Living in a van is all about good design, and having a well-designed garage space can make all the difference in how your van is organised inside, which, believe it or not, does actually make a difference. Building a garage in your campervan is the subject of this article.
The garage is essentially the storage area accessible from your van’s back doors, and it’s where you can store everything you don’t want to see every day.
One of the best things about the garage space is that it’s highly customisable. Campervan garages usually sit under a fixed bed and that area is yours to command.
You can choose to opt for a minimalist approach, using simple bins and shelves to keep things organised in an otherwise open space, while others go all out, creating custom cabinets and compartments to store fancy, expensive and dirty gear.
Let’s look at what garages are in more detail, why you build one, how to build one, and then our exact garage set up in our van.
What do you put in a campervan garage?
Bikes: For many vanlifers, bikes are a must-have item for exploring new places. Storing bikes in the garage is a great way to keep them secure (i.e., not strapped to the outside of your van) and out of the way when you’re not using them. Use front fork mounts to secure them to the van’s floor or for top style points, build a sliding drawer or platform.
Outdoor equipment: Surfboards, SUPs, skateboards, blow up kayaks, skis, snowboards, and other outdoor gear should be in the garage. Your garage will likely require racks or mounts to keep your equipment secure and organised.
Water system: Access to fresh water is essential for any campervan, and if you’re going to have a water system, storing a water tank in the garage is a great way to conserve space inside the van. Make sure to consider the size of the tank and how much space it will take up in your garage (more on that in our plumbing guide)
DIY supplies and toolbox: Every vanlifer should carry a few basic tools, and spares with them on the road. You don’t (hopefully) need them often, so they should go in the ‘boot’
Food supplies: Some of us choose to store food in portable storage totes in their campervan garage. This allows you to keep food out of the way until you need it, and it is especially helpful if you are travelling to somewhere expensive (ahem, Norway) and want to stock up on non-perishables before you go.
Heater: Depending on where you’ll be travelling, a portable heater may be essential for staying warm and comfortable in your campervan. Keep it in the garage when it’s not in use.
Batteries and electrics: Finally, storing your batteries and electrical system in the garage is a great way to keep them organised and protected. Consider mounting your batteries to the van’s floor or walls, and using cable ties to keep your electrical system tidy and easy to access.
Winter clothes: Big clothes that you can pull out as the seasons change. Or if you are super bourgie, just a change of clothes you can rotate around. It’s likely that your wardrobe’s storage space inside the van is not huge, and you may have more threads that you can store inside.
How to decide what your garage space looks like?
Building a garage in your campervan is an essential part of any van conversion, here are some key factors to keep in mind:
Space: The first thing to consider when building a garage is how much space you have to work with. Know the measurements of your garage and check the size and shape of the items you’ll be storing.
Weight distribution: It’s important to keep weight distribution in mind when designing your garage. Make sure that you’re not overloading the back of your van as this can affect how it handles on the road. Water tanks and batteries are both very heavy.
Accessibility: Think about how you’ll access the items in your garage. You don’t want to have to move gear around or climb over items to get what you need. Consider if you’ll need pull-out drawers or sliding doors to make it easy to grab what you need without disrupting the rest of your gear.
Adventure gear: What outdoor gear will you be carrying in your garage? Will you be storing bikes, surfboards, or other outdoor equipment? Even things like outdoor tables and chairs quickly add up. Make sure to plan your garage space accordingly, with racks or mounts to keep your gear secure and organised.
DIY skills: Hopefully this is a fairly straight forward part but like all things the more complex you want it the harder it will become. Depending on the complexity of your garage build, you may need to have some DIY skills to complete the project.
Cost: Finally, it’s important to consider the cost of building a garage in your van. Make sure to budget accordingly because what feels like it’s just an empty space quickly can get expensive when it’s filled with 18mm ply, Big plastic boxes from the Range and 50kg Draw runners for bike slides.
How to build a garage in your van
Step 1. Measure the space: the first step in building a garage is to measure the space where you plan to build it. take note of the height, width, and depth of the area where you’ll be storing your gear.
Step 2. Determine what the space is for: next, go through all the considerations and look at your stuff and figure out exactly what you want to use the space for.
Step 3. Plan your design: with the space and items in mind, it’s time to plan your garage design. Draw it out. Pencil and paper will be fine. Try to design shelving around the heights of your rib supports, so you can anchor them into something.
Step 4. Test it: Actually go and get all your stuff and put it in there. Lay wood across where shelves ‘would’ go. Are you happy with it? Can you live without what doesn’t fit?
Step 5. Preparation: Make sure everything that needs to be installed is installed. That means plumbing is in and batteries fixed (hopefully not on the same side). Everything is secure in its place and there the key components are accessible when required. Install flooring (rubber matting or similar) now, if you like.
Step 6. Structure: Locate the anchor points on the sides of your van. If you have been following our guidance you should have structurally sound wooded ribs screwed into the vans framework. To to attach anything weight bearing to these supports. You might also find yourself with a wheel arch. Don’t hate em, join em, and use them where you can for additional (not sole) support.
Step 7. Build: big shelves with 18mm ply wood. Attach everything with wood screws. Countersink your screw fits for a fine finish. For uprights, use L brackets to attach to the floor/ garage roof/ shelf above, or pocket joints if you have the right set up for that.
Step 8. (optional) Drawers: Sliders all have slightly different installation techniques, all of which are normally detailed on their packaging.
What we did
Our garage is just one big open space that we have rudimentarily split into utilities on the left side (the side of our kitchen), storage in the middle (using stacked plastic boxes bought from The Range) and on the right hand side we have our ‘outdoor pursuits’ storage.
We kept it open for the first 6 months to see how we use the van and what we value having with us.
This summer, we are going to build out some fixed compartments in the garage.
The downside we found with having a really big space is that you just don’t maximise it. The great thing about doing it this way though, is that you very quickly get a handle on what things you need and don’t often, and that is going to be really handy for when we build out the van with proper shelves and sections.
We’ll still use the plastic storage, and I won’t be building any drawers.
Bonus Tips
- Consider keeping everything really open for the first trip(s), and seeing what you use most and what is annoying to keep taking in and out.
- Hooks, rails and hangers will maximise your storage space, Really good for small items like helmets, rucksacks, jackets.
- Lighter colours will easily show marks, scuffs, and dirt, darker colours will help hide dirt.