Kitchen Unit

2023 - The square table in the middle was planned as a set of kitchen drawers. It holds the weight of the bed when extended, so the empty box was part of the original build.

After living with 'stuff' for the first summer, plans changed a bit, and it was rebuilt.

2024 - The unit now houses our power stations on the bottom, along with minimal cleaning supplies. On the shelf above rested a removable 'drawer', in which we kept the butane stove, fire blanket, and windscreen. The hanging kitchen organizer rested on top during travel.

Toward the end of the season, I reorganized again. The stove box works great to take out at campgrounds, but was a lot of work to get into place for use inside the van, and then put away. The hanging kitchen organizer was also a pain to maneuver when all I wanted was a knife or a spoon...

At this point I had not seen Dwayne for over a month, and had rearranged his side of the under bed storage for easier solo travel. The birds were semi permanently living over there, leaving easier access on my side.

So one day I maneuvered the box around under my side of the bed, used the stove there, and never put it away. Much easier. But the hanging kitchen organizer kept sliding out while driving. Hmmm.... I decided to hang it on the back of the driver's seat. Perfect. It's easy enough to flip around to the front of the driver's seat when he catches up with me, too.

So that just left the birds... Who had multiplied... Dwayne added Skipper, an Indian Ringneck, and Peanut, a cockatiel, to his flock. There wasn't enough room for 5 birds and 4 cages under the bed anyway. We made some adjustments, added more curtains, and birds now sleep on the dashboard and front seats when Dwayne comes along. No possibility of stealth, lol, but it works.

This also left the shelf in the kitchen unit empty, and the space behind free as well. I added some baskets to the shelf, and a milk crate behind for more storage.

Then I bought a new Odoland Butane Gas Stove, 7100 BTU Portable Camping Stove. We needed a new stove for the boat, so I bought this tiny one for the van, only about 8"x5", and I'll put the old one on the boat. This should free up more room in the kitchen box, so I can store my kettle upright!

Odoland Butane Gas Stove
https://www.amazon.ca/Odoland-Portable-Lightwei…Read more