In Part 1 of this post, we removed most of the queen, , and cut the bottoms and the tops of the beds to fit the space we needed.
Part 2 involved Sam working with his dad to build the bed frames, trimmed them with beautiful dark wenge, cut and hinged the top pieces for each bed, and relocated the heater vent.
In Part 3 we finished up some minor work – installing gas springs, fixing rivet holes, designing and building our corner end tables, finished up the trim and ordered a custom cushion to fit behind Cara’s bed.
Before we started the conversion, we had a standard RV walk-around queen bed. Rachel and Andrew slept on the bed, and little Cara slept in her ‘secret hideout’ along one side of the bed.
After the conversion, we have three beds: 2 standard RV twins (75″ by 30″), and a standard size toddler bed. The middle isle has more usable space, and plenty of storage underneath!
Though the beds are a standard size (and use standard size sheets – close enough!) they are custom shaped. The twins follow the curve of the Airstream at the back, and the beds have missing corners where they meet. We loved the company we used for the custom mattresses, www.mattressinsider.com, and highly recommend working with them!
One of our favorite features is the accessible storage under the beds. The queen bed lifted as well, but it was harder to use the space. With all three beds lifted, we can easily get to anything underneath. Note that we also have aisle access to the space under the twins, which makes our common stuff easy to access. The small raised piece of dark trim on the floor is not only pretty, but provides just enough support to keep the buckets from all sliding out when we move.
The storage space under the bed at the end used to only be accessible through the front outside access panel (behind the propane). Now, we can access that space from inside. Though the outside panel still works, we haven’t used it at all.
The custom quilts for each kids bed were the amazing work of Jess, detailed in a previous post.
We still use command hooks above their beds for hats, jackets, and towels, although Jess had to move them up a bit higher so Rachel didn’t have towels in her face at night. The photos were moved next to the storage cabinet up above on the other side. Andrew also decided he wanted to have his head opposite Rachel’s (for whatever reason) so its nice the beds can be made up either direction.
This bed configuration left some (almost) quarter round sections unused in the two corners. I built some removable bookshelves for the kids to store books and small items. The shelves lift out, allowing access to the small storage areas underneath. These are the least accessible storage in the new configuration, so we put things there that we rarely need. Although better than the nightstands we had previously, the kids still cram these things full of their “treasures”, books, and money banks. Maybe one day they’ll learn to keep things tidy, but at least we don’t have an cracks for papers and other small items to fall through!
And our bedroll? Well, it still just mainly gets in the way. The kids fight over who gets to NOT have the bedroll on their bed, and Jess and I try and keep it up off the floor so it doesn’t get stepped on.
There you have it! We absolutely LOVE our new space. The bright colors, more floor space for the kids to play on during the day (and they do!), and the beds double quite nicely as couches when we all want to gather in the back, the kids are doing school work, or Sam is working. We are completely happy with the way they turned out and make traveling in our Airstream even better!
Wow! That’s totally awesome! I have always been impressed by you Sam and Jess! You just seem like the type of people who can do it all! The quilts, the beds, the storage, etc, etc, etc, and then the photos of it all – it looks perfect! Best wishes on this round of the travels and life!
Great job! Love the use of space!
This looks so great. You guys did amazing work.
Thank you!
I totally love the space! Some fine woodworking if I’ve ever seen it. Got “Curren” stamped all over it. Nice job!
Thanks Zach! Can’t wait to see you guys!
It looks so amazing. I love, love, love it!! I love the colors of the quilts, the way the room flows better and all the storage you have now. What an incredible improvement!!
It is so inspiring and beautiful right down to the quilts. I want to do it all! The dimensions in our back maybe different so I hope it works.
I am going to have to design something slightly different. There is about a foot difference in the back thus the turn of the bed.
Wow seriously an amazing job
I love reading about your guys journey. This is beautiful! I respect and admire that you travel with. Just having our Granddaughter and small dog is enough. Lol m
We never thought we would fit into an Airstream, for fulltiming with 3 kids, until we saw your bedroom remodel. After seeing your post, that is the unit we are most seriously considering. What a great job you did! Now that you have been living with it for awhile, we’d like to know if you still feel the bedroom set-up is working well and especially how it is working for you guys to have to make up your bed in the main area every night? Thanks so much.
Beautiful!! You could do some velcro straps for your bed roll – mount them high over the door so that it fits flush with the ceiling when velcro-ed into place (or high over the window).
This is great. We are committing to a 2-year trip with our 3 kids (who will be 8,6 and 4) and have decided to tow an Airstream. Did you consider the 30′ Flying Cloud Bunk? Your solution to the 27′ is genius although I think we would tire of setting up the grown-up bed every day. Just trying to figure out what models would work for us so we can watch prices and move quickly when the time comes.
How exciting for you guys! 2 years will be awesome. We briefly considered the bunk, but used bunk models (there’s also a 2005 version I think) weren’t as common 3 years ago when we were looking for ours, and we couldn’t afford a new one. We honestly feel that putting out our bed at night, and rolling it up in the morning is less painful than making a regular bed everyday. 🙂
We’ve also managed to fit the bedroll underneath Cara’s bed on the end so it doesn’t get in the way anymore. Works great!