Homemaking

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A New Window and More Shelves

Have I got an RV tip for y’all today! If you need to replace any of the trim on your rig, say a window frame, and the only ones you can find are the same colour as your rig, not your trim, wait!

My mother helped me install the new exterior window frame on the house door this week and it looks okay, but not great:

We used tons of putty to hold it and keep it sealed (more than the instructions called for) so pulling off the frame to replace it later is out of the question. I will learn to live with it. 🙂

As for shelving, my system in the study’s overhead cabinets wasn’t working. The back wall of the cabinets is slanted, with the top being narrower than the bottom, so I would frequently park somewhere, open a cabinet, and boxes would fly out after having shifted in transit.

I went into the house this morning to ask my mother if she would by chance have any suitable shelving material. Yes, and she was willing to cut it right then, but after that I was on my own as we hadn’t planned to do any work in the rig this weekend (not that there’s any real work to be done, woohoo!). That was fine by me as putting shelves in these cabinets doesn’t provide enough room for two.

A few hours and grazed knuckles later, I was able to move all the bins to the driver’s side cabinets and the odd-sized stuff to the rear cabinet.

I’m nowhere near 100% done with this project as I still need to sort out and containerize some things, so that’s why I’m not showing the rear cabinet now. 🙂 My favourite part of this is that I have some long, slim odd-shaped containers that fill in the rear of the top part of the new shelving behind the clear containers. So I feel like I actually gained some space.

Since I had tools out and there was enough shelving material, I decided to add a shelf in the pantry:

This one made the biggest impact! Those four baskets used to fill up two cabinets and now they slide easily into just one!

Now, I have a bonus RV tip for maximizing space in your RV freezer (even if yours is as decadently large as mine): remove the packaging on whatever you store in there. But do be prepared for people who see your trash to be puzzled.

I was invited over for lunch today and I said that I had no idea what I would have eaten otherwise. I was told, “Pizza. I can’t believe how much pizza you eat!” I burst out laughing. I buy a few frozen pizzas at a time when they are $4.99 or less and remove the boxes for storage. With the thin crust pizzas, I can fit almost five in the space it would take for just one box! I just went grocery shopping this week AND I ordered pizza the night before I did the groceries, so I can imagine what the recycling must have looked like! I explained that of all the boxes in the recycling, I had only thus far consumed half of the take out pizza and all the rest was still in the freezer!

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Shiny Floors

My Allure vinyl floors are holding up pretty well, but don’t look great after two and a half years. Gaps between seams that appeared small at first seem bigger now, there are lots of scratches and marks, and they are dull. I know that a lot of that has to do with my not being a great housekeeper. I just sweep and vacuum regularly and wash them once a week with water and vinegar.

After doing all the work in the rig this summer and having people traipse in and out, I decided my floors were due for a deep, on your hands and knees, type of cleaning. And since I was going to do that, I decided to look into restoring shine to vinyl flooring.

What an education that was! I learned not to use all in one products but rather to start with a cleaner and then apply a non-wax finish. I found a couple of reviews for Armstrong Cleaner for No-Wax Floors combined with Pledge With Future that seemed promising.

Being in Canada, I figured that I would not be able to find these two products easily, but I could use the information to find something comparable. During my Walmart run yesterday, I spent a few minutes in the cleaning supply aisle and actually found both products!

I decided to tackle the floors today and it was really a divide and conquer type of project. I started by moving the litter box to the dressing room while the cats were sleeping in the study, then shut the pocket door, leaving me free to do the front part of the rig.

I further divided the front into quarters, starting with the area around the lounge chair. I began with a thorough vacuum, then I washed the floors carefully, dried them, and applied the Pledge product. A half hour later, the area was dry, so I was able to move the chair and ottoman back and do the other half of the living room. I continued like this all morning, moving furniture, cleaning, and drying, until the whole room was done and my furniture back in place.

In the late afternoon, I was able to tackle the back part of the rig. I did the study first, moving towards the dressing room, and let that floor dry while I made dinner. After that, I was able to move the computer chair and other items backs into the study, then do the dressing room starting from the kitchen and moving backwards.

I am very happy with the result! My floors look shiny and clean and getting them to that point didn’t require much effort beyond the furniture shuffle. I am curious to see how the finish will age and am a little concerned that you’re supposed to strip it and start over every six months. I do a deep clean of the entire rig every six months anyway, so if I have to add that task, it’s not a big deal.

(Neelix was hilarious during the latter part of the day. He parked himself in the kitchen and flattened himself against the floor to watch me from under the pocket door. He was very happy when I finally let him back in!)

I’ve got one picture of the floors and then I’m forcing upon you pictures of my hilarious brood.

