Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Started working on the interior cabinets, and am wondering how deep most people make them. I just have the cabinet shelf in place, but it's starting to look a little claustraphobic. Maybe I'm making them too deep.....

My cabinets are only going to be about 14" deep for the very reason you state, I don't mind small spaces but my wife can feel claustrophobic at times.

Micro469 wrote:Started working on the interior cabinets, and am wondering how deep most people make them. I just have the cabinet shelf in place, but it's starting to look a little claustrophobic. Maybe I'm making them too deep.....

I have a 5'x10' and the headboard cabinets are 11" deep and the foot board cabinets are 16" deep. I keep a day pack in the headboard cabinet for shower stuff and there is enough room in the foot board cabinet for about 10 days of summer clothes and a jacket, videos etc. Danny

I guess I'm all right then... My cabinets will only be 13" deep. But it sure do make the cabin look smaller.......

My overhead cabinets are deep, but they that way to come out flush with the airconditioner.

My tear is just under 10' and my head cabinets are 8" deep. I am wrangling with the depth of my rear cabinets now.

My ceiling is 54" so the cabinet will be 24" off the deck, which should help with the claustrophobic feeling. Maybe I could put some lights under there too, that would make it look kinda neat.

I have them sketched in at approx 16" right now, but will be following this thread with great interest.

Depth is not as limiting as heigth...we built our first ones about 16" deep...no problem but they were 22"s off the floor and became knee bumpers for both the wife and I, so make sure they are short enough to leave plenty of knee room(about 30"s off the floor...or so)
madjack

That's some of the reasons I chose to not have a hatch.

I'd have to go and measure to see how deep they ended up. In the end they are a few inches less than what I thought at first. I decided by putting up paper where the doors would be & sat inside. 2 inches made a big difference to me on whether it seemed claustrophobic or roomy. I went with "roomy" if there is such a thing for a 4ft by 8ft.
Martha

I am working on my galley and inside cabinets today. The inside of the rear cabin cabinets will be 16" deep and will be 26" from the floor. After reading the post from madjack about knee clearance I went back to take another look at the distance up from the floor after allowing for a 4" mattress. Since my trailer is a 5'x10' I think I can get away with about 22" clearance because the front of the cabinets should be over my shins and not my knees.

zapj wrote:I am working on my galley and inside cabinets today. The inside of the rear cabin cabinets will be 16" deep and will be 26" from the floor. After reading the post from madjack about knee clearance I went back to take another look at the distance up from the floor after allowing for a 4" mattress. Since my trailer is a 5'x10' I think I can get away with about 22" clearance because the front of the cabinets should be over my shins and not my knees.

I may go do the same thing..

John,

Here is a picture of our tear with the rear cabin cabinets installed. The floor of the cabin is 59" X 80" The cabinets extend forward of the footboard only 11" and the bottom will be 17" above the top of a 4" mattress. The clearance above the bed was dictated by the way I am mounting the AC. There was room for much deeper cabinets but we decided that we would rather have extra open space in the cabin. We are accustomed to traveling on a motorcycle and over the years have found that we can get along quite well with much less than many people might think. We would rather pack our extra stuff in the truck. The center section will hold a 15" flat-screen TV and the bottom slot a DVD player. The cabinets on either side will have doors and will serve as general storage. Just one more way of doing it.

Howard

Weerider wrote:John,

Here is a picture of our tear with the rear cabin cabinets installed. The floor of the cabin is 59" X 80" The cabinets extend forward of the footboard only 11" and the bottom will be 17" above the top of a 4" mattress. The clearance above the bed was dictated by the way I am mounting the AC. There was room for much deeper cabinets but we decided that we would rather have extra open space in the cabin. We are accustomed to traveling on a motorcycle and over the years have found that we can get along quite well with much less than many people might think. We would rather pack our extra stuff in the truck. The center section will hold a 15" flat-screen TV and the bottom slot a DVD player. The cabinets on either side will have doors and will serve as general storage. Just one more way of doing it.

Howard

That's nice work!!!

John,

The cabinets do make the interior feel smaller. That is okay. Your opinion of just how tight you can make it, depends on if you are sitting or laying down. I plan on only sitting in my trailer if my feet are hanging out the door. All of the rest of the time I will be laying down inside. From a reclining position a teardrop trailer can feel quite roomy. I wanted the storage so I made my cabinets as deep as I could. I was just careful to be sure that when I bend my knees while laying on my back, my legs don't hit the cabinets. I allowed a few inches between my legs and the wood. This is for blankets on my knees.

I say get all the storage you can. . .laying down is the answer to decided how much.