Our Layout Design Process

If you’ve ever designed something, especially for a DIY project, you know that you almost never end up using the very first concept. You’ll think you thought of everything (because you are a genius of course) but even then as it gets built the design continues to change and you inevitably realize you are not, in fact, a genius. It’s impossible to think of everything and that’s part of the fun of projects. We’re only a few weeks into our build and just one week into the meat of it but I thought it would be fun to share our design process to this point and some plans we considered. Jeremy took the reigns on the designs, as mentioned in a prior post he did the bulk of the research and has the best understanding of our build process. We had design sessions as a family and then he would try other layouts based on the feedback. We did this for a solid year as we prepared financially to start our van build. It’s been a fun process for us but we are thrilled to be into the actual build. Lets dig into 5 of the designs we worked through for M/M Van.

Design 1

This was our first pick. We thought we had it. Done. Sign the check and lets build this thing! This design featured a rear bench seat that would serve as our kids safety seat as well as our bed when lowered. The kids beds were above ours and would hinge up when not in use. Kitchen and bathroom are on the drivers side of the vehicle and a tall storage unit is on the passenger side.

Pros: The kids have a lot of room for travel. A full comfy bench seat, and the entirety of the back of the van. At points in a road trip having the kids all the way back there would be ideal. (Don’t judge me, kids get annoying sometimes. I’m not here to pretend like that never happens.) We loved that there was open floor space to play in when parked and for our dog to sleep. It felt simple and not fussy.

Cons: The kids are riding all the way in the back of the van, and I can’t reach them when we’re driving. Big kids or not, there’s always a reason they need me in the back seat and I find myself reaching back more often than not on road trips. With them this far away from us I would have to unbuckle and walk to the back if assistance is needed (not safe when driving and not efficient if we have stop everytime they need something. I swear we would never leave our driveway if this were the case). The bathroom location blocks the driver from the rest of the vehicle, and does not allow us to use the front seats as a dual purpose. They would function only as front seats for travel, that feels wasteful. No dining area. And finally - that bench seat bed combo was $4,000 taking up a third of our build budget.

I think we were initially drawn to this layout because it seemed simple and left us with open floor space. The open space seemed so important at the time. In our tent the kids would play on the floor and in their beds, they played on the ground outside with hot wheels and we did crafts on the ground. Tent camping at the race track is like that, minimal surfaces to spread out on so we used what mother nature gave us. At some point we looked at this and realized we’re not getting what we want out of it. If you read our previous post we talked about our top 5 wants for the van. This layout violates 2 of them - dining room and sleeping for 4 that does not need to be disassembled. Add on that $4,000 price tag for the safety bench / bed and we moved on pretty quick.

Design 2

This design has the kids beds on the floor in the back and also functions as our dining space. Our bed was above it and would be on a track so it could be lifted up and out of the way when not in use. A small kitchen with upper cabinets and one kids seat are on the driver side, and the bathroom and one kids seat are on the passenger side.

Pros: Having the dining room in the back gives us the opportunity to swing open the doors and have dinner with a view. The kids are up closer to us.

Cons: Wasted floor space in the front at our seats, kitchen space is really small, kids beds would not be able to stay made if we wanted to take advantage of that dining room with a view (there’s that top 5 creeping in again), lacking storage space for water, electrical, etc.

This plan could certainly work, and even if the storage space for water and electric is our concern we could have made the seating up front our dining area, extended the kids bed all the way across making two queen sized beds stacked giving us that crucial storage underneath. However there’s an item at play here (and with design 1) that I haven’t brought up yet. I think I just found out I’m claustrophobic. I agree not the best thing to realize as you are about to put in a ton of time building a camper van. The space I can handle, it’s sleeping in only 24” of height that I cannot deal with. We went to a local RV show to test out some stacked beds, and that was a quick nope from me. I tried to say I’ll get over it but I won’t . I don’t want to. We even toyed with putting our bed very low to the ground and the kids above us to give more head room but that still leaves the issue of storage for the water and electrical. Too many issues so we moved on.

Design 3

Design 3 brings back that bench seat as the kids travel seat and our bed. The kids beds are stacked in the rear on the passenger side with a storage unit next to them. The bathroom is in the back on the driver side with a decent sized kitchen next to it. And we can utilize our front seats on a swivel as a dining room.

Pros: So much floor space. We could potentially store bicycles inside the van when the kids beds are up. The dining space up front is nice, and if feels like there is a good amount of storage for our stuff.

Cons: Here we go with the bed rule again. This time no one gets to keep their bed together. Again we lack a good location for the water tank and electrical. Bathroom takes up all the good views from the back.

