AZ Layout & Bed Frame with Storage

I’ve been thinking about how exactly I want to arrange my household furniture in the trailer, and I went back into design mode.  Household furniture is large by RV standards, so it’s a bit awkward.  I’m pretty happy with the design I’ve come up with, including a new bed frame / storage solution I’m going to be building early next week.

The floorplan (PDF version) basically puts the “kitchen” area up front where there is the most light, the couch in the mid-section, and the bed & storage in the rear.  I’ve found room for all the major items, and the smaller stuff will find its way into corners here and there.

Most of the items in the layout above are simply “drag and drop”, aka, drag it from the house and drop it into the trailer.  (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, that was just too easy of a pun.)  The only exception is the new bed frame.

The image above (PDF version) shows in my chicken scratch how the frame will be constructed.  I wanted to get an idea of how many 2×4’s and angle brackets I would need to purchase.  (The small blue icons in the drawing above are meant to represent angle brackets.)  The basic ideas are:

  • Use 2×4’s along exterior edges to provide a finish that I’m less likely to stub my toes on
  • Build in a tray for the batteries so they aren’t sliding around
  • Support beams every 20″ or so that connect the top and bottom 2×4’s
  • Support beams every 20″ or so on the top to hold the box spring
  • When accessing from the utility doors (cargo doors), the 2×4 that would be on the floor is purposefully absent to facility easy cargo loading and unloading
  • The bed can be lifted or shifted side to side to gain access to the contents of the storage area

I should be picking up materials for this build on Monday.  By my estimates, I’ll need about (15) 2×4’s, (22) angle brackets, and somewhere between 200 and 300 screws.  Add in some more angle brackets if I want to screw it all down the floor once it’s constructed.

Wow, looking at that screw count, I wonder if I over-engineered it.  Quite possibly.

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