Lean-on bed-side cupboards
In my first van I created these cupboards and they worked remarkabley well in-terms of given an additional comfortable place to sit. The lean-to design makes the whole side of the bed a nice place to sit.
They rise above the bed (about 3 inches on the bed-side edge) and include the full height of the mattress. It is easily enough for two people’s clothes (assuming they know how to pack) and more.
I have actually had four people sitting comfortably along this to watch a film. I used mahogany – just because I had it – it presented some added challenges. I think using 22mm birch-faced ply (or similar) would have been easier – and you could get a nice effect.
The handles, from Hefele, were kind of pricey (£40 / $50 delivered) but they look great.
The cupboard also has my main light switches. This is nice as you do not have to leave bed to turn them on. I tend to just use my toes to do so! The switch layout is designed to avoid needing labels.
witches. Front LEDs, Back LEDS and, separated; side light LEDs.
In the middle, and at the end of the cupboard I have put double USB plugs.
This means you can have your phone or other device charging at a place you can easily reach it to kill that alarm
Raised Cupboards
The raised cupboards are hard to get straight & level. This is because you are attaching them to a wall which is not level, and down from a ceiling which is also not level with not many decent reference points.
VIDEO GUIDE
The start is building a frame. The dimensions of my cupboard are shown on the image below.
Note: The end vertical (closest in image) projects further than the bottom strut to house the doors.
I used extra laminated wood which I used for my flooring as my door fronts. It is good to use up extra materials and on top of that I like when you can mirror some materials as it ties a design together.
Door Construction (see image below) as I did not get many photographs while making the doors you can see how they are made. It is very simple. The Engineered Oak flooring and some strips of 12mm ply glued together with polyurethane wood glue. The wood sandwiches the edge of the Hafele handle (which was bought as a 2.5m length).
I added three vertical struts to support the cupboard and finished it off with cladding and two spot lights underneath.
None of this has been made with any fancy techniques – just a careful consideration for accuracy.
Above the Cab & Bathroom Cabinet
I had this idea of finding a bathroom cabinet and just screwing it in to the space above the cab. I have done the same on both vans and it is a quick way to create a little cupboard with a mirror on it.
For my first van I found this stainless steep cabinet.
I think the metal cabinet was the better buy as it was easier to install and functioned better.
I did not like the white wood on the new one and it took some effort to cover it up.
For this cabinet I screwed into two uprights (each side of the unit) and once attached to the cabinet unit I put it in place and screwed these into the wooden studwork.
I added two pieces of wood to the bottom of the cupboard areas. This is because the doors need to be a little higher than the shelf to stop them getting blocked by stuff on the shelf.
Wood under the doors giving clearance for the shelf
Using cladding and spare wood I made the doors to fit – cutting out the hinge profile to keep them tidy.
Cut out hinge profile. The wood the hinges are screwed into was offset to the right of the edge of the cladding.
Cupboard door construction – basically using left over wood!
Although you can find all sorts of fancy push-button cupboard door handles I just went for a couple of locking slider bolts.
I think the brass looks good on the pine and I aligned them to the push button on the bathroom cabinet.
Fold-Down cupboard option
The door is basically a square of wood with cladding to fit the shape of the van roof. The wood which ‘stops’ the door going further is bent in place and held with screws – I put a piece of cladding behind this, drew a line which matched the shape of the curve and used this as my top piece.
Fabric panels and Side Lights
As I did not want to have the van fully looking like a sauna, and I wanted to create a separation between the kitchen and sleeping area, I decided to make these fabric-covered panels.
VIDEO GUIDE
I did this on my first and second van. I think the fabric & side light combo is a winner – both aesthetically and also in terms of use.
The panels were covered with 5mm foam, and then fabric, so they are nice to touch – which is nice in the sleeping area. I also think that it gives the van better acoustics!
To hold the panels first I attached some upright batons to the van. These were screwed in directly to the metal work.
I then screwed on a narrow strip of wood for the LEDs to sit on and created a way to attach the panels to the wall.
The length of the overlap of the top panel over the bottom panel was based on the eye-line angle. I did not want you to be able to directly see the LEDs without really going to some effort.
This also means that the light is all reflected off the yellow fabric - it is amazing!
Making the panels
They are easy to make – just using 5mm ply, 5mm foam and fabric. You need spray glue and a staple gun. One tube of spray glue was (just) enough for the four panels.
Below shows the panels in place (as I checked them for size). I just screwed them up - temporarily - to do this. It is always good to double check things!
The panels are pretty simple to make;
- Spray glue on to the wood
- Lay down the foam
- Turn the panel over and staple the foam edges to the back
- Note: use lots of staples evenly spaced on the edges to make the shape of the edge to look uniform
- Cut off excess foam with a sharp blade
- Spray glue on to the foam
- Apply the upholstery fabric, turn it over and staple the fabric, as above staple evenly to keep the edge looking straight
Cut off excess fabric!
The yellow panels either slotted behind the cupboard unit, or were screwed on (screws where they would be not seen).
Tips:
- Be careful when screwing these on if going through the fabric/foam. Use thin screws and support the fabric/foam well around the entry point to stop it catching and tearing up the foam around the
- When you add the foam and fabric you will need about 8mm extra space – so when you cut your boards to size make sure you they are a bit smaller than the place you are putting
Attaching the panels so no fixing is visible
I wanted to attach the top panels without screws being visible so they look nice. Here is how I did it.
Do this BEFORE you add the fabric and foam!
- Get standard electrical conduit pipe
- Get some screw-in pipe clips
- Make some dowels (or buy some if you can)
- Screw the pipe clips to the frame you made (I used 5 per board)
- Screw the pipes, with dowel in, to the back of the panel in the right places
Now you can just pop-on and pop-off the whole panel – and it is help securely without any ugly screws!
See photo below:
Waste Storage
I got this bin from Ikea.
It has a flap lid that stops odors escaping. It is not too big which means you will empty it often enough to stop it smelling too bad.
Simply I made this slot for it in the corner. I screwed a couple of blocks of wood in – tight to the bin. Now the bin push-fits in and does not move.
I do not tend to put big bits of rubbish in this bin – just finding a bin for them during the day. It is most used during cooking for food waste or other bits and pieces.
Bin in situ and, right, the blocks that wedge the bin in to place.
Organic Waste Bin
In my latest van I added an organic waste bin to make waste storage better and make recycling easier.
This was cut into the kitchen top to fit a glass Ikea food-storage container. The container has a good seal and I bought 3 so that if we break one the kitchen unit is not made worse if Ikea have discontinued the product!