How to plan an office space?

Nature · Oct 21, 2020

Hello everyone,

might have to head over to the introduction area soon, anyways, at this point, i'm brainstorming as much as possible to convert a van and one important factor is a proper workspace.

I will be able to work mostly from a pc/laptop, so the question is:
how to build a proper office space in a van?

Requirements:
should be ergonomic
need to be able to use it for min. 5h 5 days a week.
will either be laptop or swivelmounted monitor, so enough room for keyboard & mouse or the whole laptop on table

Looking through hundreds of tours on YT, there's usually just benches or some board over a fridge to sit on. Which works fine, but ergonomically wouldn't be good for body posture using it for extended times. Neither is working out of bed.
There's the dinette option for bed/work space combo, but tbh. it's lacking a proper back support.

Would I just get an office chair, remove the wheels and bolt it to the floor and then adjust the table height exactly to my body dimensions? Considering I haven't come across a single build like this, there's probably something off with this idea

Anyone works from their van? How do you setup a proper office space?

Kind regards

Edit: This is most likely for a Fiat Ducato/Dodge Promaster 159" WB. (Not purchased yet, but the stats appear to be the most fitting for the conversion) so there should be enough space for a single vandweller

shadowmoss · Oct 21, 2020

Lee Blake is my favorite van designer. Below is the first interview Jamie did with the tour if his van. The intro to the second link gives a very good description of why he is such a great designer. The videos don't address your office needs specifically, but he goes into the thought processes he had as he designed his layout. Understanding how an engineer and designer approaches the layout is, I believe, an important step. You may get some good ideas from watching as well.

Qxxx · Oct 21, 2020

Hello Nature, and welcome to the forum,

. Sofi has some pictures of her build which I like quite a bit, in full disclosure, no doubt because it is similar to my own. Bed across the back and a large work surface along the driver's side.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=40986&pid=504626#pid504626

Qxxx · Oct 21, 2020

Oops, I posted that prematurely. The rest of the story is ... I have a GMC Savana, regular length van. I've spent 3 years revising the build, each time to give myself more open floor space. I do a lot of computer work in the van, mainly programming. For that I bought a very nice wooden computer desk and use just a regular folding deck chair, although there is enough room that I could use a rotating office chair with rollers, and just tie it down when traveling. The desk is shown here.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=40986&pid=504753#pid504753

I do minimalist, and didn't want to spend months and thousands of $$ on a build, like you see in a bazillion youtube videos, so my only furniture is really the bed and computer desk. Storage is mainly in boxes under the bed.

For power I use a single 100W solar panel with a 300W inverter. This powers a 120VAC 60W Led bulb (11W actual draw) and my laptop. 3 years ago, I spent a week wiring up a complete solar system, but since then I tore out most of it and am going to a Portable Power Generator. I have a Yeti 1000, but a Jackery 500 would be fine. These units take solar input and have 12VDC and 120VAC outputs. With a compatible solar panel, you can hook one of these up in 30 seconds. Plug in the panel at the input and plug in your computer at the output. Totally painless.

maki2 · Oct 21, 2020

I have an office workspace. My desk chair is a small rolling one I purchased for $5 at a thrift store. A bungee cord across the back of the chair that is hooked to small pad eye loops is sufficient to hold it in place while driving.
Ikea is a good source for a comfortable, heigth adjustable, but compact in size desk chair that is light weight. Good desiign with an affordable price.

desert_sailing · Oct 21, 2020

I am not sure how ergonomically correct/ideal anything can be in a van. There will always be plenty of awkward positions we are contorted into. I am really thinking about practicing yoga and make myself more versatile and limber over trying to force steel to bend to me.

I have yet to depart but will be working from the rig as well. I took and prefered a more casual approach to the home office and indeed I hope my desk is more often a large rock next to a stream or a little table under an awning looking out across the mountain tops.

I did come across this build out video with a great desk design. I will definitely be doing this in my next build.

The entire video is great but the desk begins at around 12.20

Maybe you could also utilize the passenger seat/area as an office. Seems like the ideal location for a dedicated office space.