This feels like a good option for us if we really valued storing our bikes and any larger gear, it feels a little like one of the Outside Van layouts (we referenced them here). At the heart of it, it’s a functional design but when we looked at our top 5 it doesn’t meet the mark. Not to mention that $4000 bed creeping back in. I could still see this design working well for us in some scenarios, especially if that storage space were made a little deeper and the fridge were housed there. I am still not sure where the water tank would be placed, but when we were looking at this layout originally we had a different plan for our water. Now that we are doing a 22 gallon tank this layout doesn’t make sense.

Design 4

We were convinced this design was the one when we purchased the van in December 2019. You’ll notice it’s more thought through, includes things we hadn’t considered before, and placement of things became more intentional. We have a full bed in the back for us, a kitchen with overhead cabinets on the passenger side, and the fridge and bathroom on the driver side. You’ll notice designs 1 - 3 did not plan space for the fridge. I think we still planned for either an under cabinet one or were convinced we were so good at using coolers that we would stick with that. So silly of us. Each kid has a chair placed near the front (that location became clear early on as you can see) and our front seats will swivel to give us a dining area. The kids beds will somehow stack and go up to the ceiling when not in use to make the front section multi-functional.

Pros: We have a large bed space in the back, perfect for taking advantage of views when we travel and also perfect for snuggling up as a family to watch a movie. And look at all that glorious head space! There is decent sized kitchen space located at the side door keeping me in on the action while I’m cooking inside the van (not in the top 5 but this was very important to me). Overhead storage extends over our bed, and there is ample storage below the bed as well for water and electrical.

Cons: The kids beds don’t get to stay assembled.

This is the point we realized giving all 4 of us space for a bed that does not need to be deconstructed was really important to us. Not only did we realize the beds were not hitting the mark, we also realized that building them to move up and down was not working. There would be straps or poles that came down and would be in the path of travel, when the kids were ready for bed we would have to lower them down and remove the dining table if it were up. Plus, once we had the van and were able to really look at the angles of the ceiling we didn’t feel like this was a feasible or functional design. It morphed into a few different designs from here. One where we put one bed on the head rest of both seats on the driver side, and another bed would go across the seats of both front seats. A sort of tiered L-shape bunk bed. But those beds would also have to be taken down when it was time to drive or use the space as a dining area. Also storing the beds became problematic. Would they fold? How do we get a mattress to fold? If they don’t fold where do we have 6 feet of space to store beds with mattresses?

I am not kidding when I say fitting 4 people into a van with permanent sleeping solutions is no joke. So much to think through and it all comes down to what is important to you and your family in the end. H

Here we go, our solution at this point and the one that for us feels like it ticks most of the boxes. (It’s not without compromise, be prepared.)

Design 5

Our most recent design and the one we are moving forward with! We have a cozy full bed in the back (views, movies, cuddles, etc.), kitchen at the door side so mom isn’t completely removed from the fun while cooking (win!), fridge, bathroom and possible small storage area next to the bed on the drivers side. (It’s hard to see here but the fridge is located in front of the bathroom and underneath the bed) Kids seats are in the front (no one is surprised) and the front seats swivel to make a dining area. Then we have our kids beds taking up residence in the ceiling space at the front of the vehicle. Not shown is that the beds will extend all the way to the storage shelf above the front seats, this will create a bit of a loft space for the kids things.

Pros: Bed with a view, kitchen with a view, everyone has bed space that belongs only to them, dining space, a bathroom, room for a fridge, and storage for essential van systems like water and electrical.

Cons: You have to duck slightly to get into the van. The kids beds will need to swing up to allow for a little more headroom when not in use (but all pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, etc. will remain in the bed.) The bathroom has to be raised up slightly to allow for the toilet to sit on top of the wheel well, which also means our bathroom is shorter than the rest of the space and showers might be a little cramped.And you’re basically using the toilet on a bit of a pedestal.

We are working through the engineering on the beds, and are the first to admit that it’s not an easy thing to figure out but we’re confident we can work through it. Ducking to get into the van is a non-issue for us. We actually made mock-ups of the beds out of cardboard and have them installed in the van, we’ve been entering and exiting with no issue. When both beds are down it definitely requires more maneuvering and it’s a tight squeeze to get our broad shoulders between the two. But it is doable. I’ll be the first to admit the bathroom is a little out of the norm but in the end we decided that the bathroom is the space in the van we will be using for the least amount of time. If it’s a little small or inconvenient it’s OK with us because just having it is a convenience in itself.

What do you think? What design would you have moved forward with? Or do you have a genius idea we should consider before we finish this thing? We’re moving pretty quick (see the latest build pictures here, and instagram updates here) so if you do speak now friends!