As I mention in the video, this week’s episode of Big Rob’s Van was two years in the making.

When I bought my van (a 2007 Ford Econoline E250 cargo van) two years ago, I had never stepped foot inside another camper van. The only blueprints I had to go on were what other people had done and posted on YouTube. It became pretty evident to me that there are two primary layout options when building a camper van. One involves putting your bed side-to-side in the back and then putting storage on both sides. This isn’t really an option for taller people (I’m roughly 6’0″) and so the other layout involves putting your bed “front-to-back” with storage and counterspace running parallel to the bed on the opposite wall. My bed is 6′ long and my cargo area is about 9′ long, which gives you 3′ of space to play with between the end of the bed and the back of the driver’s seat.

The both fun and frustrating part about building a camper van is that you can design stuff on paper until you’re blue in the face, but until you’ve taken it out camping a few times, you just don’t know how it’s going to work. It’s fun because it’s a play space — you can build, unbuild, and rebuild anything you want. It’s also frustrating to come up with something you think will work great only to realize its shortcomings once you move it inside the van.

This brings me to this week’s video. Pretty early on in my build I knew I wanted a big storage solution in that “driverside gap” area. The first solution I came up with back in the summer of 2024 was a large cabinet (you can see the build video here: https://youtu.be/v3oQI4b-rZM ). Based on my measurements I decided I could put a 24″x224″ storage cabinet in the area. One thing I forgot to mention is that the van’s gas filler intrudes into this area and so I made the cabinet more narrow than necessary. I also made the cabinet too deep. Measuring at the ground 24″ deep seemed great, but I failed to fully consider the curvature of the van’s sides. By the time I got the cabinet into the van, it was several inches away from the wall near the bottom which made it stick out so far that I could no longer see out the rear of the van using my rearview mirror. Once I got the cabinet into place I realized I should have made it wider. It’s like I managed to build a cabinet that was both twoo big and too small at the same time. It’s a gift.

This week’s video begins with that cabinet’s original replacement, which was a sink. I’ve referenced the sink in multiple posts and videos but never documented the process. In this video you’ll see the sink I built. It… wasn’t good. To save weight I built the frame out of 2x2s instad of 2x4s and while it was lighter, it was also much less sturdy. Also, the sink part barely worked. Also, I never used it.

SO, also in this video, I tear out the sink (we barely knew ye!) and replace it with a new storage unit. This storage unit is the culmination of what I’ve learned while working on the van and, maybe even more importantly, while sleeping in it. One thing I’ve learned is that every inch counts. The more trips I take and camping I do the more I find myself cramming stuff into every square inch of the van’s free space. I don’t want a hoarding feel to the van, but you can’t leave unused 1′ gaps in your design. You’ll want and need that space. I also learned that the things you put in your van need to fit. That one sounds obvious, but things can be too big or too small. Neither one is a good solution. I also learned what types of storage I need. Building a bunch of cabinets that ultimately don’t work for what you own isn’t great. I need space for laptop bags and backpacks, I need open tub storage, I need drawer storage… and this new storage unit meets all those needs.

There’s a fun twist in this video. I won’t ruin everything but just know when you’re trying to use every square inch in a particular space, one inch can be one inch too many. Oops.

Keep building, keep vannin’, keep adventuring. The van is just the vessel, as they say. the real fun is outside it.