I am pretty good at making something out of nothing. I haven’t done it in a while, because Chris is so good at making truly incredible things. And it’s not out of nothing, generally speaking, but out of good, quality materials. So I knew for our recent van campout excursion, I was the one for the job. Chris is also a perfectionist with high standards, and with only a day to get ready, if it didn’t get half-assed, it wasn’t going to happen at all!

So, this is how I went about converting our 2002 Volkswagen Eurovan into a weekender for the most comfortable camping trip I’ve ever been on. Livable? That’s debatable. I would need a few more amenities to call it home. But for a weekend campout, it was pretty amazing. The van was cozy, warm, quiet, and had space for me, my husband, and our 80 pound dog. All in, you can throw this together for around $250 or less depending on what items you already own. This is how I pulled it all together!

Start With the Bed

One nice thing about the Eurovan is that when you fold the back seat down, the surface you are left with is fairly smooth and flat. If you are working with a van where this isn’t the case, you could take the back seat out entirely and put the mattress on the floor of the van. You would lose the storage underneath though, so you might choose to go forward with a buildout after all. We really didn’t want to go down that road, both because we had limited time to prepare for our trip, and because we would like to keep the option of seating in the back. We rarely use our middle seats, but we do use the back bench seat occasionally.

For the mattress, we used the full size mattress from a Lane sleeper loveseat we bought a few years ago. They make these things with memory foam mattresses these days! If you do not already have something you can squeeze in there, try this one which seems pretty similar to what we have.

All we needed was a platform of some sort to prop up the foot of the mattress. We had the idea to cut the legs off a folding plastic table we had in the shop and it fit perfectly! As a bonus, you also have a table when you are not using the bed. Yes, it is the height of a coffee table, but hey, it works! This one is 24″ wide by 48.25″ long and 29″ tall. Chris used his laser level to cut the legs down to a precise 19.75″ tall (including the top) at which time I had to run him off. There would be no more need for laser-like precision.

Add Some Privacy

I picked out some black out curtains that were much longer than what I needed and cut them down to fit the van windows. Then I used Velcro to attach them in place. I left them up the night before the trip to see how they would work out. Two of them fell down overnight, but two stayed up! So I reinforced with more Velcro when we got to the site during that peaceful moment between hiking and building the camp fire. Happily, the second attempt lasted all night. We used a scrap piece of fabric on the back window, and one of these reflective shades for the windshield. You might want to add curtains to the front driver and passenger windows, but we did not find the need to.

Shine Some Light On It

We love our Black Diamond head lamps, and they are what we primarily use while camping. But for changing, reading, meal prepping, etc., it is nice to have some ambient light. Chris liked these wireless touch lights. They are cheap, put off a good amount of light, and they have a little cut out in the back that I used to hang them with hooks and wire in various places around the van. They worked great, but I prefer a little more whimsy so I also got some battery powered wireless string lights which Chris proceeded to tease me about but it did not make me love them any less!

So, what’s missing? Obviously a kitchen. In place of a refrigerator, we like these Igloo Marine Coolers and use two so we have one for food and one for drinks. This is great because you aren’t in and out of the food cooler as much and they are easier to maneuver than one large cooler. If we were to spend more than a few nights in the van, campfire cooking might get old so a small propane stove would also be a nice upgrade. If you have one you love, please tell us about it in the comments! I also just got a hot tip that I will have to add to our current set up, Skeeter Beater window screens, which attach to your vehicle via magnet and allow you to open the windows without letting all the bugs in!

I will add, we enjoyed mild temperatures for this trip. If it were much hotter, I would want an air conditioner of some sort. I’ve heard you can work wonders with a Styrofoam cooler, some ice, and a fan! And if it was very cold, I wouldn’t take the Eurovan. She’s a fickle thing.

Are you a cabin person, a car camper, or do you prefer a more rugged experience? Share your favorite camping story with us! We love to hear from you.