We built a pull-out table into the van. It was in the drawings, we talked about it for weeks, and on paper it was the obvious way to eat and work in a small space.
We used it for a few months and then stopped. It’s still there. It holds books now.
I’m starting with that because every van storage tour you’ll find online shows you the parts that worked. Nobody shows you the drawer they built wrong. Eight years in, here is where just about everything in our van lives, including the one spot we got wrong.
The One We Got Wrong#
The pull-out table came out of the small drawer under the bed. It was meant to be where we ate and where we worked.
The problem wasn’t the table. It was who got trapped behind it. When one of us sat on the bench seat with the table out, the other one, in the space between the counter and the bed, was stuck. You couldn’t get up without clearing everything off the table and closing the drawer first. For eating, that’s annoying. For working, when one of us is on a call and the other needs to move, it’s unworkable.
We have the ProMaster 2500, and I’m sure that with more length between the counter and the bed it would have gone differently. But that’s the whole lesson: the table was fine and the clearance around it was the thing nobody drew.
What replaced it is the honest part: nothing did. It turned out to be easier to just stand and eat, or go outside, or sit on the bench seats. We never built a second table and we’ve never missed it.
If you’re laying out a build right now, that’s the question I’d ask about every fixed feature. Not “does this fit.” “Can the other person still get out while I’m using it.”
Where Everything Actually Lives#
Above the counter +
Three cupboards. The left two are my clothes. The right one is snacks and dry food.
That split is worth noticing, because it's the single biggest decision in this whole van and we made it without thinking hard about it: my clothes are at eye level in the main living space, and Jesse's are in a drawer under the bed. Neither of us has ever wanted to swap.
Under the counter, left side +
Top drawer, the junk drawer. Battery packs, cords, first aid, batteries, the wireless speaker, headphones.
I call it the junk drawer, but a junk drawer doesn't really exist in van life. Everything has to have a purpose and a place. This is just where the things live that don't group with anything else.
Cupboard underneath it, cooking equipment. The induction stove, pots and pans, the Instant Pot, the French press, the Ninja blender.
Under the counter, middle and right +
Middle, under the sink. Fresh and grey water jugs, and cleaning supplies.
Right top drawer. Kitchen utensils, silverware, napkins, can koozies, seasonings.
Cupboard underneath it. Dry goods on top. Below that, plates, storage containers, and the Ninja Crispi.
The three drawers under the bed +
Top, small. The old pull-out table. Now it's books we're reading, sunglasses, cameras, binoculars, and important papers.
Middle. All of Jesse's clothes.
Bottom. Computers, the GoPro, tripod, drone, bathroom bags, and the personal things: lotion, face wipes, sunscreen.
The seats, and the spot that gets too hot +
Under the passenger seat. All of our shoes.
The cubby above the front seats. Warm layers, hats, bedding, first aid supplies.
That cubby comes with a warning. It gets really hot up there in the sun, and you have to take that into account when you decide what goes in it. Bedding and hats are fine. Think twice about anything that melts, or any medication.
The two bench seats. One holds the power station. The other holds our emergency Dometic toilet.
The Garage#
Everything above is what’s inside. The rest is under the short queen mattress and comes in through the back doors, and honestly it’s the part that surprises people.
Two inflatable kayaks. Two river tubes. A set of golf clubs. A tool box. Two folding tables, one dinner length and one side table. A Kelty double camp chair. Two camp rugs. Two emergency go bags. Fishing gear. A buddy heater. Tire chains. A bocce set. A bin of sporting gear with frisbees, snorkel gear, the parasheet, and two ENO hammocks. Our Cotopaxi packs and hiking boots. A cast iron over-fire grill.
Then three large three-bin plastic storage containers with all the smaller things in them, labeled.
It’s insane. Every inch back there counts and we’ve made the most of it.
The thing I’d point out: almost none of that is van gear. It’s doing things gear. The van storage conversation online is all about where the clothes and the food go, and then you get out there and discover that the reason you wanted the van was the kayaks.
What We Changed After The First Year Or Two#
One real change: we added a swivel chair on the passenger side.
That sounds minor and it isn’t. Before it, the only places to sit were the bed and the bench seats. The swivel gives you somewhere to actually hang out that isn’t the bed, and it makes the front of the van part of the living space instead of just the part you drive from.
Beyond that, we haven’t changed much else that’s major. Eight years, one abandoned table, one added chair.
If You’re Planning Your Own#
Three things I’d take from ours:
Put the daily things where you stand. My clothes are above the counter because that’s where I am. The stuff we touch once a month is under the bed and behind the back doors. That sorting happened naturally and it’s the only reason any of this works.
Test the clearance, not the object. The table fit. The person behind the table didn’t.
Leave the garage bigger than you think. The kayaks and the camp chairs are why we’re out here. They needed more room than the clothes did.