Kitchen box 2.0
For the last seven years we've used a kitchen box that I cobbled together in my garage. Its dimensions were defined by a large washbasin and the need to fit between the wheel wells of our old pickup.
It was as handy as a shirt pocket, but accommodating the large washbasin made it deeper than our other two boxes and with the extra space inside, we found ourselves adding more and more to it -camping equipment will always expand to fit the space afforded it. Also, I needed to shrink it down as in a few years, I need to be able to carry it myself.
I painted the inside white on the theory that it would brighten the inside and make the most of whatever light got in there. Nice in theory. Filthy in reality. Also, the shelf above the stove area began to sag under the weight of our 10" dutch oven. If we're going to do this again, we should compartmentalize it to add some support to that shelf.
Out was the old washbasin and in were two collapsible plastic washbasin (thank you Scouting for showing me the error of my ways!) And the silverware/junk drawer had always been too high, and finding anything in there was a hassle. And a noisy hassle. Who wants to camp next to that guy?
I added laminate to all the horizontal surfaces this time, as they were impossible to clean in the 1.0 box. And while the stain may be dark, it turns out whenever I was in there at night, I was wearing my headlamp anyways. And there's about five coats of Varathane leftover from our hardwood flooring project in the house. The drawer handle was always rubbing on the inside of the lid on the last box, and it turns out we really don't need much there, so a chunk of 1/4" line works pretty well, too. Speaking of which, Now that we camp out of a suburban, the sound of the chains clanging inside the boxes was driving me up the wall. 550 cord makes a nice quiet replacement.
Yes, it's probably the most over-engineered silverware drawer ever made, but when life gives you 1/2" plywood and leftover oak, make lemonade.
Packed to the brim . . .
Now I just need to get this stuff out of the garage and into the truck and off to the woods. As soon as work permits. Grrrrrr . . . . .