Small Space Living

[InterBlog]

Time for a do-over of this wall space on the curb side to the right of the galley.

Originally, I had two skinny magnetic strips stuck here, with photos and mementos on them. Too much space was wasted by that approach, especially given that I suffer from CDA - Constant Device Annoyance. Electronic devices cluttering up the place. LB_3 recently installed a triple 12 volt outlet for me under the cabinet (two USBs and one "cigarette lighter" socket), I needed:

1. Stowage for the Mobley cellular device (with its 12 volt "cigarette lighter" plug)
2. Stowage for the weBoost 4GX chocolate bar
3. A slot for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro that I picked up a few months ago
4. More cord stowage
5. Room for most of the original photos and mementos

Container Store sells a magnetic board measuring 15" x 23.5". It fits this wall space so well that it's almost indistinguishable from the aluminum inner skin. I attached it to the wall using 3M tape.

I mounted the wall pocket (measures 12" x 1" x 8-1/2" high) to the wall first, at the bottom. Then I extended the top edge of the magnetic board under the bottom edge of the upper cabinet, and fed the bottom edge inside the wall pocket, to reduce the appearance of seams. It's also flush with the window trim.

You can recognize the iPad by the white Apple Pencil sitting on top of it. The gen 7 iPad Pro contains powerful magnets. It won't slide out of that sleeve.

Anyway, this is a much better utilization of this space, and the new steel organizer board is almost indistinguishable from the inner skin of the Interstate. Except it's magnetic - that all-important quality.

[Lily&Me]

Very nice, IB.

Maggie

[Pahaska]

I attached a magnetic bar to a piece of scrap Lexan to give me a place to store a bunch of small items, such as bag clamps. It helps unclutter my drawers.

The Lexan is attached to a block of wood that is screwed into the cabinet bottom behind the aluminum extrusion. For the mounting block, I used a piece of laminate that I removed elsewhere, although the block is pretty well hidden.

[Lily&Me]

Nifty, John!

Great use of vertical space.

Maggie

[Mansderm161]

Great idea. I need that!

[Pahaska]

I have plans for a spice rack, similar to the magnetic strip shown above. It will go between the mag strip and the screen door. There will be one wire mesh 2" x 12" basket, mounted on a Lexan drop-down. Room for salt, pepper, and a couple of spice jars. It will reduce the need to open drawers when cooking.

[Pahaska]

I saw a Facebook ad from "Stojo" for folding cups made of high-quality silicone that can be used for hot or cold beverages. I ordered two of the 12-oz cups. The larger 16-oz cups come with a reusable silicone straw. The straw is extra with the 12-oz cups. They also have a 20-oz bottle that could be handy.

I'm really impressed by the quality. They have a screw-on top with a no-leak cover flap for the hole for the straw.

These will replace some of the hard stuff in my cabinets. They stack and will take up very little space and they positively will not jingle.

[lakemaiden]

Those look perfect. Do they hold their shape when you are holding a hot cup of coffee?

Here is a link to an intriguing single cup, collapsible coffee press. https://food52.com/shop/products/650...saAsSSEALw_wcB

I am tempted...but I am wondering if anyone has bought one of these?

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by lakemaiden

Those look perfect. Do they hold their shape when you are holding a hot cup of coffee?

I'm sitting here in the AI at the moment with a 12-oz Stojo cup in which I just made a cup of coffee with near-boiling water. The screw top, the lid, and a band that goes around the cup are made of hard material, while the folding body is made of soft material. The band ensures that the cup can not collapse and also serves to insulate your fingers.

When folded, the band is inverted and goes into the bottom of the assembly. The whole thing is like a hockey puck.

This is a beautifully engineered cup. I was so impressed with the two 12-oz cups I initially ordered that I ordered a 16-oz cup to hold a full bottle of my favorite green tea.

Here is a photo of the 12-oz cup disassembled.

By the way, I'm at the storage yard and logged on through my Solis.

[Lily&Me]

While there are little spaces with recessed cup holders at each end of the rear lounge in the Interstate, when the lounge is made into a bed there is no such item.

I like to drink my coffee in the mornings while checking news, email and forums, and this little laptop pad I picked up somewhere is the perfect morning end table.

Need to be able to set a mug somewhere, and just on the cushion is risky as to balancing...I have toppled a cup or two.

Needs a firm surface, and this has been the perfect and space-economical solution.

[Pahaska]

I have a bunch of USB cables for various phones, nav equipment, and brake controller. They were always getting spread around the GT.

I don't do any fancy job of getting them ready to put away. I just wrap them loosely around my hand and put them in a snack baggie.

I found that the best place to stow them is in the metal box under the non-folding part of the GT desk (pre-2020). With the driver's seat reversed, it is easy to reach a hand into the end of the box.