I forgot to grab a before picture of this area, which was really bad because of all the fine layer of litter dust, but believe me, this is a huge improvement!

I forgot to grab a before picture of this area, which was really bad because of all the fine layer of litter dust, but believe me, this is a huge improvement!

Neelix's new favourite position. It cracks me up.

Neelix’s new favourite position. It cracks me up.

Neelix in one of his many adorable sleeping positions. He cracked an eyelid when he heard the camera turn on.

Neelix in one of his many adorable sleeping positions. He cracked an eyelid when he heard the camera turn on.

Tabitha sleeping in the funniest position I have ever seen her in. Her chin us up on top of the desk.

Tabitha sleeping in the funniest position I have ever seen her in. Her chin us up on top of the desk.

Those two pretend to hate each other, but I frequently catch them sleeping together. Neelix ALWAYS looks adorable when he sleeps.

Those two pretend to hate each other, but I frequently catch them sleeping together. Neelix ALWAYS looks adorable when he sleeps.

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Bissel Magic Vac Update After Six Months of Use in an RV

I’ve been using my Bissel Magic Vac for six months now in my RV. I never thought I would say this about a vacuum cleaner, but I adore it! Using this vacuum is no more onerous than using a broom and actually does a much better job.

I still don’t think it’s a good vacuum for carpets, but I have all vinyl floors and it works beautifully on them while using so little power. It takes just a minute to run the vacuum all around the rig and another couple of minutes to run it without the beater bar along the edges and in nooks and crannies. I started by storing it in the toilet room, but it’s now pretty much permanently plugged in in the living room and stored under the ladder, ready to suck up cat litter when I clean the box.

My only complaint about this vacuum is so minor it’s nitpicking. Because this is essentially a hand vac with a long (removable) handle, the power button is very low, so you have to bend down to turn the vacuum on and off.

I highly recommend the Bissel Magic Vac for RVers without carpet.

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How the Cab Door Works

Reader Vicki asked for more details about how the door between the living area and cab of my motorhome works.

The door fits over the loft floor.

The door fits over the loft floor.

Detail of how the door slots into the loft floor. The bottom part allows the door to slot into the passenger side wall.

Detail of how the door slots into the loft floor. The bottom part allows the door to slot into the passenger side wall.

From inside the living room, I grab the top of the door with both hands and lift the door to slot the bottom part into the wall to the right of the door.

From inside the living room, I grab the top of the door with both hands and lift the door to slot the bottom part into the wall to the right of the door.

The door is now out of the way and I can access the cab.

The door is now out of the way and I can access the cab.

I then slide the door out of the way along the wall towards the driver's side.

I then slide the door out of the way along the wall towards the driver’s side.

I just about never go between the cab and the house through that opening. I prefer to park, get out of the driver’s side door, walk around the rig, and enter through the house door. But it will be nice to now be able to go in this way when it’s wet out.

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Long Awaited Finishing Touches

My mother and I blasted through our to-do list today, leaving only a few minor things to finish up. This was the first time that we were able to get through the list without adding anything to it!

Even though my floors have been in since the winter of 2010, the trim has been troublesome. I blasted through the easy parts and made a failed experiment on the hard parts, then pretty much gave up.

Being a woodworker, my mother knows offhand what trim is available on the market. So she looked at the bits we had left to do and made a list of materials needed to get around the problematic parts. The biggest problem I had beyond the funky angles was that the edge of the floor wasn’t flush with the wall, so there would be a gap behind the trim. I had thought to get trim in and fill the gap with putty or caulking, but my mother had a better idea, of course.

Now, I am going to share some pictures, but, please, no comments on the state of my floors! I had the energy to either blog or scrub floors this evening and I thought blogging would be more interesting. 😀

This is what the front of my fridge has looked like for two and a half years:

This is what the front of my fridge looks like with two layers of trim and a bit of putty:

My mother didn’t like the threshold I put in the toilet room (neither did I!) and she had a piece of proper threshold the right size, so she used a band saw to cut it to fit the awkward space:

She did an amazing job along the vanity and shower in the dressing room:

We also finished up the door to the cab, adding some trim to make it look more finished:

Now, I just have to paint all of that new woodwork. The trim will be painted golden brown and I am undecided about the new wall. Logically, it should be yellow, but that may end up being too much of a good thing. My mother suggested wallpaper and I am considering it. That would add a little bit of texture to the room.

Besides all of this, we also put in new bookcase dowels and fitted the male end of the 120V wiring that will connect the inverter to the shore power cable. It was raining, so we’ll leave the female end plus the final bit of work on the new front door exterior window frame for a nice day.

I have to say that Miranda is looking really good these days. I almost feel like I have a new home!