Norcold Fridge Out Shelves In!

HoBo

Thought I’d share my recent modification. It is not fully completed yet but pretty close. Please don’t judge my lack of skills. 😝 I have a 2005 DM and nothing is level or even so trying to square everything was quite challenging. Best I can do especially since I have no carpentry background!

After many many a trip I found the fridge space to be absolutely useless for my needs. I cook outdoors and use a food cooler and a drink cooler. I needed more space inside to store the items that would always be going on trips.  I made the big decision to remove the fridge. NuCamp did the removal (it was in for floor rebuild) and capped the propane line and tied off the electrical wiring. I was left with this huge glorious open space.

I wanted to hide the wires and protect them in some way from items shifting during travel. I put a backer board up. 

I then added shelving based on existing storage containers and the idea of having a jug(s) of water of two readily available.  I may or may not utilize the 5 gal container and sink on my trips, depending on circumstances. I added spacers that can be moved, again depending on needs. I used MDF boards to save on cost and not knowing how badly this would turn out. 😝 Drilling into the sidewalls was terrifying that first time but went well. I merely used 3/4 dowels and 1 1/2” screws. (Notice my attempt at contact paper. Realized it HOLDS everything but PULLS everything out too so that was quickly discarded)

Now the cabinets. After a few practice attempts at placing the hinges, a few errors and a lot of patience and thought, I finally succeeded! Again, I have never done anything but cut a board before so this was huge! 🤷🏻‍♀️😎 

Now to put the cabinets in....this ought to be interesting!

Yay! Not perfect, far from it but it works, is ‘relatively’ level and is exactly what I wanted. Surprisingly my cabinets are level, it’s the older ones that aren’t! I may consider installing new hinges on those to level them out as well. The hinges have so many up/down, side by side options you can really hone in on where you want them. The older hinges are one and done. 

So I need to decide on hardware location and style (and to replace all since they won’t match) and then I will be done...I think! Very rewarding experience. Thank you to RobKo on the Dutchmen IO Group for his advice! 

SubaruLou

Nice! Way to overcome your fear and learn something new! 

TomCanada

Nice looking job!

atlasb

A+ for you on your work!  Way to go!!

PNWtabber

Beautiful job and very tempting.  I never could get the fridg in my Vanagon to run on propane and have similar difficulty with my T@B, so I have considered removing it, but it sure is nice when I have shore power.

CrabTab

Well done @HoBo! 

You can look into a product called edge banding to trim out the plywood edges on your doors. It is an iron on wood veneer. Birch would match up to your cabinet door veneer. It is something cabinetmakers frequently use.

Also, those European style hinges should have screws in them to adjust side to side and get the doors to line up, if they move out of place (they tend to wander over time).

Again, nice work...

ontheroad

Looks fantastic!