We’ve just passed the one year anniversary of owning our 2015 Jayco 19XUD Hybrid Travel Trailer. While generally, we love it; there are a couple “shortcomings” that need to be addressed. One of which is the poorly designed storage cabinets between the door and reefer.
Here, Jayco has three LARGE storage areas, without shelving. While this was likely done to accommodate installing rubbermaid shelves or the like, I truly suspect the reasoning is weight reduction. If they had installed shelves, it would be very easy for someone to store a lot of items here, which could quickly add too much weight behind the trailer axles, which would not be safe.
We are now on our third iteration of organization in the camper, and each time these cabinets just get unused or under utilized for what size they are. Their location lend themselves to use for items that need to be quickly loaded/unloaded, or items that are packed for specific trips (e.g. clothes food). But none fit well.
I’ve considered several ways to add shelves here. The best idea I could find so far, was wire shelving hung from command hooks. My goal is always to NOT DRILL HOLES, if at all possible.
While browsing around Lowes I came up with the idea of using the Gorilla Glue mounting tape and simple 1×1 corner molding as a shelf support. Doing this allows me to stain the wood to match the camper and to get the holding strength of nearly 2 feet of mounting tape.
Here is how to do it. Also, be sure to read my “bonus project” at the bottom.
Supplies
- 6’ length of 1”x1” Pine Corner molding (approx. $6)
- 2’x4’ Panel of Lauan (approx $6). Usually found in the “handy panel” section in the lumber dept.
- 6’ length of 1/2” x 1/2” Square Pine Molding (optional for added strength)
- 8oz. Minwax “English Chestnut 233” Stain
- Gorilla Mounting Tape (10lb or 15lb)
How To
1. Stain all of the wood.
2. Cut a length of 1”x1” Corner molding to fit each side of the inside of the cabinet.
3. Cut length of Gorilla Glue Mounting tape and affix to outside of corner molding.
4. Peel of the backing, and mount the corner molding to the cabinet, where desired. For mine, I installed one shelf in each cabinet, 12” from the top.
5. Repeat as needed for each location you want shelves.
6. Cut a piece of lauean for each shelf. Some trimming will be needed around the corner supports. Then lay your shelves on the supports.
7. Touch up exposed edges with stain.
8. Enjoy. Easy and looks nearly like they are factory installed. All without drilling a single hole.
You might be thinking that the lauan doesn’t look strong enough by itself, to hold too much weight. And you would be correct.
If you would like to strengthen the shelves, then just use the optional 1/2” x 1/2” Square Pine Molding. You can simply screw it to the shelves for support. (see how I did it on my bonus project below)
I choose not to make it too strong, to remind us to not overload this area of the camper. Our goal is to use these shelves for lighter food items, like breads, chips, etc.
Bonus Project
As I was building the shelves, I realized that we really didn’t need THAT much shelving. So instead of doing the same in the bottom cabinet, I decided to make is a storage bin for larger loose items (e.g. pie irons, plastic bags, shoes). To do this, I basically created a vertical wall, 12” tall and screwed it to the cabinet fascia from the inside. Simple and effective. It make this space MUCH more useable.
Before |
After |
Very smart for the bonus project. I would be bit hesitant to use gorilla glue to hold up shelves. but as long it doesn’t fall its fine.