Updating my v-berth

[Whatsit]

Hi All
I just got a O’day 27. The v-berth isn’t in very good shape and my wife won’t stay over night in it until it’s been made “sleepable”
Any advice on what some of you have done to re do your v-berths? I’ve given the floor and walls a fresh coat of paint. Walls still need yanother coat. Then was planning on painting white and navy blue stripes across the walls. Any advise on lighting or anything else? We are going to buy a memory pad to put in there too
Thanks in advance
Mike

 

[Whatsit]

Here’s what it currently looks like after the first coat of paint

 

[AlastairLC]

Instead of painting stripes, you might consider teak pre-glued edge banding. Ironed on it gives you a nice warm wood effect. I used 1.5” wide to match what Oday already used. The surface needs to be smooth and fairly flat, but it looks like you’ve accomplished that. Good luck.

 

[Sailm8]

I would add good reading lights and a fan for ventilation. Memory foam is a good start but you may need to put something under it if you are a high humidity area.

 

[justsomeguy]

Has your wife given you any guidance or advice?

Chicks...

 

[Whatsit]

Has your wife given you any guidance or advice?

Chicks...

No, just “fix before I stay over”

 

[justsomeguy]

A box of wine.

 

[Rick D]

New cushions.

 

[kloudie1]

For lights, we use the little swivel reading lamps, one on each side of the vee berth.. I converted them to LED's; really nice to have individual lamps..
This site has some and if ya poke around RV places, you can find deals on some..
https://shop.sailboatowners.com/cat.php?6249
https://www.opensky.com/12vonline/p...4hsu0Ss5KYgLTYFdeGML7bPppHvAjzhhoCQFIQAvD_BwE

 

[SG]

Memory Foam? -- on top of regular foam or a full, custom mattress???

We bought a HUGELY expensive memory foam mattress and pillows for a bed at home. Frankly, it isn't all that comfortable. The mattress at home is 10" thick on top of box springs. The pillow isn't worth the money at all. You can buy two or three great pillows at Bed Bath and Beyond for less and have some money left over.

If you got 2" of it on top of a conventional closed-cell 2 - 1/2" foam cushion, I think it MIGHT be okay. But I'd really think about that.

 

[RussC]

The key to comfort is to start with the best high quality foam you can get. the best I've found is:
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/mattress/conventional.html
We have the high quality 3" thick hd36 in the V-birth and have found it to be VERY comfortable. And I'd say that my wife and I are both quite hard to please when it comes to a mattress. I ordered the queen size and cut it down to fit.

 

[Whatsit]

The key to comfort is to start with the best high quality foam you can get. the best I've found is:
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/mattress/conventional.html
We have the high quality 3" thick hd36 in the V-birth and have found it to be VERY comfortable. And I'd say that my wife and I are both quite hard to please when it comes to a mattress. I ordered the queen size and cut it down to fit.

Thanks for the link! Do you have room on either side after you put the queen in? My measurements are closer to a king. Just wondering. My wife was wondering too why we would need to fill the whole space. How did you get the mattress in your v berth? I have two doors to go thru after I enter the main cabin.
Thanks again everyone for your suggests.
Mike

 

[SG]

Normally you would have split cushions that form a mattress. Otherwise you'll have a very hard time getting it in- and out. (That's the mattress, I mean. )

Do you have cabin cushions? Were there cushions up there in th v berth area? Sail makers, canvas shops, rv interior providers might be a source. Cutting foam is something that you might practice before going at it. Also, you should have the foam finished with a cover. It occasionally gets wet through a hatch and from sweaty bodies, etc.

 

[RussC]

Thanks for the link! Do you have room on either side after you put the queen in? My measurements are closer to a king. Just wondering. My wife was wondering too why we would need to fill the whole space. How did you get the mattress in your v berth? I have two doors to go thru after I enter the main cabin.
Thanks again everyone for your suggests.
Mike

I've added a hinged extension to the v-birth in our M25, mostly to gain headroom width (we sleep head forward). some was taken off the queen mattress sides up in the V, and those pieces added (glued) to the sides near the foot before beveling the sides for a full fit in there. The wife made the custom fitted sheets. The mattress only comes out in the winter and I've had no problem folding it in half, lengthwise with a couple ties around it, to extract. cutting foam is quite easy with an electric meat cutting knife. available at every yard sale for ~$2.00 .

 

[Stu Jackson]

(we sleep head forward)

Wow, with that layout, I'd sleep head aft. One usually needs more room for their heads & shoulders than their feet!

 

[Whatsit]

Here’s what it looked like before I painted
Cushions in bad shape. I’ll change the cover and continue to use them for the bottom until
Thanks
Mike

 

[RussC]

Wow, with that layout, I'd sleep head aft. One usually needs more room for their heads & shoulders than their feet!

We have very big feet.

 

[pateco]

We have used these guys for our home mattresses for three generations:
http://zenomattress.com/

My wife and I got over 20 years out of our first latex foam home mattress from Zeno's . My son is still sleeping on the latex foam mattress my mother bought for me when I was a kid. When he grew out of his crib, (17 years ago), We had my old Zeno's latex mattress recovered at their factory. When we get around to re-doing our boat bedding I will certainly be calling them as they do lots of high end custom mattresses for yachts here in Fort Lauderdale.

Latex foam isn't cheap, but it sleeps great, and lasts and lasts and lasts.