The Remodel — Part 1
Living full-time in an RV comes with a unique set of challenges. Living full-time in a 23’ Airstream was a whole different ballgame. As mentioned in Stella, we decided on a 23’ for mobility; because of this, we had to work with the folks at Ultimate Airstreams to come up with some unique solutions.
In July of 2022, Kevin contacted UA about taking on the project. Over the course of the next 10-months, and about 500 emails and phone calls later (no joke), we finally saw the fruits of our labor and absolutely love it.
Grand Lounge
Arguably the biggest change we made to the camper was turning the front seating into a wrap-around lounge that converts into a bed / sofa. While the table did collapse in the original floorplan, there was no storage under it and you didn’t sit around the table.
The original floorplan had seating on either side of a table that collapsed, with limited storage underneath.
Trying to work across from each other with simi-ridged seating wasn’t going to cut it for two-years of full-time living.
“Insert the Grand Lounge”
With the Grand Lounge conversion we were able to open the space up and allow more seating around the table. Additionally, we were able to replace the old cushions with leather and add the Walnut Butcher Block to give the camper a little more character.
The conversion allows us to lower the pedestals and place cushions on top of the table, creating a full bed in the front. We can also lower one side at a time giving us a sectional / ottoman to lounge on while using the remaining table for drinks / food.
This was the perfect setup for us as we use it for a desk too (spoiler below).
Desk
First off, we can’t say this enough, we are not on vacation. Living this life style allows us to be closer to things we want to see and do on the weekends and evenings, but we still work 9-5s. This meant we needed space to do the work we would normally be doing from the office.
We actually had to make an adjustment during construction and add a foot to the desk. Each Airstream is hand built, and slightly different, and ours had ductwork that couldn’t be moved.
To solve for this we added the drawers (the bottom is actually flip down short liquor cabinet that allows the ductwork to come in behind it). We’re so happy we did because the extra storage is perfect and the seating at the Grand Lounge is plenty big. We also like having a larger desk too for the coffee / tea pots and just more counter space in general.
Our desk was designed specifically for us. We had a custom mount installed so the monitor didn’t hit the windows and could swivel out of the way when we want to take in the views.
Since our monitor doubles as our TV, we took the TV off the wall and added our travel map and pictures. We also found this amazing chair on Amazon where the back folds down and fits perfectly stowed under the desk.
The location of the desk is perfect too, in front of the two large windows on the road side of the camper. We expect many great views from there and will take a desk picture from each location.
The 2nd work location will be from the Grand Lounge. We brought a 24” monitor that we set on the tabletop, giving us two comfortable work locations.
