MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS *C* Chaises and Chairs for Camping

I am going to start off the new year with posting three of our motorhome modifications at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter C now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER C

Chaises and Chairs for Camping:

Camping means relaxing.. and that is just what we do!  These zero gravity recliners are soooo comfortable, and we really like them enough to make space in our basement compartments to take them along.  They take up a LOT of room because they do not fold up very flat. But they are worth it for sure.

We bought them about 8 or 9 years ago when these style chairs were first coming out on the market. We got mine first and it was made with softly padded washable fabric.  There was only one left in the store, so we got a rain check for one for Steve. It took months before the store got them in again, and this time the material was a woven mesh kinda rubber coated and holds up well too.

We do not allow them near the campfire to avoid any flinging sparks or burn holes. We put them away every night, we never leave them out in the rain, and they are lasting a long time and wearing well.

We found these wonderful clamp on tables that swivel and move around for best positioning. The recessed cup holder can also fit the stem end of a wine glass!  The flat surface can hold a dinner plate, or scissors and thread and needles when working on my stuff.  The small clamping piece around the metal frame stays on the chair all the time, and the arm and tray both lift off and can be washed. The arm and tray can lay flat on the seat of the chair when folding it up and are ready for the next time it is set up. 

We do not let the grandkids sit in our chairs, or company if we can help it.  By just keeping them for us, they are kept in good shape and stored away when we leave so nobody ever walks off with them.

But we did find some nice sitting chairs for company and grandkids. They fold up really flat and we bought four of them at Walmart for about $8 each on clearance.  Works well and we have had them for about 4 years now and the grandkids all enjoy having chairs close to the campfire.

We watch out for sparks, but do have a few tiny holes in them from campfires.  At that price, we can replace them if need be down the road. But for the small space they take up in the compartment, we would replace them with exactly the same kind or find a way to sew new fabric onto the frames.

Speaking of frames... THESE are the favorite chairs for us to take along to other peoples campsites for a visit, or take to a parade or picnic or family gathering. They are more comfortable than the bag type chairs.  We bought the heavy duty, taller backed lawn chairs about 20 years ago. They had the wide flat plastic webbing on them.  I cut the webbing from the frames and wove on this pattern with macrame cord.

The pine tree pattern motif was inspired by the shutters we made for our last home, a log home on the banks of the Oconto River.

I stole that pine tree cut out pattern from a logging company in the UP of Michigan. It was cut into the boards on the front porch of their office. On a Sunday, I made my teenage daughter Heather hold up a large piece of cardboard while I traced the cutout design. She was mortified and embarrassed, but I was happy and got my pattern!  LOL

Yes, we take along 8 chairs in our motorhome when camping.  When camphosting or camping with family, we are usually full of company and visitors to our campsite. Having enough chairs along is a must for us.

Our frames have broken a few times over the years, but I have convinced Steve each time to let me unwind parts of the woven sections and let him repair the frames by sliding on new pipes over the old ones, or using new stronger bolts and nuts instead of the cheaper ones they came with. They are so comfortable and warmer than plastic webbing. The backs are taller than most lawn chairs and a bit wider for the butt too. LOL

Here is a link to my blog post about the fixing of the frame and re-weaving them to become useful again:

reweaving-woven-macrame-lawn-chair

These chairs are hard to do, and are a strain on my hands to keep doing them now as I age.  My sister and I have done a lot of them over the years....

Here are some links if you would like to make one yourself :

diynetwork Macrame Lawn Chair

deucecitieshenhouse.com Macrame Lawn Chair

and a You Tube for step by step instructions:

Clock for Retirement:

Our friend Seann has this clock for camping now that he got retired. I think we need one of these. Steve has started asking me what day is it.... he has lost track now of such things since being retired. 

He really needs this, even at home, because he totally forgot yesterday was Monday and that meant putting out the trash bins last night for Tuesday morning pickup.  He does ours and the elderly widow next door.  Oh well, next week they will be doubly full!  At least it is not hot summer weather with stinky garbage? 

Actually yesterday he unplugged our illuminated bedroom alarm clock so he no longer wakes up and looks to see what time it is. He is learning to sleep until he feels rested, and getting up when he is ready!  LOL

I have two more C words to do before moving on tomorrow the D words! 

Coffee table:
Steve made this sturdy little coffee table for our motorhome.  Having items to meet more than one need in an RV is a plus. Not only is it a great coffee table, but it is a multi use item because it is strong enough to be a bench to sit on if we need an extra spot at the table.

Since this above photo was taken, we added rolling casters so I can set my table loom on it, clamp it tight and weave while sitting inside. Then if I want to get up, I can just roll it away from me to move around and pull it back up tight to the right position to weave again. Now that we put in the reclining loveseat, the casters let us push the table out of the way before putting up the footrests.

Easy Peasy! 

Collapsible bucket:
This is a handy item that we found in a camping store. It is wide enough to dip in our squeegee. It stores flat of course, but works well for quick wash that we try to do on the motorhome. Good for doing the front end windshield or back side from dirt and road grime.  I have seen some folks set them up as outdoor trash bins, and line it with a plastic bag.

Most campgrounds frown on washing your rig on your campsite, so we usually do it from our own water tank when in a parkinglot or wayside.

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Along with most of the mid west, we are frozen this morning with glare ice and now fog and rain.  We do not have any need to get anywhere this morning. I have been ironing some pre washed fabric for quilting, and now Steve is working on cooking breakfast.  While I blog, I have Sewing With Nancy and then Fons and Porter Love of Quilting on PBS playing in the background.  Life is good. 

Yesterday we made a little change in the tv viewing in our house. A couple years ago Steve's brother had gifted us with a used large plasma tv. He had won a new tv in a raffle and didn't need two in his duplex at that time. It was really huge and took up a lot of space in our small livingroom.

Since we rearranged the livingroom a while back, we swapped it out with the smaller tv up in our bedroom which fit the corner better. 

The huge plasma went up to our bedroom, but we really didn't need one that big up there.  It does take up a lot of space.  Our house is old and the rooms are smaller than most. 

Now that his brother is building a new house, the lower level family room could use a big tv.... hmmmmm we offered to gift it back to him when the house is done!  Regifting the gift back to the initial giver in this case! hahahahah

We were walking past the Vizio tvs in Walmart the other day and found a nice small one for our bedroom on sale, and we picked up a mounting bracket to adhere it right to the wall. We chose to put it on the other side of the room.  Fifteen minutes later it was up and working! 

Steve has a strip that he is going to mount today

 that will conceal the power cord and antenna coax

 that I am going to paint to match the wall. 

I like it better on this side of the room for two reasons: 

1. I am a right side sleeper and now I do not have to twist around in bed to go to sleep after getting nice and drowsey watching some dumb movie (with sleep timer on)   

2. The tv antenna coax comes up through the heat register from down below. In the past we had to run it under a carpet, under the bed, and then under another carpet on the other side to get to the corner where the big plasma tv was on a stand. 

All is happy now in tv viewing in our home! 

Well, breakfast is done, and the blog is ready to post.  Wonder what trouble we are going to get into today?  I have two shipments to pack up to get out in the mail... if I get them done before 1 pm I can print up the postage labels myself and have the carrier pick them up from our doorstep. No need to go out today afterall!~