Reducto
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2014
- Messages
- 773
- Reaction score
- 2
I've been living in this van for about 2 out of the last 3 years. I've been in big cities and boondocked on BLM land for up to 2 weeks at a time. I hate driving large vehicles and wanted to see how small I could go and still be comfortable. So far I'm still happy in this little beast and will probably stick with it as long as I can keep it running well.
I build things in a haphazard style - I just kind of throw things in and see if they work. The result is ugly, but it keeps me busy redoing things as necessary. More posts are coming - I'd love comments and suggestions for improvements!
Here are some pictures of the bed. The mattress is from Ikea and is 4" of latex foam covered by 2" of memory foam. I spent the winter in a very dusty spot and as you can see the cover is way overdue for a wash! It's still comfortable, though, and solid enough that I can't feel the slats through it. It folds in half when not in use and the front part of the frame slides in underneath it. I have a removable leg I put at the front for support. It seems like it would fall off easily, but once there is weight on it it's quite solid. The other end rests on the table area.
One of my main requirements was that I have a comfortable office area. The biggest issue I'm having is the lack of head space - at the center I have 48" of height. I wanted a real office chair but I couldn't find one that sat low enough. My current solution combines an Ikea office chair with the base and cylinder from a shop stool I found at Lowes. The stool had a shorter cylinder than office chairs come with and the base is very low. The round base is not as stable as your basic 5 leg office thing, but it fits in the van easier and I have not fallen off it yet!
When I do get an apartment while I'm in Vegas for the summer I can use it as a normal chair.
The desk is a piece of 3/4" plywood with an office mat on top of it. I tried using thinner wood but it flexed too much. When not in use I put my laptop and accessories behind it and fold it up. It's held in place by a little bungee. I do need change that at some point - those black patches are dried blood from one night I went reaching for something from the bed and scraped the top of my head against the screw I use to wrap the bungee around. Ouch.
I made a little drawer slide thing for my fridge so I can keep it tucked away:
Here's the back, which you can see is a bit crowded. At the right is my 7 gallon water tank, which is hooked to an RV water pump. This runs to a small faucet at the front and kitchen sprayers at front and back. Those are quite handy for cleaning myself or my things outside - no need for gray water tanks or drains, I just let it go directly onto the ground.
On the left I have a generator which I don't need all the time but I'm glad to have it when I do.
My batteries are above the left wheel well. Eventually I'd like to put them where my stock battery is now, underneath the van just behind the driver.
I build things in a haphazard style - I just kind of throw things in and see if they work. The result is ugly, but it keeps me busy redoing things as necessary. More posts are coming - I'd love comments and suggestions for improvements!
Here are some pictures of the bed. The mattress is from Ikea and is 4" of latex foam covered by 2" of memory foam. I spent the winter in a very dusty spot and as you can see the cover is way overdue for a wash! It's still comfortable, though, and solid enough that I can't feel the slats through it. It folds in half when not in use and the front part of the frame slides in underneath it. I have a removable leg I put at the front for support. It seems like it would fall off easily, but once there is weight on it it's quite solid. The other end rests on the table area.
One of my main requirements was that I have a comfortable office area. The biggest issue I'm having is the lack of head space - at the center I have 48" of height. I wanted a real office chair but I couldn't find one that sat low enough. My current solution combines an Ikea office chair with the base and cylinder from a shop stool I found at Lowes. The stool had a shorter cylinder than office chairs come with and the base is very low. The round base is not as stable as your basic 5 leg office thing, but it fits in the van easier and I have not fallen off it yet!
When I do get an apartment while I'm in Vegas for the summer I can use it as a normal chair.
The desk is a piece of 3/4" plywood with an office mat on top of it. I tried using thinner wood but it flexed too much. When not in use I put my laptop and accessories behind it and fold it up. It's held in place by a little bungee. I do need change that at some point - those black patches are dried blood from one night I went reaching for something from the bed and scraped the top of my head against the screw I use to wrap the bungee around. Ouch.
I made a little drawer slide thing for my fridge so I can keep it tucked away:
Here's the back, which you can see is a bit crowded. At the right is my 7 gallon water tank, which is hooked to an RV water pump. This runs to a small faucet at the front and kitchen sprayers at front and back. Those are quite handy for cleaning myself or my things outside - no need for gray water tanks or drains, I just let it go directly onto the ground.
On the left I have a generator which I don't need all the time but I'm glad to have it when I do.
My batteries are above the left wheel well. Eventually I'd like to put them where my stock battery is now, underneath the van just behind the driver.
