Bed.
The Alite came with enough cushions and plywood to make the entire interior
into a double bed. I chose to make it a permanent 1-person camper
and the only cushions I use are the two 20"x32" and the 20"x12", all on
the long street-side bench. That's my sofa-bed. I pull the
two longer cushions out from the wall a bit, stuffing a rolled lightweight
blanket behind them. The resulting 23"-24" width is enough for me
to sleep on my side and easily turn over at night. The original bench
lid, running the length of the camper, was much too unwieldy to manage.
I cut it in half and enlarged the cut-off roof-side corners, making it
much easier to lift each section by means of nylon straps screwed under
the front edges. To support the rear edges of the bed lids and keep
them from falling down into the storage area when lifted, I nailed a 4"
strip of vinyl, cut from a piece of gutter cover (wonderful stuff when
thin white vinyl is needed!), on top of the rear framing.
Bedding. My
"mattress" is a piece of 1" memory foam, cut to fit the cushioned area.
I sewed the foam into a protective slipcover of thin, slick fabric.
The covered foam slips into an envelope made from a flat sheet. One
end of this envelope has a velcro flap, so the sheet can be removed for
washing. A narrowed flat twin sheet and a flannel sheet (also narrowed)
are stitched together at the bottom to make a top cover. At night,
I put a pillowcase over the daytime throw pillow. Depending on temperature,
I can sleep covered with just a sheet or pull up the flannel sheet, or
add the blanket. I also have a small fleece throw. The folded
bedding - memory foam, top sheet set, and pillowcase - is stored in the
rear of the under-bed storage, on top of the battery. The pillow
and throw are daytime "sofa" furnishings.
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