Small spaces are fast to clean, but they also get messy in the blink of an eye! The key to sanity for Van Life is staying organized and taking advantage of all the space available to optimize the storage. In our van, we like each object to have its own dedicated storage place, so it can be easily put back where it belongs. Below are some storage, organization, and space-saving ideas we actually use for our full-time Van Life. Hope this helps!
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1- Mesh Pouch & Net Organizer
Simple but effective, a mesh pouch is an easy way to add van life storage space and definitely helps with our philosophy: “Each object must have its own dedicated storage place”! Here is where we added mesh pouches in our van:
These are the two types of mesh pouch & net organizer we use in our van:
Mesh Pouch With Velcro Backing
Cargo Mesh Organizer
2- USB Cables Organizer
When we first transitioned into full-time van life, we knew there would be a learning curve and we would have to change a few things; but we certainly didn’t expect to feel BURIED by the USB cables! Yep, first-world problems, we know. Smartphones, cameras, laptops, drones, Wi-Fi routers, e-book readers, Bluetooth earbuds… EVERYTHING needs a USB cable these days, so we quickly implemented a way to organize them:
USB Cables Organizer
3- Wall Mount for Smartphone
“Have you seen my phone?” Van Life is synonymous with small living space, yet we find a way to lose our phones all the time… This wall mount for smartphones is pretty neat and will accommodate smartphones of almost any size. It has 3M tape and sticks very well to wood or other surfaces. We installed one in our “workstation”, but it could be useful in the bedroom too (to store the phone at night).
Wall Mount for Smartphone
4- Shoe Organizer for Rear Doors
We can’t say it enough: “each thing in its own place”! The rear doors of the van are another great opportunity to add more storage. We bought a shoe organizer, trimmed it, and screwed it into the plastic trim on the rear doors. The shoe organizer on the driver side is permanently screwed (1/2″ length screws). The shoe organizer on the passenger side is removable (we remove it for our exterior shower setup); it’s installed with small sticky hooks on top (actually we had to screw them because the sticky wasn’t enough) and hooks and loops at the bottom.
Shoe organizer for rear doors
5- Hook and Loop (Velcro)
We always keep some in the van, just in case! This stuff is super useful. Here are a few examples of how and where we use it in our van:
Hook and Loop (with adhesive)
Velcro Straps
6- Quick Fist Clamps
The Quick Fist rubber Clamps are perfect for attaching objects without rattling. We don’t recommend them to attach heavy, suspended objects (because they disform over time), otherwise, they work really well!
Quick Fist Clamps (Kit)
7- Hooks
Not exactly a great discovery, we know… but hey, don’t overlook the simple things 🙂
Hooks
8- Slides & Drawers
It’s common sense to add drawers to a cabinet, but they are also super useful where access is deep and awkward. For example, it’s difficult to efficiently use all the space in the “garage” (the space under our platform bed), so we installed a slide-out bike rack and a slide-out storage rack side-to-side. It’s then really easy to load/unload the bikes, and we can store more things in the storage rack and get them more easily.
Cabinet’s Drawers
Slide-Out-Bike-Rack
9- Folding Table
A folding table in a camper van is a convenient way to add more space for work, eat, etc. Then it can be folded away when it’s not needed. Our folding table was installed a few years after our van life started because we initially didn’t plan our van interior layout for work. Now that we both have to use our laptops simultaneously, the folding table makes our van a bit more ergonomic and practical!
10- Headliner Shelf
A headliner shelf is a great hack to add more storage to your Sprinter van or Ford Transit van. You can either: 1- Make your own shelf using a DIY Kit (save money & match with your build). 2- Buy a bolt-on aluminum shelf (premium option, nothing to build).
Conclusion on Van Life Storage
Van Life is a good way to simplify your life, but don’t get fooled: it has its share of challenges, and staying organized is certainly one of them! Some of the ideas proposed in this article were implemented from the very early stage of our van build, some were added a few years after. Each of these Van Life storage & organization ideas make our daily life a bit better and help us stay on the road longer. Hopefully, it helps you too! See you on the road!
Hi guys! I have read all the website! great job!
Im on Maui, trying to convert my sprinter van to camper! the thing is that what about the propane gas system? Does it have some kind of safety rule or control that you have to go through?
aloha
Hey!
Here is the info about propane: https://faroutride.com/propane-system/
At the moment there is no mandatory inspection, except maybe some insurers might require it. It’s case-by-case.
CHeers,
Antoine
Where do you store your skis?
We store our snowboards/splitboards above the water tank (under the bed). You can see the “snowboard” rack in this article: https://faroutride.com/garage/
During the winter months, we put our camping chairs in the snowboard rack and put our dried snowboards on the top of the slide-out-storage-rack (the splitboards stay in the rack with the chairs). Hope this makes sense.
Great info, thanks.
Would you have an oven in the next build?
How about a lagun table?
A lagun table and a portable table?
Has any technical info from the beginning been updated where pertinent?
How about “what we’re doing different next time” vid.
I know you mentioned some things pertaining to a different transit and perhaps you have on van build that I just haven’t seen yet.
It’s cool you give 10% of profits to trail maintenance.
We would definitely have an oven in the next build, because I love to cook. It just makes living full-time in a van much more pleasant!
We don’t feel like we should have installed a lagun table. Our portable table fits perfectly in our van and it’s so convenient to be able to bring it outside. If our layout was different, maybe we would consider a lagun table?
We haven’t really modified the van since it was build, so everything is still relevant. (Except for the electrical system, and that was updated.) Some pages are missing links to other articles we wrote, and we plan on fixing that in the upcoming weeks. And this page has just been updated to highlight our “must have” to help with storage ideas.