For years, we were lucky enough to run a Goliath of a Concorde motorhome. It wasn’t new (apart from to us), otherwise it would have been well outside our price bracket – we were buying a used motorhome.
That beast could comfortably seat a dozen people around the central table, and was a delight to drive, partly thanks to its Mercedes automatic gearbox.
Alas, time flies and we felt the urge to get back within that 3.5 tonne limit, as the regular medicals and sight tests were becoming increasingly worrying. So in 2017, we traded in our Concorde for a diminutive Hymer MLI 540, the shortest model in the range.
We got all the good bits that we enjoyed in the Concorde, including an Alde motorhome heating system, a full cooker, a garage, an automatic gearbox and more.
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Maximising the space in my motorhome kitchen
What we didn’t have was as much space, but we found ways to maximise what there was. For example, there was a small hinged flap on the side of the cooker that partly obstructed the doorway. Using it was a bit awkward, because stuff could slide off it.
So it was time for my motorhome tool kit and resolve the issue. A new, larger flap, with an edging of polycarbonate strip, was made from some plywood, and covered with an acrylic sheet to finish it off.
However, the cooking area remained limited: the only working space was the cooker’s glass lid. If only we could get a shelf in there to use when parked up!
The problem here was that anything positioned over the cooker had to be high enough above the hob to be safe, and not compromise the three LED downlighters that illuminate the cooker and sink area. I’d need to carry out this motorhome maintenance task with care.
The brainstorm was aided by some clutter I had in my garage. I found a sheet of polycarbonate three-layer roofing panel that had been replaced in our conservatory roof a while back.
This is see-through and very tough. Some of you might remember the advert showing a Mini parked on the polycarbonate roof of a conservatory!
Some measurements suggested that if a suitably sized side panel was rested on the edge of a little tidy rack fitted by Hymer, the shelf would be just high enough to allow the glass hob lid to be fully lifted – well, almost!
A spacer made from a bit of plastic chopping board provided the necessary 6mm uplift, and some thin aluminium sheet, bent into a right angle, prevented it from falling off.
The other side was a support made from a bit more polycarbonate, which was attached to the top with some M5 screws and two wood screws to fix it to the adjacent vertical. I did radius the corner, although it was quickly pointed out to me that the open-grain structure of the end of this material was not particularly becoming for a motorhome kitchen!
Finishing touches to the motorhome shelf
Another workshop trawl revealed some glass fibre repair filler and this was made up and plastered into the end grain.
I rubbed it down with an orbital sander, added more filler, then rubbed it down again for a smooth edge.
Black paint had been the plan, but dark blue paint was close to hand, so dark blue it was. The bonus is that the downlighters shine straight through the magic shelf. It has proven to be really useful, and all for the weight of little more than a couple of feathers.
See what the experts at Practical Motorhome have to say about the 27 mistakes you’ll want to avoid when on-site in a motorhome.
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