Nice to find a use for the space.

[Pahaska]

I bought 3 high-quality folding cups some time ago. With the space in the two forward cabinets over the sink and stove at a premium, I looked for a good place to stow them. I have 2 12-oz cups and one 16-oz cups. The 16-oz is handly since it holds a full can of soda. The folding cups are great for anything from cold drinks to hot coffee.

At the aft end of the second cabinet, there is a box walled off that covers the wires going down into the aluminum extrusion under the cabinet. I found that the space between the box and the cabinet door was an ideal place to stow the cups. They do not tend to fall out after driving.

I have put a strip of salvaged Trim-loc on the aluminum angle on the front of the cabinet. This keeps the aluminum angle from digging into the contents and stops things jingling against the bare aluminum.

[InterBlog]

This under-cabinet storage product deserves a cross-post. It's a lot easier than installing the type of DIY build that I created four years ago:

[Sebtown 1]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

This under-cabinet storage product deserves a cross-post. It's a lot easier than installing the type of DIY build that I created four years ago:

I installed 6 of these. They work great!

[Pahaska]

I carry a Dyson rechargeable vac that works great on the hard floor of my AI, but it needs the powered brush bar on the black cockpit carpet. The vac rides in the rear overhead cabinet to be close at hand. The powered brush attachment was a pain to store in the cabinets, due to its awkward shape and size.

I built a custom holder for the brush attachment that mounts high in the cavity where I removed the curbside bed extension. I can reach back easily to lift it out. It occupies space that is otherwise wasted.

[knotdonne]

[I carry a Dyson rechargeable vac ]
Me, too. It lives in the shower ready to use tucked in the shower hose. It's tight enough to keep it standing up and secure while driving. I keep the small brush and crevice tool in shoe pockets.

Very nice rack for the attachment--better than the one supplied by manufacturer.

[InterBlog]

Too cute!! Telescoping campfire weenie / marshmallow tongs (about 3’ when extended) and spatula (about 2’) from West Marine. Not very durable, but also not very expensive (about 3 bucks each).

[InterBlog]

I cannot recall which thread it was where I expressed my persistent dissatisfaction with the cutlery options. It's a small space issue, so it might have been here (but I'm too lazy to check such a massive thread).

To be clear, this is a first-world problem. But here are the current choices (and their limitations for vanners):

1. Household stainless steel cutlery (too heavy to carry in boondocking quantities; rattles on the road)

2. Disposable cutlery (not durable; creates waste)

3. Plastic camping cutlery (also proving to be insufficiently durable; does not stand up to being nicked by the inevitable use of steak knives, and then the resulting burrs will cut your mouth if you don't file them off; OK, this is too much overhead).

4. Titanium cutlery (too expensive to carry in large quantities).

It's almost like someone was reading my mind, or reading my thread entries. There's a Kickstarter campaign for a product called Magware:

- Aluminum alloy, so no weight problem

- Streamlined shape, so that's a bonus for small storage areas

- Magnetic, so no rattle or organizational problem - AND - they have encased their neodyms in plastic so that they won't pull out of the cutlery (very important)

- Aluminum is reasonably priced compared to titanium

Hail the free market - they raised over $300,000 on Kickstarter, thirty times their original fundraising goal. This is not a surprise to me - I know from my research that there is no competing product in the market. I am not the only person eager to solve this first world problem.

The only question is - can they follow through and bring Magware to market? The pandemic has thrown so much of the supply chain into chaos. If this product does come on the market, I will be purchasing it. In orange, so that when I drop pieces in the lake by accident, I can easily find them again.

[Airtandem]

check out the Boy Scouts; they sell alot of camping equipment. The knife, fork & spoon set sells for $3.49 in durable plastic & $9.99 for stainless. Plus you would be helping them. They have quite a catalog.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Airtandem

check out the Boy Scouts; they sell alot of camping equipment. The knife, fork & spoon set sells for $3.49 in durable plastic & $9.99 for stainless. Plus you would be helping them. They have quite a catalog.

BSA offers the GSI plastic ware, which I already own and initially thought would work, but which I have grown to hate. It's fine for someone spending a week in a tent, but it doesn't work as permanent cutlery. Very subject to breakage, warpage, and the burr problem.

BSA offers a 3-piece stainless set for ten bucks, or about $3.30 per piece plus shipping costs. If I'm going to go stainless, I might as well choose lighter low-end mass-produced stainless which is a tiny fraction of that cost. Webstaurant for instance sells thin flatware for less than one dollar apiece even when shipping is factored in (I have yet to check local restaurant supply stores for their prices).

I'd be happy to pay more to BSA if they offered a solution to the first-world problem, but they do not.