Qxxx · Oct 21, 2020

You have 2 choices on how to do a van build. You can either fill it up with so much furniture and cabinets that you cannot turn around, and which is what the vast majority of people who make youtube videos do, or you can design for as much open floor space as you can get, in which case there is no need for contortion. I have enough open space at 4'x6' that I can erect a lounge chair if I want to.

MrNoodly · Oct 21, 2020

My "office" is a fold-down cabinet door I use while sitting on the edge of the bed. The inverter is mounted to the side of the cabinet so I can plug in my laptop. The cellular booster is also mounted there.

Qxxx · Oct 21, 2020

MrNoodly said:
My "office" is a fold-down cabinet door I use while sitting on the edge of the bed. The inverter is mounted to the side of the cabinet so I can plug in my laptop. The cellular booster is also mounted there.

OP requirements:
should be ergonomic
need to be able to use it for min. 5h 5 days a week.

With my back, I need a real chair to sit in while working at the computer for 5 hours. The deck chair isn't ideal, but I put some extra cushioning on it. I should get a more ergonomic chair. The nice thing about a computer desk is, you can pull your legs under it.

desert_sailing · Oct 21, 2020

Qxxx said:
You have 2 choices on how to do a van build. You can either fill it up with so much furniture and cabinets that you cannot turn around, and which is what the vast majority of people who make youtube videos do, or you can design for as much open floor space as you can get, in which case there is no need for contortion. I have enough open space at 4'x6' that I can erect a lounge chair if I want to.

I prefer easy movement as well. I got rid of things so I would not have to find/create more storage for them. I have basically the double side door area free.. a 4x5 foot area completely unobstructed that has my "hallway" (20 inch wide by 6 foot in length)shooting off of the entry that allows an unimpeded flow out the back. I just wish I could open the backdoors from the inside... I havent seen a latch inside at least.. am I missing something?

I think I am going to take my own advice and try to make my passenger area more of a dedicated "den/office" space with a swivel seat and moveable articulating desk.

abnorm · Oct 21, 2020

""I just wish I could open the backdoors from the inside... I havent seen a latch inside at least.. am I missing something?""

What is your ride ?

desert_sailing · Oct 21, 2020

abnorm said:
What is your ride ?

91 gmc rally 3500..

I hope I didnt panel it in..LOL

Sofisintown · Oct 23, 2020

Nature said:
Looking through hundreds of tours on YT, there's usually just benches or some board over a fridge to sit on. Which works fine, but ergonomically wouldn't be good for body posture using it for extended times. Neither is working out of bed.

Anyone works from their van? How do you setup a proper office space?

Hey Nature, welcome.
Like Qxxx wrote, I have a 'desk' set up in my van.
It consists of 2 bathroom cabinets with a plywood top that has been painted and polyurethaned over. For chair, a regular seat that I re-upholstered and is quite comfortable. I hold it in plase with a bungee cord hooked on eyelet bolts at the sides of the desk.
Desk also features a sink with plumping, but you can skip that.
I hope this helps.

Sofisintown · Oct 24, 2020

desert_sailing said:
91 gmc rally 3500..

I hope I didnt panel it in..LOL

Uhmm, I think you did.
But no problema, you can jig-saw a hole just big enough to pull the lever...?

Nature · Oct 24, 2020

Thank you so far for the feedback.
Those are some interesting solutions. Building a chair into a desk seems cool. Just not sure, whether that's comfortable enough. But it might be a decent idea to store an office chair that way: Measure it and built shelving around it, so that it has a place to be stowed away without taking up too much space.

The issue I see now is, by adding a desk, that's facing the wall, there won't be additional room for a seating area. And the space will appear more crowded as apposed to having a bench with a swivel table.

Anyways, I got started on some floorplans and the attached one has most things I would want to include. The one thing i'm uncertain about is, whether having a bench would be nice to spent leisure time on. Maybe the front seats will be enough. I was considering having the "office" at a wall, that doesn't have a window, as it's hard to see, when the sun is coming from behind the monitor and next to the sliding van door won't be a window.

didn't add dimensions in the plan, but 1 box = 10cm and it's fitted for a L4H2 Fiat Ducato.

