Making The Sleeper Sofa

The couch in our living area converts to a bed with an air mattress. Every time I pull it out for overnight company, I use the air pump to fill it. I then have to crawl over the mattress to the other side to put on the mattress pad, sheet, etc. Not an easy task. Now, I leave the pad and sheet on the air mattress and find that they protect the mattress from any spilling that goes through the cushions. It's so easy to just add the pillows and blankets. The pad and sheet do not interfere with closing the couch after the air mattress has been deflated.

Editor's note: Check the instructions to ensure that the mattress manufacturer doesn't recommend against this.

Arlene Chiarolanzio, F181694, Florham Park, New Jersey

 Wine Glass Storage

We needed a place in our motorhome to keep our wine goblets, so I used a vacant area over the pantry to create a storage cabinet. The space measures 10 inches by 5 inches, and it will hold 12 wine glasses. We began by building a T-slide that is mounted on top of the homemade glass holder. We then installed a wooden slide to the top of the cabinet. A cabinet latch also was included to hold it in place. Now our glasses hang upside down and stay in place when traveling.

Dave & Irene Scheiern, F268350, Azle, Texas

Seeing Eye-To-Eye

Backing up the motorhome without damaging the fancy, low-hanging chrome mud flap presented a problem that I was finally able to solve. I drilled a hole in the metal part of the flap, installed an eyebolt, and then connected a chain to the eyebolt. I placed a hook approximately halfway up the length of the chain that could then be pulled up and attached to the tow bar hitch. A piece of rubber tubing was placed over the end of the chain where I created a handle loop so that I could grip the chain to raise the mud flap to the desired height, and then lower it again after backing up.

Pete Chiarolanzio, F181694, Florham Park, New Jersey

Step Lights

One dark night at the lake, our friends noted that our motorhome's entry steps were difficult to see. Being a fan of LED lighting, I found a low-voltage (12-volt) rope lighting supplier on the Internet. Low-voltage lights require no transformer, making installation simple, cost-effective, and power-efficient.

Our steps are carpeted on the sides and the top edge. I used grabber screws to secure the light channel to the underside of the top step lip. This recessed the light channel into the carpet, and it virtually disappeared from view. Next, I drilled a hole through the back of the step for the wires and ran the supplied wires back through the front bulkhead to an existing courtesy light toggle switch mounted on the dashboard. The new lights add 0.06 amps to the circuit and are well below the amp capacity of the existing circuit. I placed lights only on the sides of the steps so as to prevent shadows that would have resulted if the entire step had been illuminated. The new lights provide ample illumination to the four steps, as well as the ground.

Danny Lindstrom, F310275, Salinas, California

Basket Restraint

If you use wire storage baskets in your basement compartments, you know how easy it is to pull them out too far and have them fall out onto the ground. To prevent this, use a bungee cord that is slightly shorter than the width of the basket. Thread the bungee cord through the back of the basket and then hook it to the slide frames or other attachment points at each end. This creates increased tension the farther you pull the basket out, and the basket self-retracts when released.

Jerry Hardacre, F278942, Anderson, Indiana