Lazy Susan Mess Conquered

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Our 3585SA model has a rear kitchen with a corner cabinet containing a 2-tier Lazy Susan. While I like the Lazy Susan idea, I hate the mess it produces when we travel. Unless we're on a perfectly smooth road, every little bump throws the contents of the Lazy Susan all over the place; when we stop for a night, I have to pick up and/or wipe up everything that's bounced off of the tiers.

As we were preparing to move the trailer last Thursday, I noticed a stack of Wal-Mart 97¢ white plastic baskets that I'd bought to hold bathroom items and wondered if they would help hold spices, etc., on the Lazy Susan. I used double-sided sticky tape to hold the baskets to the two tiers and then filled the baskets with what normally rides loose on those tiers. On the drive to the campground, which included a pothole-filled and washboard dirt road, a state highway with frost heaves, and multiple curves, not one basket moved and nothing turned over, fell out, or spilled.

If I had thought ahead, I could have bought more of the smallest size of baskets and covered the tiers nearly completely, but I had to work with the baskets I had. Eventually I will switch out some of the odd-sized baskets with smaller ones, giving me more storage for the Lazy Susan contents. For now, however, I am pleased with my last-minute idea to avoid a jumbled mess in that corner cabinet.

Carolyn

[emdavis]

that is a great idea. when we return home to idaho next week i will do the same thing. thanks eldon and paula davis

[indy roadrunner]

I solved our lazy susan problem the first time we loaded up and took the monty on a shake down cruise. I skillfully removed it and with respect disposited it in the dumpster. Haven't missed it since.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I also considered ripping out that Lazy Susan and donating it to the dumpster! Now I'm glad I didn't. On the other hand, when I have time to rethink the storage problems in my kitchen, I may end up removing the Lazy Susan after all and putting in someting that would make better use of the space.

Carolyn

[DonandJudy_12]

The first thing I did was give the @#$%^&*() lazy susan away and build in a shelf that has much more useable space- The bonus for me is a very appreciable wife who cajoled me to add more shelving throughout our Monty- If I were as computer savvy as I am as a carpenter, I would post photos- We are fulltimers so extra storage is invaluable- To each his own- JHMO- Don

[DonandJudy_12]

I meant "appreciative", not "appreciable"- Or did I? Don

[Bill-N-Donna]

Our Lazy Susan was mounted under the television. After modifying that area and the installation of a fire place it’s now located under the rear kitchen cabinets. I guess it depends on what stuff you place on it but we haven’t had any significant problems with it located where it’s at now.

[Waynem]

Carolyn,
I'm not going to tell my wife that you fixed the Lazy Susan. She would want you to fix the Lazy Wayne.

Oh! And we used the 6 or 7 inch square DVD containers with the holes in all the sides as holders in the pantry. They were just wide enough for the shelves and kept everything in place.

Just think, if you really got creative you could cut and shape those containers that you have to fit the curved side, or one big round container with a hole in the middle for the center of the Susan. Just thinking out loud.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Don, I wish you'd get computer-saavy and get photos of those shelves so that I can see what you did. Seriously, I've read about other MOCers putting shelves in that space, too, but have never seen what kind of shelves and what the configuration is. That space is so deep that I can't imagine how shelves would work in there; seems you'd have to move everything to see what was in the back.

Bill, our kitchen and Lazy Susan are in the back street-side corner of our RV, so things have a tendency to bounce around if bumps in the road are encountered. I think if the kitchen were in the center of the rig, the Lazy Susan might work ok.

Wayne, I'd like to see photos of those DVD containers in your pantry. My problem is that I don't have a pull-out pantry or a real designated pantry at all, so storing food is always a problem for me. I'm sure some other owners of the 3585SA model have worked out better solution to the problems of food storage than I've worked out, and I surely would like to see photos of what they've done. Owners of the Montana 3585SA model, that was a HINT.)