Qxxx · Oct 25, 2020

Nature, your plan looks good. Extended vans definitely have an advantage over regular length. I need a lot of desk space for my books and projects, so that's important to me. You seem to have a good sized work surface.

maki2 · Oct 25, 2020

My relaxing hang out space is my bed. You can create a sloped set of pillow agumented with stuff sacks of clothes or a pile of folded blankets.

You are still thinking like a person who lives in sticks and bricks where all furniture has only one function. Van life requires loosing that mind set and thinking about multiple functions for every built in fixture. Some people turn their toilet into their desk chair on wheels including a back rest. Play a game and challenge yourself to come up with some wild new ideas for designs and use. A few of them might actually be viable or can lead to a viable concept and many of them will end up amusing you . Creative thinking can be developed in everyone even if you have never thought of yourself as being a creative designer. All it takes is a little practice.

Nature · Oct 26, 2020

Interesting.

I have been renting a small garden lot with a shed/tiny house on it (250 sqft) to live in part-time for the past few years. It's with running water, electricity, a sofa/bed kitchen workspace, but no waste water. So the sink drains straight into the garden and there's no toilet but a small corner in the garden being used/misused for that purpose.
A van conversion will be more around 110sqft, so the current shed is more than double that in size, however it stores so many garden utensils that wouldn't come along, that my actual stuff going into the van should fit without a problem.
Now I got this place from someone else fully furnished and did only minor changes, whereas the van would be my conversion.
What I've found is that just using whatever is around doesn't always make it userfriendly. For example the garden table garden chair combo makes for a terrible workspace as the chair is reclined at an odd angle and leaves the table too high to comfortably use a laptop on. Neither does working from the sofa/bed work well, even when putting a table infront. The cushions give a weird backsupport that's not comfortable for longer periods of time.
It's things like this that make me consider doing a properly purposed space for an office.
Getting a table is easy enough a decent chair not so much. There's still things to consider:
- where does the chair stay when not in use?
- which chair to get? (probably a compromise between weight/size and ergonomics)
- will the chair be fixed? (those rolling feet add some pounds)
- if it's a fixed desk: how large should the room beneath the table be to still get some storage.

Maybe leaving a corner with a fold-down table will be enough, then when not using the desk the chair could be turned around with it's back to the folded up table and be used for sitting while taking up less space.

Qxxx · Oct 26, 2020

Nature, there is an obvious advantage to having a folding table like in your layout, as it increases the open floorspace when not in use. From a practical viewpoint, you want a large work surface on the desk and your design looks ok. But now you have an issue with the chair taking up space when the desk is not being used.

In my van, with 3 years of experience, I found that having maximum open space is my #1 priority. Started at 3'x3', and now at 4'x6'. This is especially important in the winter months when you spend more time inside, and don't want to feel like you're living in a coffin. With the way both Sofi and I have the desk layout, the chair lives under the (fixed) desk, so it doesn't impact open space. Also, one of these days, I do plan to add a "folding" table to the side door for cooking and washing, which I do outside 95% of time anyways. Except I'll put the table at a height amenable for both inside use and also outside use when the door is open.

StacyK · Oct 26, 2020

You might just go sit in a bunch of desk chairs at an office supply store and see what really works for you. Then plan your work space around your chosen chair, and adjust the rest of the build accordingly. (I.e., if weight is a concern, sacrifice some weight elsewhere. If there isn’t room for the chair you want, adjust one of the variables like shelving.) If the chair is comfortable enough, you may be happy to use it as leisure seating, which would settle the question of the bench, and whether to do a folding table or fixed desk. You’re dealing with a lot of theoreticals right now, but the desk chair is something you could pin down to specifics. If a comfortable work space is more of a priority than other aspects of your build, then that becomes a clear, fixed starting point that keeps you from wasting energy on “what if’s.”

I don’t know if this would work, but you might look into using heavy duty shelf standards to support your desk. They would let you adjust the height in 1/2” increments at will to create a standing or sitting desk, an extra counter top, or a dining table. You could even add a second, smaller shelf at eye level for your monitor, which would be more comfortable for extended work than having it at desk level. The work surfaces could be removed for travel, or whenever they’re in the way. (If this is a bad idea, I feel sure that someone will chime in to say so. ;-) )

https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Shelf-Standard-Decorative-White/dp/B0006FKNXS

How to plan an office space?

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