Two of our main requirements for this build are to do it on a budget and also, with tools that are easily available.
A lot of videos where people are building out their camper vans, they have access to big scary tools that made us feel like we might lose multiple fingers and maybe some toes. Especially when it comes to our complete lack of experience with building things. It made the whole process feel pretty intimidating and we didn't really want to buy expensive chopping things that we'd only use a handful of times.
So for our entire interior, we are only using tools we already have or can borrow from friends and family. Currently our toolbox consists of a hammer, hand saw and a drill.
The Goal
The inside of a Land Rover Defender isn't huge and we wanted to maximise the space as much as possible. For us, we came to terms with the fact that our house would be small when we chose a Defender as our vehicle, but we still had a few requirements for our build:
- Bed for two people. Although we would eventually like to get a Roof Top Tent or a Pop Up roof, for now we will be living inside the car and we would always like to have this option for safety reasons.
- Kitchen Area to cook inside if it rains (plus storage for food and too much wine)
- Enough Sofa/Living Area for two people and a Dog to relax in without feeling too cramped.
- Plenty of space for clothes and cameras - easily accessible but out of the way so it doesn't take up our living area.
- Good insulation so it's warm in winter and cool in summer.
Maybe we were asking for too much, and when you see the luxury of some van life builds, you can understand why a sprinter van is tempting. But for us, the places we will be able to take our house will always outweigh the cons.
