Yet Another Recliner Conversion

[John&Vicki]

The gaucho in our '90 25' Excella was hall of fame uncomfortable. We spend the equivalent of 4-5 months a year in our trailer so that plus a less than stellar back led to thinking about recliners. We happened to have a set of four good quality smallish size leather recliners in a small home theater in our home and so I "borrowed" two of those.





Perfect fit!

The first phase of removing the gaucho (saving everything, a habit I got into during many years of restoring vintage Porsches) and putting in the recliners is done. The next step is to install a new floor and to mount the electrical gear inside the central cabinet that is part of the recliner setup.

We lose the use of the fold-up tables, but I have left them in place at least for now. The central piece of the recliner set should be OK for meals. We also lose the storage in the drawer under the gaucho, but we aren't feeling cramped for storage space. So the trade-off is worth it to us.

Very, very pleased at the new level of comfort (like the leather smell also).

Poppy

P.S. In the foreground you can see the recently powder coated stove top cover.

[Silver Hawk]

We did the same thing last year when we remolded our '76 - best thing we did! Best use of funds. We bought the recliners new and paid extra for a built in table that goes on one arm and works great for eating, than comes out and goes away beside the chair - great feature.
Eating on couches, even if they were comfortable, is not great.

[Fireside79]

That looks great! Might have to consider the same!!

[SteveSueMac]

Wonderful! Nice job! That should be an option!

[John&Vicki]

Thanks for the positive input. I've been sitting in the trailer in my driveway all afternoon. This is *really* comfortable.

Poppy

[mayco]

We are thinking about doing the same thing in our motorhome. That looks fantastic! Do you know how much further the recliners protrude into the room than the couch did......aproximately? Id like to measure it out in our 310 to see if its possible.

[rodsterinfl]

That is just awful that you would remove that heritage sofa just to sit down and be comfortable!

[John&Vicki]

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

That is just awful that you would remove that heritage sofa just to sit down and be comfortable!

Love that - "heritage sofa". I think the heritage is medieval inspired. After an hour on that I would confess to anything.

Poppy

[John&Vicki]

Originally Posted by mayco

We are thinking about doing the same thing in our motorhome. That looks fantastic! Do you know how much further the recliners protrude into the room than the couch did......aproximately? Id like to measure it out in our 310 to see if its possible.

Just measured it and it looks like about 12". I think that could be reduced though. I'm giving them enough room to fully recline as I like to take naps in them - already broke one in today .

These are designed for a home theater so they are somewhat smaller than a typical home recliner. They fit very nicely.

Poppy

[John&Vicki]

Stage 2 of Recliner Conversion Complete

I mentioned earlier that the recliners protruded out about 12" more than the gaucho. Well, 11" to be exact. Which means that the recliners block both the large table that hangs on streetside and the small table curbside. After a couple of trips I discovered that I missed the large table. I prefer not to eat off of my lap and there are times that it's nice to have a large flat surface in the trailer.

The assembly for the large table included a corner cabinet that sat next to the fridge. I had a TV mounted on it and a small DVD player, and we used the cabinet drawer, but we didn't use the cabinet to store anything. It occured to me that if I cut the cabinet down by 11" that we could slide the whole assembly aft and the table would clear the recliner. We picked up a nice large drawer when we added the recliner assembly, so we wouldn't lose anything of value.

Done.

The large table now opens and I got a bonus - the remaining cabinet opening is exactly the right size to slide in my two classic Airstream folding chairs. I had enough shelf space to remount the TV and a spot for the DVD player.

I'll post a of couple pictures tomorrow. (If the trailer survives - as I type this there are chunks of ice descending from the sky. Better described as chunks of ice than hail as they aren't round. Gotta love Central Oregon mountain weather in the summer. It was 90+ degrees an hour ago.)

Next: Stage 3 - New Floor

Cheers,
Poppy

[John&Vicki]

Some pictures:




Poppy

Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[John&Vicki]

Couple more pictures...



Perfect storage place for the Airstream folding chairs. Lined the opening with weather stripping to save on wear and tear when putting them in and taking them out.



Now I need to figure out what to do with the small curbside table.

Poppy


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[sequoyah101]

I thought about this but the heater is in the way on the 27FB.

[dkottum]

Nice looking conversion John, next winter we'll stop by your place again and check it out.