tight, using its full length when I need to spread items apart. The right "half" of the closet where hangers can be used is 20" across. That may not sound like a lot, but measure 20" in your own closet and see how much you can pack into it. I think it will be plenty for a retired guy. The hooks at the right end will be convenient for jeans and sweatshirts. At the bottom right is a set of three plastic drawers for underwear, socks, and miscellaneous. The odd space around the wheelwell will be a good place for a laundry bag.

That concludes our tour of the bedroom and closet. Grab your flashlight because we're headed to the basement next.