Santa Came Early

It all started when we got our periodic e-mail from P&J. P stands for Peggy and J stands for John and their last names are McDonald. They are a wonderful full-time couple that have written several books for Rvers. The one we own and have read several times is RV Living in the 21st Century. They have a website www.rvliving.net and we are on the mailing list for their weekly, sometimes bi-weekly newsletter. If you have not read this book we highly recommend it for those thinking about full-timing or those that have already started the journey.
Anyway, back to the story, they sent a recent newsletter that showed some interior pics of their motorhome where they had removed their sofa and replaced it with two Euros, replaced the eating area with more of a desk area and several other decorating upgrades. Well, we didn’t want to remove our sofa, at this time, because we want a place for our son to sleep. We already had a very comfortable Lazy-boy black leather recliner that was part of the motorhome when we purchased it. We also have the desk/credenza with the matching table and a couple of upholstered chairs. We started thinking about how often we actually use the table as intended…..a place to eat. We also started thinking about the placement of the TV. In a motorhome it is usually up in the front in the middle above the dash. Those that are lucky enough to have purchased a newer model motorhome may have discovered that motorhome manufacturers are changing that arrangement some and giving the option of placing the TV at the rear of the coach. Not the case with ours. We know a couple that placed their TV on a table under the side window behind the passenger seat and I love that arrangement but for us we needed a little more seating plus we already had the one recliner and didn‘t want to get rid of it.. So what to do???? The dinette table is just large enough for two people so whenever we have someone over to eat, we use those individual folding patio tables from Camping World or we eat outside.

Well, we started playing around with the current arrangement. We removed the table and one of the upholstered chairs, placed the other upholstered chair under the middle open space like a desk. We then moved the black leather recliner next to the sofa and stood back and took a long look. That is when the epiphany occurred. What if we had another Lazy-boy recliner in the space by the window on the passenger side and left the other recliner next to the sofa. Now we have two very comfortable places to sit and watch TV as well as another place to sit for company conversation. The desk/credenza is still functional, the only thing missing is the table for eating. It is all about give and take. Will we miss the table? Perhaps but we figured the comfortable sitting, conversation and TV watching arrangement was a better trade-off for us.

Another thing that was a concern was what to do if we wanted to have someone over to say play Mexican Train, Monopoly or some such game. What would we do? Well, we decided to purchase a card table from Camping World that can be stored in the basement when not in use. Camping World has several such tables and the next time we are near one of their stores we plan to take a look and make a purchase. Now we didn’t want to get rid of the dining table because it was made to go with the Credenza so we placed it along with one of the upholstered chairs in the climate controlled storage building.

It’s cozy, it’s functional and I don’t have a crick in my neck from watching TV. We still have a sofa for our son to “crash” on whenever he wants to visit us or take a much anticipated vacation with us. We are happy with this new arrangement and I guess we must have been pretty good this year because Santa has already been to visit us.