Unaffordable housing forcing people to live in minivans now.

2022 update:

The social climate of America has changed. Camping has become a necessity for hundreds of Americans and those of us who still

The time for posting is ripe in fact its beginning to rot. The last year and a half has seen a frenzied attempt to design a comfortable camper minivan to view nature in. The tiny space requires transformer furniture designs I have attempted to construct. I try to see the space behind the front seats as multiple rooms that can be changed easily for various tasks. For now, I'm going to post some photos of what I've built. I'm far, far, from done and am excited about new ways of doing things differently down the road.

Thick black fabric glued to one side

suction cups hold to glass

Seats forward, bed unfolded.

large stainless bowl drains into
grey water tank or out side door

Large swivel mounted to fold out table

 

Bought a 2007 Toyota Sienna! My grid beam plan didn't fly due to the curvy interior of the van. So Far I have built a folding bed to couch using an Ikea pine single bed frame. I removed all the rear seats attached the headboard upside down to extend the bed posts into the trunk by the rear hatch  cut two feet off the end of the bed added two foot drawer slides, so the bed slides back into it's self and the 3/4 inch plywood top folds into a couch. having a hard time figuring the back brace for the seat back. Basically I ripped off the Grove Guy's awesome design but I made the bed wider as we are both over 6 feet! We sewed velcro to the firm foam cushions and glued and stapled it to the plywood bed platform so it won't slide off during car chases. The widest possible bed limits the Westfailian shelves on the driver side of the van to spice rack size but we plan to hang netting from the oh shit handles along that side a la Das Boot. With the bed pushed back into the "couch" position a tiny living room appears. Behind the rear seat my plan is to put a small cabinet wit a small swivel table and a large bowl sink. This narrow cabinet will also slide out the passenger side sliding door (2 foot drawer slides) and a fold out table on the door side will open out and extend the kitchen outside further like the Australians like to do.

Leaving the realm of pure thought soon, I hope!

Well, its summer 2014 and I still don't have a van. But I've finally convinced my wife to get a 2004 or later Toyota Sienna. This might seem like no big deal, but her attitude previously was "No way I'll be seen in a @#$%'in Mini Van! It was a difficult application of mind control technique, but I did it!
I'm excited about doing an Ikea Hack

I bought the single bed for about $40.

and making a "rock and roll" (style) bed.

Was inspired by The Grove Guy's light and user friendly design.

Soft, light and strong-your minivan's storage.

This is to illustrate the cube position in the van.

With a 2x2 grid beam frame constructed inside your van, you can hang your soft furniture, cargo-nets, curtains, or lights up high to conserve floor space.
By adding extra vertical and horizontal beams you could easily make a false floor / bed or shelves (please use 1/4" plywood) Pretend your van is an airplane and you need it as light as possible!
When I was almost young, I hitchhiked across the country and I remember hearing someone say they preferred a soft rucksack to a framed backpack because they could squeeze it into places where a frame would get stuck and that the frame was uncomfortable to lean on in a crowded vehicle. I like (removable) 'soft "cabinets" like on the Cabela's Camp Kitchen.  Why fill up the limited space of your van with heavy hard furniture? Here are some examples of soft storage systems:

This german van has kind of a grid beam "Airline Track" attached to the interior to attach things.

See the hanging storage system.

Grid Beam? WTF?

As much as I admire some of awesome carpentry skills used in camper van conversions, most use 2x4s and plywood to build boxes or cabinets, beds using 3/4"plywood permanently screwed to the sides of the van. Most of these seem to me to be taking a heavy vehicle and making it a lot heavier which leads to worse performance and gas milage. My whole theory of building a camper van is based on a (2"X 2"s) grid beam "cube" that is tightly fitted  inside the vehicle. This grid beam cube creates an frame to attach (and remove) camp furniture without modifying the vehicle you choose to use. The grid beams allow you to attach your stuff in hundreds of different positions.
Here are some pictures of grid beams:

Here are some pictures of cubes:

Ken Issacs, Architect relaxing at home in Chicago

From the book, Nomadic Furniture

You Tube has some good links to Grid Beam building techniques.


The camping furniture I prefer is light weight tubing and fabric like the Cabela's camp kitchen.

This could be easily modified to fit and then bolted to the grid beam. I find this preferable to the conventional 3/4" plywood and 2x4"s that are over engineered and heavy and permanent. There are tons of light weight aluminum and fabric examples to choose from.

Light weight is important for moving vehicles. Heavy doesn't  matter in static structures.Plus, you can unbolt and  rearrange, remove and set up out side the van if you want. I you wanted to drive grandma and grandpa to the airport just unbolt the kitchen and bed and reattach the seats!

Why A Minivan Camper? you ask

He looks content in his camper van.

A minivan is small and easy to drive and park. Gas milage is better than big trucks. Good stealth value when camping on the street. More car like to drive which might encourage more trips. I have owned a 1970 Ford Econoline and a VW split window bus. Both of these were great but old and I didn't feel like restoring them. The Volkswagen was designed better for DIY maintenance, the Econoline wasn't too bad but the gas economy was a killer. With both there was an endless list of things to fix and I would always carry a big tool box with me. Yes I wish I had the VW Bus now, but it would have taken a long time to sort out. So it was like I would go camping but always have to be prepared for a mechanical crisis which would appear in various degrees of intensity, nearly ruining the trip. Now, after five years of being van-less, I've been having fantasies of building a small camper van out of a minivan. I don't have the minivan yet so am operating on a theoretical plane. This might seem strange, but I think a blog will help me focus my ideas, preparing the way for practical activity.