10 Things to avoid in a DIY Van Build

Hate reading Top 10 lists? Watch it instead!

As of this writing, we recently celebrated our first year #vanniversary as full-timers. This milestone seems like as good a time as any to reflect on the choices we made about our van build and the lessons we have learned. Like others, we spent countless hours scouring the web and Instagram to get ideas, understand what items were essential, and follow how-to videos to see how people built out their vans. While we generally write about products, strategies, and tips that we think are good investments, we wanted to share a list of things that we think are not particularly practical for full-timers that we tend to see a lot of - especially in those Instagram glamour shots.

*This list isn’t intended to suggest that doing any of these things is inherently bad, we would just encourage you to think through how you’re going to do them so that you don’t run into problems that we have experienced or would expect to have. There are certainly clever solutions for all of the items on this list - just make sure you find them if you can’t live without them in your build and subsequent Insta feed.

#10 Dark Interiors - This is admittedly the most subjective item on this list, so we placed it at #10. Vans, skoolies, and buses are small spaces to live in. Cladding them in dark materials makes them feel smaller and - in our opinion - makes them feel a little claustrophobic. Generally speaking, hunting lodges and ski chalets are large open spaces, so going with a rustic palette works well in them. Consider using a lighter color scheme to make your small build feel more spacious and brighter - you’ll be especially grateful for a cheery interior on those cold and gloomy days when hanging outside doesn’t seem like a fun option. We’d also suggest that you consider using materials that are non-porous and easy to clean, as you’ll be wiping down all the surfaces in your van frequently.

#9 Permanent Exterior Ladders - Exterior ladders are boss and they make your build look like it’s ready to tackle the most challenging environments around the globe. Some people love the exterior accessories and a ladder seems like a no-brainer on a big vehicle. We opted against a permanent ladder for a few reasons. First of all - if a ladder is easy for you to climb, it’s easy for others to climb as well. To us, a ladder feels like an invitation to climb and we aren’t interested in inviting others onto our roof - especially when we’re not around. Second - maneuvering your build will be tough in tight locations, so eliminating objects that jut off of your vehicle will keep you from hitting or snagging objects you didn’t intend to. Reducing how many exterior accessories you have will make your life easier on tight forest roads and in parking lots in the city. Third, having a ladder that isn’t fixed to one point of our van means we can easily move the ladder around to get to any part of our roof systems. Lastly, if you’re interested in trying to keep your build somewhat stealthy, exterior accessories are not what you want. Keeping your vehicle as stock as possible may help you blend in better, if that’s something that you’re concerned about. While we aren’t keen on permanent ladders, we do feel it’s important to carry one. You’ll need to do repairs, maintain your solar panels, and add cool rope swings to trees on that lake you’re boondocking at, so we recommend purchasing the WolfWise 8.5FT Aluminum Telescopic Ladder .

#8 Storing Bikes Outside - We are so glad that we opted to include bikes in our must-have list when considering what we couldn’t live without on the road. We’re also happy that we store them inside the van. Adding a bike rack to the van brought up some concerns that are similar to the thoughts we had about a permanent ladder. They aren’t stealthy and they add bulk to your rig when you’re in tight spots. Beyond that, we were concerned about vandalism, theft, and weather exposure. Keeping our bikes inside has removed all of those concerns, although theft could still be an issue if someone actually breaks into the van. In order to reduce how much space our bikes take up in the van, we opted to orient them vertically so that their footprint is as small as possible. We’re hanging our bikes on the Delta Cycle Da Vinci Bike Hanger .

#7 Hinged Upper Cabinet Doors - You can never have enough storage in your van. Even if you are an absolute minimalist, storage cabinets can be used to store gear, clothes, consumables, and more. We love all the storage that we have and it’s allowed us to carry all our necessities and still keep the van uncluttered. When John was first designing the van, he had 3D modeled overhead cabinet doors that swung out towards us. We saw plenty of builds with this configuration and didn’t think much of it until we dry-fitted the built cabinets in our van. This is when we realized that we would have to do some ninja style moves to duck out of the way of them - regardless of whether they swung horizontally or vertically towards the ceiling. In this moment, we realized that sliding upper cabinet doors were going to be a much better solution. This last minute change afforded us the opportunity to consider new cabinet door materials as well as opening style, which has resulted in a lighter and more stylish solution! We do have horizontally swinging cabinet doors under our sink and fridge, but prefer the sliders so much we’d probably swap them out in our next build.

If you’re going to have open shelves - go with a deep lip!

#6 Open Shelving - Books and bookshelves are awesome and they look so, so sweet in those Insta shots! Not liking them is nearly criminal, but we’re going to go out on a limb here and say that bookshelves could create as many problems as they solve. While you’re in the dreaming and design phase of your build - it is important to understand that EVERYTHING MOVES IN YOUR VAN. EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. Keeping knick-knacks and books secure while driving is a hassle and a hassle that we didn’t need to add to our list. Something is always shifting and moving in the van and we cringe every time we hear something move. When we hear a noise in the back of the van while driving, we always look at each other and say, “What do you think that was?”, while hoping it was nothing terribly fragile. Books, vases, globes, candle sticks, academy awards and other trinkets are all objects that eventually fall from the shelf or become projectiles when you have to stop quickly. Instead of carrying a lot of books that you eventually have to swap out, sell, or pick up off the floor, consider getting a Kindle. Jess absolutely positively loves theirs!

