Dinette Destruction!! STEP 1 Removing Camper Dinette & Building Couch with Storage Baskets

Time to get serious!  Here is the floor plan that I started with:

You can see how much is taken up by the dinette - so follow along as I get rid of it!

You can see the camper is TINY! - it's 18' long, including the tongue, so the actual living space is about 15 feet by 7 feet wide. You can see how much space is taken up by the dinette.

Here is an example of what it looked like before I started remodeling:

You can see it's a bit cramped. Believe it or not there's about 70+ inches taken up by the dinette. With the two dogs and my 6'3 hubby, I can think of better uses for the area!

I have plans for this area!! 

I completely removed the dinette, it was all screwed down, so not too hard to do.

 I happened to have an old couch I took out of my house, so I removed the serpentine springs to use for the new camper couch. If you don't have springs handy, you can make a net of furniture webbing. Or you can just make a base of plywood. The plywood be will be less comfortable than webbing or the springs.

I want to use the existing foam cushions, so I am making it about 24" deep and 63" wide.

 I screwed the springs to the 2x4 frame. 

 I made the frame from 2x4's with lapped corners. I thought that by laying them flat, they would be strong enough to resist the springs. After attaching all the springs, I measured and it had pulled in 1/8" already, so I added a 2x4 brace to the center. I didn't take any more photos, but you can get the idea.

I used the heavy felt that was covering the springs on the original couch. The fabric cover was too beat up to salvage, though, so I used a heavy fabric that I had on hand. 

I've never reupholstered anything before, so I have no idea if I should have pushed the springs down more, but I tested it with the cushions and it is comfortable. Well, more comfortable than the cushions on a piece of plywood.

Step one done! 

TUTORIAL STEP TWO - BUILDING THE COUCH - HERE!