2015 22' Sport - We Made Some Changes

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by bolerama

Great changes! I can't wait to see the new roller shades.
Lisa

Thank you Lisa. I'm looking forward to this weekend project with the roller shades. When other plans keep us from camping ... it's a fun alternative to have Airstream projects.

[Cannonball]

Would you be willing to post the stock number or whatever, for the IKEA shades?


Cannonball, Deep in the Heart of Texas!

WBCCI #4387, Air #84080

Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by Cannonball

Would you be willing to post the stock number or whatever, for the IKEA shades?

Yes, absolutely, very happy to share the information. Following is the direct link to the shades:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?qu...t+roller+blind

They come in white, gray and black. We chose the gray so the attached photos reflect the SKU for gray. The 22 foot Sport requires 5 shades if you replace each of the blinds. So the attached photos reflect the SKUs for the 5 sizes.

Hope this helps.

[Piggy Bank]

Love your updates in the bath. I will be stealing your TP holder move. What a difference in the storage under the sink with that one.

Regarding the OEM comforter. I took a pair of scissors to mine. Hacked off the fold-over pillow cover. I now use it as a mattress pad under the sheets. Works great.

[TCA and GPO]

What terrific ideas! Seriously I hope the AS designers are reading your posts. The TP holder should absolutely be on the wall and not in the tiny cabinet. You need that for storage.
It's all about functional storage, and how to creatively maximize what you have.
Well done!

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by TCA and GPO

What terrific ideas! Seriously I hope the AS designers are reading your posts. The TP holder should absolutely be on the wall and not in the tiny cabinet. You need that for storage.
It's all about functional storage, and how to creatively maximize what you have.
Well done!

Thank you for the feedback.

The key on relocating the tissue holder is .... placement far enough back away from the door where you don't knock it with your leg going and in and out of the bathroom area ... but far enough forward of the toilet so that you can get a screw driver in there to mount it.

[Frank&Mike]

I hung the Tuppler roller shades that we purchased at IKEA and we're really pleased with the quality and the "look" of the shades. The shades are advertised as block out shades and they definitely do block out the sun (the last photo demonstrates how dark the interior became when all of the shades were in their down position). I really wanted the OceanAir shades (quoted price was $600 + shipping and taxes). But the IKEA shades (total cost was $109 including taxes) were a much more affordable solution.

[Frank&Mike]

Photo of the interior when all shades were in their down position demonstrating that they definitely are sun blocking shades .... as advertised.

[Frank&Mike]

I know it sounds like I work for IKEA or that I'm "marketing" their products ... but neither is the situation ... I just keep finding great things for the Airstream at IKEA ... I guess because the Europeans are very good with space utilization. It probably is not the best thing for my little pocket book that I am only 10 minutes from IKEA .....

This is a trash basket we purchased at IKEA which is mounted on the wall ... enabling the floor space to be utilized for something else where the trash basket used to occupy space. Now we can place the dog food bowls and dog watering bowl in the small space where the trash basket used to occupy valuable space. Photo attached.

[Frank&Mike]

This is a neat item that IKEA sells for organizing pots and pans. We found it to be perfect for "nesting" our drinkware so that they don't slide all over the place when we're in transit. The neat thing about this item is that it expands and contracts to fit whatever footprint your needs require.

I placed it on its side in the last photo to demonstrate how this item could be placed in a different position for wall mounting and utilized in other capacities (perhaps mounted on a wall or inside a closet to hang towels or clothes or other items ... I have lots of ideas for ways to use this).

[Frank&Mike]

Counter space is also prime real estate in the Airstream ... so I decided to mount a paper towel holder under the upper cabinet area and free up space on the coutertop.

Also a photo of our new ottoman ... well actually it's the dog's launch pad to get onto and off the bed ... so it's really their ottoman ... the previous one was looking pretty used up ... so time for a new one.

[Lhunter59]

Finally got around to getting the struts from Princess Auto here in Canada. Installed them and they work like a charm. Makes it so much easier to get at stuff under the bed. Also did the table move mod after approval from the boss. Really helps the openness of the hall. Great thread. Lets keep it going.

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by Lhunter59

Finally got around to getting the struts from Princess Auto here in Canada. Installed them and they work like a charm. Makes it so much easier to get at stuff under the bed. Also did the table move mod after approval from the boss. Really helps the openness of the hall. Great thread. Lets keep it going.

I'm glad to hear you are pleased with the modifications you're reading about and experiencing yourself. I have more ideas and modifications on the way ... but those may be about 1 month out. I enjoy hearing and seeing the other modifications made by owners of the 22' Sport.

[tvoneicken]

WRT the IKEA shades: you may want to buy a spare or two 'cause IKEA often changes products and then you can't get the old stuff anymore...

[Patman]

I love all the hacks and improvements in this thread! I've done or seriously considered many of these here, and really appreciate the sharing. In the spirit of 'giving back, I wanted to share our take on a kid-sized bunk in our 19' Bambi (I posted similarly in "what did you get for your trailer today" forum).

We have a family of 5+big dog that we do weekends and holiday trips, and packing 5 people into a 19' trailer can be challenging. Luckily for us, our youngest is 8 and still has some growing to do, so she doesn't require a 'full size' sleeping accommodation. Our solution (for the time being) was to add a temporary hanging bunk for her to sleep on (the older two sleep on the converted dinette, the adults in the bed below the bunk, and the dog on the floor).

