Nooks and Crannies, Hidden Storage and Damp

Living in 432 square foot means the space has to be well planned out, and in most static caravans this is pretty well a given.  These days more than ever before, there are nifty storage solutions and clever ideas.  But I have the sort of mind that is always designing and redesigning the space I live in until I find the best possible solutions for things.

The living room is pretty well thought out, and to be fair there's little I would change about it except perhaps to have a built in corner unit for the television to stand on rather than the free standing one we currently have, and also I would have no window above where the television is.  

Under the section of the built-in sofas in the top photo is a fold out double bed.  Useful I guess if you have people staying over a lot or rent out your Van to more than the four people the bedrooms can cope with.

Under 'cosy corner', as I call it there is lots of storage space, as the boards under all the big cushions lift up  to reveal a big square space, but I only use one section of it at the moment as I just don't have that much stuff, so the only part of it that has anything in is the foot end.   

Oh, it's called cosy corner because of the Suky coloured fleece that covers the cushions for evenings of television watching and Puggy cuddles.

You just lift up the cushion and then use the missing corner of board to lift it up ...

... revealing a cavernous hole.

This one has the double bedding ready to be used if anyone needs to sleep in the foldaway double bed.  Two ready pillow-cased pillows, a duvet already in a cover and a mattress protector and fitted sheet ready to put on the mattress.

Under the king sized bed in the main bedroom is the largest of all the storage spaces.  And it was me going under here this morning to get out a basket that  I wanted to use for storage in the wardrobe that sort of led to this post.

When we leave the Van for the three month 'closed season' we have to dot these sort of damp absorbers around the caravan to help keep the air as dry as possible and everything mould-free.  When we got back this time some of them hadn't completely turned to liquid so after taking out the things we needed to use from under the bed, I left three of them stood in the now half empty space.

It's a good job I did, as this morning when I went under the bed to get out the basket I needed while making it up with fresh bedding ... they were all completely liquid.  The cold, wet weather we have had over the last few weeks has no doubt been the cause.  So I was happy that me needing the basket out from under the bed made me spot the need to recharge these.  Yes, they are supposed to be the 'throwaway' sort and not the more permanent refillable ones like the others I have.  But if you carefully cut away the fabric top layer you can pour away the liquid and refill with some more of the crystals.

Which luckily I bought far too many of at the end of last year.  😃

After leaving it to air for a little bit and waiting for the little pots to drain I will fill them with more crystals and pop them back under the bed.   While the bed is raised I should maybe have another look at what is in all the bags and boxes that are under there, because I obviously haven't been using any of these things since I got back, so the question must be ... do I actually need any of them?

What else would I change in the Van?

Well for starters, in the bedroom I would make the 'dressing table' into just a simple radiator shelf/cover and have a bookcase instead of the chest of drawers ... these two changes would give a lot more space at the end of the bed.

I would also completely do away with the en-suite and instead have a low three drawer chest of drawers at each side of the bed, giving the person nearer the window much more space for getting in and out of bed, oh and have built in reading lamps on the wall.

Maybe I should go in for caravan design ... or maybe just win the lottery and have one custom made just for me  😃

Sue xx