New Bed Design - Part 2

I previously wrote about Greg's new bed design for our camper van.  He did an awesome job building the new bed. The link above shows the build process.

The bed in the "day" couch position without the cushions

The bed in the sleeping position without the cushions

 The next step was to purchase foam padding which we got from Walmart online. We purchased two full size Spa Sensations 4" Memory Foam Mattress Toppers ($89 each). Greg used a electric carving knife to cut down the foam toppers into four separate pads the sizes we needed.

Greg marking and cutting the full size mattress topper into four pads

Greg demonstrating the use of the electric carving knife to cut and shape the pads

We looked into having custom covers made and went into sticker shock when we got a quote. No way Jose! So I borrowed a sewing machine from a good friend and decided to make the covers myself. This sounds real simple until you hear that the last time I sewed anything more than a button or hem repair was in high school and that was over 35 years ago. But, I was confident that I could do it!

We went shopping for fabric and discovered that the fabrics weren't going to be wide enough. Now what? Then I thought - why not cover the pads with a sheet cut and sewed to fit snugly. We went to the Walmart Super Center (about 40 minutes from where we live) and picked out king size sheets that were on sale.

So - that is what I did. Yeah me! Huge thanks to my friend who helped me thread the bobbin, figure out how to do the first cushion and gave me the confidence to believe I really could do this.

Cathy helped me with the first cover and reminded me how to use a sewing machine.
She also lent me her sewing machine. Such a great friend!

Like riding a bike - using the sewing machine came back to me even after 35+ years

Each sheet cost $11.97 - so the total cost for the cushions with my custom covering was $225.88. A very nice savings. We are thrilled with the final product and can't wait for our upcoming trip to try it out. 

The Monkeys check out the new covered pads in couch mode

View from front of van looking toward the back in couch mode

Looking from back of van including the under the bench storage.
The sleeping bag/blankets normally reside on the back pad
where the monkeys are hanging out