While the main living quarters is pretty much what sold us on our RV, there was much about it we didn’t like. We loved the ‘atrium’ slide, with it’s many windows and skylights, the big slide, and the ‘L-shaped’ kitchen. We didn’t like the small slide (but that’s a post yet to come – when we get back from camping), and we really didn’t like the entertainment center. It had so much wasted space… so, it was time for an RV remodel! Yay!
It used to have a door in the middle, but last fall we gave it to a cabinet maker to copy for some other doors we wanted, and a week later, his shop burned down! It was right before we were leaving for the winter, and we just left it as it (not a lot of other options! LOL!).
We also didn’t like how the ladder sits right in front of the door to the ‘boy’s room’. But, with the current entertainment center, that’s just the way it had to be unless we wanted to start taking out walls. (we didn’t)
Vaughn took a couple of days off of work to fix this for me!!! He understands (or pretends to 😉 ) that this is my home and I like it to look nice!
So, he ripped out the old entertainment center. I drew up a schematic of what I had in mind, and it was his job to make it look good! 
He’s pretty fabulous at doing that! LOL!
One of the best things that he did with this little mod was to move the furnace ducting. The original ductwork came out of the floor in the middle of the entertainment center, then they took it to the corner and ducted it through the corner. We put stuff in the corner, so years ago V had made the duct lines in the garage longer and put it farther out in the room (so the piping snaked from out of the floor in the middle of the e.c., over to the wall, then back out in the room) Needless to say, not a lot of hot air made it back to the boys’ room. Vaughn remedied that since we had it all out in the open, and he punched a hole in the wall directly above the floor entrance, and piped it through. It just clears the clothing drawers we have back there, and a ton more heat get in that back room now!
Course, Vaughn has help anytime he does stuff around ‘the house’ – Molly vacuumed up his mess for this one…
He roughed in the new framework, and took out many of those miles worth of extra wires! Our surround sound has never worked right, so V rewired it to work in the living room, but took out the radio and all those extra switches for the TVs we removed when we bought the rv (there were 4).
Re-wiring all that was interesting, and what took so much time to finish! V figured it all out, but I think that we had Duck Dynasty playing all day one day while he re-wired everything – SOMETHING had to be playing so he could hear what he was hooking up. A kid would be standing on the Stokke highchair, near a ceiling speaker, telling dad whether or not the sound was coming out of it! It was quite the job!
He bought new plywood for the shelves, but used all the same faceplate and doors. Some of the faceplate he had to rip down to fit. The kids helped him stain the wood, and then he had to seal it.
pinning new shelves on…
working on the faceplate…he wore gloves as he had to stain some of the pieces as he ripped them to fit, and before he put them on…
Daddy’s little helper. Who was in the middle of it all.every.step.of.the.way! LOL! 
It’s nearly done – the only thing that still needs to be finished is for the outlet box to be wrapped (with wood); Vaughn hardwired in a 3-gang outlet box so I have 6 plug-ins next to the TV…
Very little wasted space, and lots of room for books. Well, when the dolly’s move out! 
We made the shelves just the right size for the little girls’ dolls, Jake installed Captain’s Rail (or decorative railing) so they wouldn’t fall out, and I made them little mattresses and blankets out of fabric that the girls chose on a recent jaunt to JoAnn’s.
Some would freak about tanking our resale value, but really, who is going to pay much for an RV after 12 and 13 people have lived in it for a few years anyway!!! ROFL!!! Plus, this is our HOME – we want it to reflect who we are, and what makes us comfortable.
The basket has frequently used card games and other games (like Hopper and National Parks Checkers).
And, one of the very best benes of this new design, is that we can move over the ladder (which we leave up all the time unless we are moving), and it doesn’t block the door anymore! I can’t believe how nice it is; I guess it’s made me realize how much of a pain it really was! 
(and why, yes, my back room is a mess – it’s full of backpacks, warm winter coats, down sleeping bags, and hiking boots.) Anxious for our winter camping tomorrow!
Anyway, I’m loving my new living room (including new dinette, pics to come)!!!
I’m thinking we should change our FB page, and blog, to be titled ‘RV Mods R Us’… 😉
Looks great. You are very good at organizing and making things look pretty. You have a beautiful family. I have been reading your blog for a number of years and find it very entertaining. Can’t wait for your next road trip!
I have been reading along on your blog for a while now, but I’ve never left a comment (I’m trying to get better about that!). I just had to let you know how much I appreciate the way you share all your great ideas for making a small space more functional and comfy (and prettier, too). The way I see it on the mods affecting resale…I think they would increase value, not decrease. Your entertainment center looks great and makes the space more functional (with the ladder and all). Just because the camper came a certain way doesn’t mean that was the best way (just my opinion).
We recently did a little “sprucing up” in our fifth wheel and one of the things we did was an idea that you shared…adding the baskets to the bunks for the kids to put their things in. Genius :)! Before, we had used command hooks and those pet net things. It sorta worked, but they fell down way too often (slipped off the hooks) and everything would spill out. The wire baskets are awesome…they stay put and therefore everything in them does, too. Thank you so much for the idea :)!
RV Mods R Us! funny. Don’t you love making things different, smart, and pretty?? And great to have a hubby that CAN do it for you:) Thanks for sharing.