This won't work for everyone given the space constraints, but for us it was the perfect solution to our space problems. The cot is 52" long (ECR4Kids kiddie cot from Amazon), the chains are attached to brackets riveted through the support members behind the ceiling skin (with long heavy duty rivets), and the sides are just hooks riveted (or screwed) to the aluminum interior skin (or in the case of the footboard the wood paneling).

I spent a lot of time researching and analyzing how to do this before I attacked it, and settled on this removable hack. It's not quite 'factory quality', but it allowed us to add an additional kid-sleeping space without removing the upper storage compartment, and it suits us pretty well for the time being! It supports my 100lb 11 year old just fine as you can see from the pictures below, and I've hung my 150lbs individually from each of the ring anchors riveted to ceiling with no signs of them pulling free. Hopefully this will be useful to others who are looking to make creative use of limited space!

This bunk bed mod, adding a lift kit to our axle (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...ml#post1748143), and adding 150Watts of solar have been life changing for us!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Frank&Mike

I hung the Tuppler roller shades that we purchased at IKEA and we're really pleased with the quality and the "look" of the shades. The shades are advertised as block out shades and they definitely do block out the sun (the last photo demonstrates how dark the interior became when all of the shades were in their down position). I really wanted the OceanAir shades (quoted price was $600 + shipping and taxes). But the IKEA shades (total cost was $109 including taxes) were a much more affordable solution.

Hi, great modifications you made to your trailer. My Safari has mini-blinds on the kitchen window and I can't stand it. I think my next trip to Ikea will have a roll up shade on my shopping list. My nearest Ikea is about 50 miles from me so we don't go there very often.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Patman

I love all the hacks and improvements in this thread! I've done or seriously considered many of these here, and really appreciate the sharing. In the spirit of 'giving back, I wanted to share our take on a kid-sized bunk in our 19' Bambi (I posted similarly in "what did you get for your trailer today" forum).

We have a family of 5+big dog that we do weekends and holiday trips, and packing 5 people into a 19' trailer can be challenging. Luckily for us, our youngest is 8 and still has some growing to do, so she doesn't require a 'full size' sleeping accommodation. Our solution (for the time being) was to add a temporary hanging bunk for her to sleep on (the older two sleep on the converted dinette, the adults in the bed below the bunk, and the dog on the floor).

This won't work for everyone given the space constraints, but for us it was the perfect solution to our space problems. The cot is 52" long (ECR4Kids kiddie cot from Amazon), the chains are attached to brackets riveted through the support members behind the ceiling skin (with long heavy duty rivets), and the sides are just hooks riveted (or screwed) to the aluminum interior skin (or in the case of the footboard the wood paneling).

I spent a lot of time researching and analyzing how to do this before I attacked it, and settled on this removable hack. It's not quite 'factory quality', but it allowed us to add an additional kid-sleeping space without removing the upper storage compartment, and it suits us pretty well for the time being! It supports my 100lb 11 year old just fine as you can see from the pictures below, and I've hung my 150lbs individually from each of the ring anchors riveted to ceiling with no signs of them pulling free. Hopefully this will be useful to others who are looking to make creative use of limited space!

This bunk bed mod, adding a lift kit to our axle (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...ml#post1748143), and adding 150Watts of solar have been life changing for us!

Hi, fantastic bunk bed idea; Very creative, and to get five people and a dog into a 19'er.

[KJRitchie]

Question about the Ikea shades. I notice the length of the shades are 76". You didn't trim off the excess did you? Just pull them down to the desired location and not worry about the extra length? Did you have to cut any of the shades width down?

How do you secure the shades against the wall when pulled down?

Thanks for sharing.

Kelvin

[05ModPod]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Question about the Ikea shades. I notice the length of the shades are 76". You didn't trim off the excess did you? Just pull them down to the desired location and not worry about the extra length? Did you have to cut any of the shades width down?

How do you secure the shades against the wall when pulled down?

Thanks for sharing.

Kelvin

You took the words right out of my mouth. I know they are probably not very heavy - but when only needing about 24" in length 76 seems to be quite a lot.

When I saw their upgrade just after I have been pricing all sorts of things in my 22' 2005 CCD International, I thought great! because ha I just saw the price of the Oceanview blinds OMG!!!! Mine are original - thought of painting them to cover the many mosquito death marks - but the Ikea blinds - cut or not cut would do the trick nicely. I might even have my aluminum fabricator whip me up some valances for three of the blinds - as the other two sit under the curb side upper cabinets.

Looks like the tab/pull at the bottom could easily take a grommet snap (female end) - as that is how mine are attached - although I do like the little pull string connector on the new ones - whatever you use it is really easy to drill a little hole in the inside wall and attached with rivets.

So cool all your upgrades and innovative ideas Frank and Mike - I will keep watching to see of any other ideas you may have.....Thanks!!!

[Frank&Mike]

Originally Posted by tvoneicken

WRT the IKEA shades: you may want to buy a spare or two 'cause IKEA often changes products and then you can't get the old stuff anymore...

It may be good to have a spare or two.