I made a "dinofa"

[LadyEarp]

Alright... I'm just gonna say it... I HATE dinettes. Outside of the 20-30 minutes you might sit down for a meal, I find them completely useless and uncomfortable. Terrible for chilling and watching tv on a rainy day.

So I remedied my problem... introducing the Dinofa! This is simply an Amazon futon without the legs on it. I measured and shopped for a while to find one that fit across the two dinette seat bases, can fold down and still make a bed, and has a cushion short enough for the bunk ends to slide over it when it's time to close down. I also wanted something that didn't require structural modifications to the dinette. All I had to do was unscrew the wooden flip down back rests for the dinette. My camper also has a free floating table, so I can still set the table up in front of the sofa, if need be. My pop up is a hardside and I have a tv wall mount on the wall directly across from my new "dinofa." I think it made a pretty cool little lounge area!

Whatcha think?

That. Is. Awesome!
I kinda like my table though. So I can do crafts.
But you are a genius.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[kudzu]

Are people bringing frozen TV dinners camping?

Pretty close. We bring frozen meals with us, but not ones from the grocery store. Admittedly, we started doing it because I’m not much for cooking these days and the camper came with the microwave anyway so… We do usually have sites with electric hookups.
This way we eat healthier when camping than we otherwise would. Without the microwave we’d be eating hot dogs, baked beans & other junk for too often. I did the camp cooking for years but I’m over it. Totally. Done.

We also never used the dinette in the Aliner, always leaving it set up as a bed. The current trailer came with a sofa & no dinette. It has a folding table but that is rarely used. I greatly prefer eating outside anyway.

 

[xxxapache]

We use the microwave to cook nearly every meal nowadays while staying in our TT. I usually sit on the couch in front of the TV when I eat it, too....Bring on the flames...lol

 

[Susan Premo]

Nice customization.

We're dinette fans, evening games primarily, or stretched across while reading. But we've always had a dinette and sofa.

I love games while growing up we had a cabin my whole family, grandparents great aunt and uncle, cousins, we played 31, my uncle even bought a special little pan to put your coins in when you'd lose a round, then later we'd play trivial pursuit, scrabble and cribbage. Still love games just not as often as I'd like. I ask my husband a lot of evenings and it's usually "no". Just asked him, no. That's why I'm on the computer so darn much or my nose is in a book.

 

[Sjm9911]

I'm sure if I had a microwave and Shore Power camping I'd find ways to use it, but I've always been baffled as to why they get built into even the smallest campers. Are people bringing frozen TV dinners camping? lol.

About the only thing I might want to do with it is reheat coffee.

Yea, i am in on the microwave also. Sad, as at home it is just for popcorn and frozen vegetables. In the TT, it has a life of its own. I cook dinners that I reheat in the nuke oven. Sad, but its fast and easy. This is not all the time, but when we do disney or something where time is $$$.

 

[Sjm9911]

Pretty close. We bring frozen meals with us, but not ones from the grocery store. Admittedly, we started doing it because I’m not much for cooking these days and the camper came with the microwave anyway so… We do usually have sites with electric hookups.
This way we eat healthier when camping than we otherwise would. Without the microwave we’d be eating hot dogs, baked beans & other junk for too often. I did the camp cooking for years but I’m over it. Totally. Done.

We also never used the dinette in the Aliner, always leaving it set up as a bed. The current trailer came with a sofa & no dinette. It has a folding table but that is rarely used. I greatly prefer eating outside anyway.

Hot dogs and baked beens are still a staple. Its always the last meal of the trip. Why, I have no clue , but we always do it. Atually, its probably that hot dogs and a can of beans last forever without going bad......

 

[Canoe2fish]

Pull forward on the back rest part of the sofa, it clicks, and then lays all the way backwards flat. The seat bottom doesn't move. That was something I had to look specifically for to make this work. A jack knife sofa wouldn't work in this case. That was my first idea was to simply buy a jack knife sofa out of a scrapped travel trailer, but trying to keep the dinette structurally intact prevented using a sofa with a jack knife mechanism.

Looks great, so the bottom doesn’t need to move forward on order for the back to lay flat? Hard to tell how much space you have behind in the photo

 

[Kevin A]

Looks great, so the bottom doesn’t need to move forward on order for the back to lay flat? Hard to tell how much space you have behind in the photo

No it doesn't. I have my big headboard pillow behind the sofa in the picture. There's just enough room (about two inches of clearance) for the backrest to fold down flat.

 

[djmello99]

Definitely a cool idea! I like it.

 

[Canoe2fish]

Next upgrade; A TV that pops up from the cabinet facing the Dinofa?

 

[Musictom]

I've lately been daydreaming about what to do with our dinette, as I too find it mostly a waste of valuable space. Ours is in a small slideout, so I don't know that it would work exactly like yours, but it does have my mind thinking.