A Little Shelf Goes A Long Way

When we departed on our year+ long journey Ellie (the van) was dialed.  Pamela and I didn’t see much that we wanted nor needed to change. Three months into the trip I choose to make sliding bike trays. The reason was for the ease of access and additional storage it created. Thanks to our friend Dakota for pushing me to do them and our friend David for the use of his shop and tools, again.

Recently I’ve been looking at the available and usable space at our disposal within the van to crate a work station. Why? Pamela has gotten in the groove of coloring again and I was looking for a better way to type on my laptop. There’s nothing wrong with having the laptop on my lap, but a more ergonomic setting is desired. With a few days in South Carolina for Thanksgiving (aka a mailing address) and a quick brainstorm session on needed materials and design, I ordered locking brackets from Amazon, bought a 36” x 16” pre-treated shelf, sand paper and stain from Lowe’s.

The width of the brackets and shelf add 1.75” of space to our existing kitchen area. Or, pending on how you look at it, our entryway is now reduced by 1.75”, when the shelf is collapsed.

The overall time for the modification was roughly 10 hours, due to 9 hours required for the stian to dry. he install of the brackets was 15 minutes and that includes making sure all was level.

Why did I choose these particular brackets? I looked for other options, but these offered fewer parts to ensure the shelf would stay up. I really liked the locking lever and how the bracket folded flush. 

Now we’re back on the road and ready to put the shelf to the test as we head south to warmer weather in the state of Florida.

Have a great rest of your weekend and happy building and modifying.