If you’d asked either of us two years ago where we would be now, neither would say living in a cargo van that we had converted into our very own tiny home! Our lovely van used to work for a company transporting glass and aluminium – and you could tell because there were shards everywhere! Over about four weeks, we completely gutted the van and converted it into a campervan, fitting everything from insulation to electrics and built-to-measure cupboards!
We are working on much more in-depth posts about how we did the campervan conversion, but here are a few photos of the build in the meantime!
Installing our fan included cutting a pretty significant hole in our roof… This was also when Dan revealed it was the first time he’d ever used a jigsaw!
It all worked out though – and not too shabby!
We tore out the old flooring and did some work to the metal floor to prepare it for our new wooden floor. Being an ex-workhorse, there was a LOT of cleaning to do before we could get on with the exciting construction!
Then, we added insulation, plywood boards and later some laminate flooring (feeling pretty fancy at this point!)
We also insulated and panelled the walls, ceiling and doors.
We built the bed in such a way that we can also use it as a bench/table set up during the day. There is a bench on either side so we can sit in the van with a table between us. Then, when we make the bed we just put a piece of plywood across the gap and move the two backrest cushions into the middle. Believe it or not, that is a queen size bed!
We used the rest of the space for our sink (with two water containers below, one for fresh water and the other as a grey tank), our cooler (soon to be replaced with a 12 volt small fridge) and the all-important storage space!
We also used the space on one of the side doors to make a folding table that fits our stove so we can cook outside.
We have a second battery installed in the back and at the moment we power it mostly with a solar panel. We can also plug into shore power at campsites but haven’t really needed to yet.
Our electrics all run to a panel by our side door. Here we have swtiches for everything, charging ports and the battery voltage.
There are still a few bits to finish off the campervan conversion but we are finally on the road and pretty chuffed with the tiny home we built!
