Community Forums

tom92 · 06-07-2023, 09:16 AM

I have a pretty typical front bedroom in my TT. It is a short queen (60x75" I think) with the head at the nose, cabinets above and minimal vertical space as nightstands. The mattress is already shot after three years of minimal usage, and replacing that got me thinking about a remodel. Picture is attached. Things I don't like:

Coffin like feeling
Poor heat/air circulation at head of the bed
Thicker mattress will block nightstands
Major pain to reach bypass valves for water heater (left nightstand)

Has anyone rotated a bed such as this 90 degrees to put the head against the side instead of the front? I would need the remove the two tall cabinets but would not really miss them. I could probably salvage the wood to make shorter cabinets or shelves in the corners. Negative would be harder to access the far side of the bed, but I'm usually alone anyway. It should open up a larger continuous space at what is now the foot of the bed vs. the narrow U shaped access now.

The water heater is under the left nightstand but there is quite a bit of dead space. Basement storage is under the right side but there is also some dead space there too. The framing is just 2x2s with a plywood platform.

My thinking is to remove the corner cabinets, bed frame and nightstand. Frame the water heater in strong enough to step on the enclosure and with an easy access door to the bypass valves. Head of the bed would probably go on right wall. I could probably get a full 60x80 queen in. Keeping 10" of space from the side of the mattress and front wall would still add an extra 5" of floor space inside the door.
I have a minor concern about adding too much tongue weight since it is a toy hauler and can be heavy empty, but I should be able to manage that. If I have my ATV loaded it is easy by pushing that back a bit. If not I move anything under the bed to the back.

Worthwhile upgrade or crazy idea? Thanks for any input.

PNWGirl · 06-07-2023, 11:21 AM

On FB I have seen a LOT of people do this for very similar reasons that you are thinking about it. So, no, it does not seem crazy and would work for you as a better layout. That is the only thing that matters.

I like the idea of having an inside method of getting to your hot water heater too.

I hope that you will post a photo(s) when you are all done!

tuffr2 · 06-07-2023, 04:39 PM

I am trying to figure out the end result of what you want to do. I think the end result will have a bunch of other things you don't like.

Is there more than 1 person? If so then what you want to do will not work for long. No one wants to crawl over another person to get out. Plus the person being crawled over will not like it. Example - you can not give me a corner bed.

If only you then yes, it could work if you can remove at least 1 shirt closet. Maybe you can try it it see if it does what you want. Can you somehow turn that mattress the way you want and support it with spacers? Try it like that before you change too much.

Good luck

tom92 · 06-08-2023, 07:21 AM

The more I think about it, perhaps just removing or shortening the corner cabinets would be enough. That would help with the claustrophobic feelings. They aren't all that useful anyway. I mainly do long weekends in the camper so it is not like I unpack much clothing. I also don't care if my t-shirts get wrinkled because they weren't hanging up. Some smaller wall shelves might work better.

There is an access panel for the water heater, but it is in the front of the nightstand and the valves are all the way at the back. I can probably make an easier access panel from the under bed storage side close to the valves.

Dave Pelletier · 06-08-2023, 09:20 AM

I've contemplated a similar thing but it was mainly to install a king sized mattress (which is basically square). The problem I saw was that you have to maintain the nightstand height (due to the pass thru) which would position the mattress to be in front of my window to some degree; not ideal.

Dave

seaeagle2 · 06-08-2023, 04:41 PM

If you're solo then rotating the bed would probably work. We had the sideways bed in our last trailer and one of us had to climb over the other one to get into bed, not an ideal situation for us. we now have a trailer with walk around bed and love it.

tuffr2 · 06-08-2023, 04:49 PM

Before I bought a trailer I rented a little class C from Cruise America. It had a corner bed and very small bathroom opposite the bed. Two of us love birds but on the 3rd night it was a real PIA. I went while we had the rental and bought a travel trailer with a walk around queen bed. The corner bed is the worse, even for one person because you have to crab walk just to get out of bed. Next worse is what the OP wants to do. If there are two people it will not work.

If solo then, yes it could work.

BeatCJ · 06-11-2023, 08:03 AM

If you remove the corner cabinets and leave the bed where it is, won't that fix your problem?

My last trailer had a corner bed, but even worse, it also had the bathroom along one side and a closet at the foot. I absolutely hated that trailer because of that bed. There was about a 4' opening you had to crawl through to get into bed. My wife couldn't make the bed, you had to crawl up on it to get the fitted sheet onto the head and flex the mattress.

That's way worse than what the OP proposes, but I really like being able to walk most of the way around the North South orientation.

tom92 · 06-12-2023, 07:05 PM

Thanks for the input so far. The rotation idea was for two main reasons. One, you can't sit up in bed due to the curvature of the nose of the trailer. It would also allow me to put in a full size queen.

For now I'm dropping the rotation idea. The short queen doesn't really bother me and I have upgraded the recliner in the back of the camper so most TV watching is more comfortable there.

I will pull out the corner cabinets and look into salvaging the wood to rebuild them the same height as the middle cabinets, or just make it a shelf.

Vermont_Darren · 06-13-2023, 07:22 AM

We wish we could have figured out how to do this in our 23-foot Dutchmen Sport.

Because we couldn't, we ended up upgrading to a 32-footer!

tuffr2 · 06-18-2023, 03:12 PM

I wonder how much structural integrity the shirt cabinets give the front of the trailer. Maybe a little food for thought.

CecilD · 06-19-2023, 09:29 AM

Build a temporary headboard to keep your pillows from sliding off, and sleep with your heads at the foot of the bed.

You aren't going to be able to walk around a full east-west queen in an 8 foot wide trailer with no bedroom slide.

tom92 · 06-20-2023, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I wonder how much structural integrity the shirt cabinets give the front of the trailer. Maybe a little food for thought.

I expect zero. They are nothing more than a face frame and some lauan. Interior picture (from Coachmen website) attached. The camper is a few hours away right now so I can't get a better look to remember if the middle cabinets even have sides.

I will be taking the tools up this weekend to start disassembly. I've had trim pieces falling off on their own so I don't expect it to be too stubborn coming out.

I've also killed the idea of rotating the bed.