#5 Fancy Plates & Glassware - Have we mentioned yet that EVERYTHING MOVES IN YOUR VAN. EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. It’s true. Glass and metal make such lovely noises when they clank against each other on endlessly bumpy roads. Do yourself a favor and purchase dishware that doesn’t make loud noises when they rattle and crash into each other. While seeing photos of #vanlifers dining off of their grandmothers china plates is romantic, it is mind-numbing to listen to while driving and extremely sad when a piece shatters when driving over a small log you didn’t see in the road. We’re speaking from experience - We have two ceramic mugs that we couldn’t part with when we moved out of our home. Those damn mugs clank and clatter all the time in the back of the van and it can be maddening. We have devised all sorts of strategies to separate them to avoid this, but they still somehow frequently seem to find each other. Do yourself a favor and buy some plastic dishware. It’s lightweight, cheap, quiet, and your grandmother won’t cry if you break a piece. Here is what else we use in our kitchen!

#4 Plants - We love the way plants look in all those Instagram shots! Love it! Throw in a couple of vases of fresh flowers and we’re ready to write a check and move right in. We love the way plants look in vans so much - we had some - “had” being the operative word here. Did you know that plants need light to live? Yeah, we did too. What we didn’t consider was that different plants need different amounts of light at various temperatures. So while our succulents absolutely loved Florida in January, they didn’t fare so well in Montana in February. What we learned is that plants don’t love and thrive in a nomadic lifestyle the way we do. You have to really understand your plants and consider your environment all the time for them to stay healthy. This is a lot of pressure and we don’t like killing plants, so we have stopped trying to grow them. Some people are all about air plants, which do well in low light and will love the humidity in your van. Others are all about realistic - but - fake plants (these do look amazing!). We’ve decided that we’ll just go outside when we want to hangout with plants. Plus - have we mentioned that EVERYTHING MOVES IN YOUR VAN. EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME? Be prepared to strap down, glue, or VHB Tape your plants to the counter so they don’t move!

We like our sinks deep and our faucets water saving

#3 Large Kitchen Faucets - Over-sized commercial kitchen pull down faucets are made for large sinks that rinse and wash lots of stuff. Vans are small and you’ll generally never need to wash more than 10 things at any one time. Beyond this obvious statement, there is something else at play. Water. Getting water is a chore and the less often you have to do it - the more freedom and flexibility you’ll have to do the things you really want to do, when you want to do them. As full-timers, we wanted our water system to store as much water as possible while using as little as possible. (The same goes for our electrical system. This is why we didn’t install a commercial washer and dryer in our van, but boy would that be sa-weeeet!) Consider functionality and water savings when designing your sink and water system. We can promise you, you’ll be so grateful that you’re not hunting for water once a week just to satisfy the thirst of your over-sized kitchen faucet (plus you’ll thank yourself for not having to wipe up all the overspray). Without a doubt, the single best purchase we have made for our build is our water saving nozzle on our sink. If you prefer hanging out in the woods chilling at the creek over driving around the city looking for a water spigot, then give the Altered Nozzle some very serious consideration.

A small sample of the seating options in our build (John is 6’-3” for reference)

#2 Poor Seating Options - This is especially critical for the full-timers: Design good seating options in your build. This is your full-time home. Sitting is an essential element of #vanlife - even if you’re the active type. There is lots and lots of sitting that happens. You eat, you work, you relax, you read, you converse, you chat with a friend - you do all the same things you would do at home, but IN A VAN. Consider some quality seating options that offer flexibility in their configuration. The more options you have, the more the space will transform and accommodate the activity you are doing. Utilize the seats in the cab, think about how you can put your legs up, stretch out, have a two hour zoom meeting, change your view and the position of your body, etc. More options brings more comfort. More comfort equals more happiness. If you’re uncomfortable in your van, you won’t enjoy living in it. In fact, we just purchased some outdoor camping chairs (Lightweight, comfy, and fold up nice and small) that will give us even more options - and we have lots of seating options in our van!

#1 Stationary Beds - We have an extended Ford Transit that gives us about 70 square feet of “living space” in the back. A full size bed is over 28 square feet, which is over 1/3 of the usable area that we have. We didn’t want to give up that 28 square feet for something that we would only use for sleeping. We devised a way to use a murphy bed that doesn’t subtract from our foot print in any meaningful way. We were concerned that a stationary bed would rob of us of good overhead clearance and cabinets in the bed area, block a walkable path to the rear doors, significantly limit daytime seating options (see #2), be forced to crawl over each other to get out of bed, and create a storage cavity under the bed that is typically only accessible from the exterior of the van. Pulling the stationary bed out of our design removed all of these issues, plus we were able to upgrade to a Queen size bed over the usual Full size! We love a good Instagram shot of someone’s toes on the bed staring out the back of the van at sunset, but the same thing is possible by building a folding bed and utilizing the sliding or back doors. Let the Instagram shots flow freely!

Ok - Those are some of our thoughts on what we see on Instagram that doesn’t jive with our actual experience. What clever van solutions have you seen on Instagram that do work? Leave us a comment and let us know!