{"id":5936,"date":"2015-06-01T20:09:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T00:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/?p=5936"},"modified":"2023-06-29T23:30:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T03:30:03","slug":"living-in-a-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/5936","title":{"rendered":"Living in a vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sounds odd, but living in an RV is really living in a vehicle, despite all the comforts of home. While looking towards the front of the coach you see seats with seat belts, a steering wheel, and a typical vehicle dashboard.<\/p>\n

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Not the living room d\u00e9cor \/ theme most people would choose, not to mention difficult to keep clean with all of those dial, knobs and gages.<\/p>\n

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I have met many women who have commented that they live in a 5th wheel, mainly because they don\u2019t like the look of living in a vehicle no matter how convenient it is to travel in an RV. Well neither do I. So I\u2019m on a journey to erase the \u201cvehicle\u201d from my living room. Now, all of this has evolved over time and I\u2019m still working towards my end goal.<\/p>\n

The first project I tackled was the steering wheel. I had seen many RV\u2019s with \u201csteering wheel tables\u201d. These are plastic table tops with special attachments that keep the table level when mounted. As it turned out, the commercially sold tables were too wide, and interfered when I tried to turn the driver seat.<\/p>\n

Off to Lowes! It is one of my favorite stores, by the way\u2026 I found a stool seat just the right size, bought some blocks, pipe clamps and some rubber-melty stuff. Using a level I figured out how many blocks I need to level the table, glued them together, screwed the legs to the table, screwed the pipe clamps on, used the melty stuff on the clamps to protect the steering wheel and instant table!!<\/p>\n

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I then put a round tablecloth over the whole assembly, crocheted a table topper for the \u201cfancy factor\u201d, added a lamp and some plants. Presto!<\/p>\n

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Next I needed to cover the dashboard. That required a bit more skill in a certain area (sewing) that I did not have. So this next part waited until I arrived back home in PA where I enlisted the help of my mother, a master seamstress.<\/p>\n

She calculated I would need about 3 yards of material. In addition to the material she had me buy something called Pellon that we would use to make into a pattern.<\/p>\n

Basically we laid the Pellon over what was to be covered, marked where to cut, and then cut out the pieces. I labeled each piece (hard to see in the picture), pinned each piece to the fabric and cut it out.<\/p>\n

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With my Singer Pixie Craft sewing machine (don\u2019t laugh, it fits in my small space), I sewed all of the pieces together. I don\u2019t know how other RV dashboards are but we have features on ours that we sometimes need to access. So for the front, I made several panels for easy access.<\/p>\n

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To hold the cover on the dashboard I bought some anti-slip material used for carpets and laid that down then the cover.<\/p>\n

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At first I thought this would be fine, but after extended use it has become clear that I will need to sew Velcro along the top and sticky the other part to the black rubber along the window.<\/p>\n

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I added a few plants for that homey feel and it feels A LOT less like a vehicle and more like a living room to us. Next I want to make slip covers for the front seats to hide the seatbelts, swivel arms and seat adjustment hardware.<\/p>\n

BEFORE<\/span><\/p>\n

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NOW<\/span><\/p>\n

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So what do you think? I\u2019d like to hear your opinions, criticisms, and especially any suggestions for improvements or different ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sounds odd, but living in an RV is really living in a vehicle, despite all the comforts of home. While looking towards the front of the coach you see seats with seat belts, a steering wheel, and a typical vehicle dashboard. Not the living room d\u00e9cor \/ theme most people would choose, not to mention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,1108],"tags":[528,183,524],"class_list":["post-5936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-rv-tips-tricks","tag-dashboard-cover","tag-pennsylvania","tag-williamsport"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6507_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3hvz5-1xK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6783,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/6783","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":0},"title":"Decorate Your RV","author":"Wendy","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Our RV is our home. I\u2019ve talked before about \u201cliving in a vehicle\u201d and some things I\u2019ve done to make it feel less so. When it comes right down to it, as far as the home thing goes, an RV is a rolling earthquake. Items shift and vibrate out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_7065_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_7065_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_7065_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3969,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/3969","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":1},"title":"Typical Day at Anderson Cove","author":"Wendy","date":"August 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"So, what do we do all day as campground hosts? In the beginning there was a lot of \u201cyard work\u201d getting the campground ready for campers. (see this post from May) With that done and only touch-ups needed every now and again, we spend our time tidying up the bathrooms\u2026(John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2831.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2831.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2831.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2831.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5384,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/5384","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":2},"title":"How to Defrost an RV Freezer","author":"Wendy","date":"April 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems like it is ALWAYS defrost-the-freezer time when you live in an RV. My first try back in 2013, after we had been on the road a couple of months, was painful\u2026.VERY painful. Having just come from living in a house with a deep freeze I followed the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5502.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5502.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5502.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5502.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6920,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/6920","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":3},"title":"How to Defrost an RV Freezer – Review","author":"Wendy","date":"March 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We are getting ready to head to Moab Utah for some fun in the desert. The Easter Jeep Rally is this coming weekend in Moab,\u00a0and we are due for some R & R before John\u2019s next job. We went grocery shopping to stock-up, and get drinking water. Before I loaded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5504_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5504_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_5504_thumb.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3044,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/3044","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":4},"title":"Last Tourist Stop","author":"Wendy","date":"October 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Well we have arrived in Coffeyville Kansas, and have settled in our new backyard for the next month and half. But before we got here we made one last tourist stop. The Beaver Lake area in Arkansas is heavy on outdoor sports, especially fishing, obviously, but while out hiking we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_1935_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_1935_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_1935_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C436&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2016,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/2016","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":5},"title":"Grapevine, Texas","author":"Wendy","date":"January 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"What a great town for us wine lovers to start our RV lifestyle. There 3 wineries and 5 wine bars around our campground, The Vineyard Campground. It is currently rated the best RV park in America. Every site has a concrete pad, full hookups, WiFi available, the roads are all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMG_0709_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMG_0709_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMG_0709_thumb.jpg?fit=580%2C388&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5936"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14346,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5936\/revisions\/14346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}