I am always looking for suggestions for and solutions to kitchen storage problems, so if anyone has ideas for me, step right in and tell me about them. Photos are always appreciated, too. If you want to email me with ideas, that's also fine.

Carolyn

[Waynem]

DVD Storage BOX with UPC Code


Pantry Mod


Storage items


More storage items


Just think how much more I could have gotten in had I put additional shelves.

[blarkman]

We had same problem with our 3000Rk and did remove the lazy susan and built two shelves in its place using plywood. Sure made an improvementand we did use baskets to hod the taller items
bob

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Wayne, if I had that kind of cabinet space, I'd jump for joy! I like the DVD boxes and will look for some next time I'm anywhere that might stock them; I could definitely use some in the bathroom area. (Dillon has only a tiny Alco and King's variety stores which carry a limited stock of anything.)
Carolyn

[Waynem]

You can find them at Wal-mart (or used to).

search for, and ask at service desk, UPC 7314969586

[sreigle]

Good idea, Carolyn. We removed our lazy susan but before doing so I discovered one of the shelves (can't remember which) was adjustable and could be moved up or down. I think it was a set screw under the shelf. If you could raise the lower one you would have room for more items under the bottom shelf. If it's the top one that adjusts, you could lower it to allow taller items on the top shelf. Or even room to add a third shelf, assuming they're available for purchase. Just a thought.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Steve, I am going to adjust that shelf. Then I can get a lot more of the tall problem items on the bottom shelf, and most of the short items (spices, etc.) will fit perfectly on the top shelf. Logistically that makes more sense than the arrangement I have now, because I don't use all those spices nearly as often as I use the things that are in the taller packages. Thanks for the reminder that I can adjust that shelf. I'd forgotten that it could be adjusted.

Carolyn

[Trailer Trash 2]

we have ours in sence we bought it we stack cans of soup and other stuff 2 cans high on ours and never had anything fall off or get messed up. we love ours and will keep it in our cabinet.
I like the Idea of the plastic baskets.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Wayne and Carolyn Mathews

Wayne, if I had that kind of cabinet space, I'd jump for joy!
Carolyn

Carolyn, looking at the pictures, I bet you have a lot more cabinet space than you think! Look at all that unused space above the things in the cabinets. I bet you can come up with shelving to add more shelves in those cabinets. I know Vicki has done that. The white wire shelves work. In some cases you might cut a piece of board to size and attach some skinny legs, like maybe lengths of 1x2 or smaller boards. Etc. There's a lot of space there, it's just a matter of how to make use of it. I'm not very creative so rely on Vicki to come up with the ideas. I'm more the labor part of this family.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Update: During the last 2 months, we've traveled 7,000+ miles, and my Lazy Susan modification worked perfectly. The plastic Walmart baskets stayed put (double-sided tape on the bottoms), and I never opened that Lazy Susan cabinet to find a mess. We've traveled some pretty rough and/or bouncy roads, but the spices and other things stored in the baskets didn't move.

I wish I could say the same about the Corelle dishes stored above the sink. Those "no slip" rubber mats that you can cut to fit between dishes and on the bottom of cabinets didn't stop the shifting of the dishes on bad roads. I ditched the dishes before we returned home and replaced them with some of the old-fashioned melamine (Melmac) ones. They can't go in the microwave, but that's a small price to pay to avoid opening a cabinet and having a shower of broken glass come down on me. Our Monty has a rear kitchen, so things stored back there do get bounced around a bit more than if we had a center kitchen, I think.

Carolyn

[garyka]

Mine is in the stick house cellar.Mine was in the very back of the Monty which is the worse place possible.Don't know whose bright idea that was.

[jpkelpe]

We had that Lazy Susan in the Mountaineer and I used those same boxes to keep things in order, however I didn't stick them down, they just stayed in place without velcro. I found that a lot of round containers will fit in the corner of the cabinet between the wall and Lasy Susan.