My Minivan to Camper Conversion (Part 2 - Sleeping Concerns and Living Space)

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar Channel and today's video is the second in a three part series where I show you how I converted my 2015 Honda Odyssey minivan into a camper that sleeps two.  The first video covered my requirements and the bed platform build. This video will cover other sleeping concerns and how we use the van for living space when we are not sleeping.  The last video will cover the kitchen and other miscellaneous items.

So, I already covered how I built the bed platform, so now let's talk about other sleeping issues. 

Bedroom - Other

Here are some other things that make sleeping in the van awesome:

• Mattress - One of the key elements to this design was having an actual mattress.  I detest blow up mattresses -- I don't like the way they shift around when you move and they are ridiculously noisy.  So, getting a nice thick foam mattress that was 48" wide was key to this project.  Also, I CAN sew, but I didn't really want to spend a bunch of time sewing mattress covers, so here's what I found.  It is a 6" mattress that folds in half into a little couch when not in use for sleeping.  I didn't love this lump here when using it as a mattress, so I ended up cutting off that whole piece and using it just for when we are not camping and it is in couch mode.  It means that the mattress isn't quite as long as I'd like it to be, but we have a ton of blankets and bedding that we store at the end, so you can't even tell that the mattress doesn't reach all the way to the end of the platform.  I did have to do a little sewing to close up the seam when I cut this piece off.  So, we keep the mattress folded during the day and then pull it out the back of the van to unfold it and slide it back in for sleeping.  The nice thing is that, when we are not camping, we fold it up, put the back on, and use it as a  couch in our basement so it doesn't take up a bunch of storage space in our house.
• Bedding - I bought sheets that specifically fit a 3/4 antique bed, which conveniently is 48" wide -- somewhere between a full and a twin.  The rest of the bedding is straight off my bed from home, but when the temperatures drop, we are going to need to invest in bedding that is rated for lower temperatures.  When the bed is folded up, we store the bedding in these laundry hampers that fold flat when we are not using them.
• Privacy - Vans have a lot of windows, which are great for visibility when driving, but not so great when trying to sleep in privacy.
• Reflectix - The first thing I did was make Reflectix cut outs for all of the windows in the second row, third row, and the back window.  Reflectix is an insulation that is designed to reflect heat, but everyone seems to use it for this purpose.  To do this, I made a cut out of each window using taped together pieces of paper (I had some large sized printer paper which definitely worked the best).  Then I cut the Reflectix to the size of each individual window.  I only wanted to use one roll, so I had to tape some pieces together.  Once I had cut outs for each window, in order to get them to stay in the window without too much effort, I taped around the sides of each cut out with silver tape and folded it over on itself.  This created a flexible "frame" so that I can just push these into the windows and they stay all night.  I can even open and close the back hatch without the Reflectix falling out.  Finally, I labeled each one with a piece of electrical tape indicating which window they belong to -- driver's side or passenger.  The tape also indicates which side is inside and which is out.  When we are driving, I store these in this window well in the back passenger's side.  Okay -- so that takes care of privacy in the back.
• Privacy curtains - Next I bought these privacy curtains from Amazon.  I'll put links to all of these products in the description section.  They hook easily to these plastic pieces on the sides of my van and you just cinch up the string.  Then I attached them to the center of my van with a Carabiner clip that is hooked over the moonroof opening.  These curtains have magnets sewed into them, so that they close up nicely.  These curtains are black, but they still allow quite a bit of light in, so I bought black fuse-able interface, cut it to size, and ironed it onto the curtains to create more opaque black out curtains.  And they work great.  The next issue is that of
• Temperature Control
• Bug screens - You HAVE to be able to roll the windows down or you will boil in the van.  Unfortunately, along with the fresh night breezes comes insects.  So, bug screens are a must.  In addition, you want to be able to put these on while you are inside the car AND you want to be able to open and close the car doors once the screens are on.  I bought this mesh fabric on Amazon along with these heavy duty magnets.  In addition, I got a bunch of small binder clips.  Basically, I cut the mesh for each window, at least 2-3 inches bigger than the opening on each side.  Then, on the edges where there is metal in the car, I secure the mesh with magnets.  In some cases, I have to stick the magnets into a groove, but in the case of my van, there is metal in the back of the groove so that magnet stays.  Where there isn't any metal -- like on the windows here -- I secure the mesh with small binder clips.  These can stay on when you open and close the doors.  Everything folds up neatly and I store them in this plastic bag.
• Rain Guards - This is all well and good until it rains.  Now, in order to have air flow, you have to deal with rain dripping into your car.  The experts on YouTube insist on getting rain guards or window deflectors to take care of this issue, so I ordered some that were custom made for Honda Odysseys and installed them.  Installation is literally cleaning your car with alcohol, peeling off the backing, and sticking them on like a Command hook.
• Fans - The other way to create airflow is with these two clip-on, USB powered fans.  These plug directly into my power station (more about that in the next video) and clip onto these handles on the van. 
• Heater - When it gets cold, I bought a low wattage heater that can also be plugged into my power station, which I feel way more comfortable with than a propane or gas heater with all of our flammable bedding.

So, that covers the sleeping, which is A Lot.  Now lets talk about the

Living Room

Even though I created a lot of storage under the bed platform, I really liked the idea of being able to use this whole front space when we are not sleeping, so that's why I made the front legs of the bed removable.  Here's how you take this from bed mode to living room mode.  First slide back the plywood under the mattress or you can take it out of the van altogether.   You can see how the carpet makes sliding these in and out much easier.  Then take out these pins and remove the metal strip.  I made a spot over here to reattach the strip to keep it out of the way.  Now remove each of the legs and store them one on top of each other on the driver's side.  I use a bungee cord to keep all of the legs together and the seatbelt lock mechanism to keep them out of the way and against the side.  Now, you can pull the plywood back down and it becomes a floor. This is nice because otherwise the floor is really uneven.   Once you have the floor down, we have two of these little tiny chairs that sit really close to the floor.  This seems fine for me, but believe it or not, also work well for my husband who is over 180 pounds.  They fold down into practically nothing which makes them great to take on camping trips.  Anyway -- both of us can sit in this space and push back the mattress to use this space for drinks or whatever.  In addition, I bought this iPad stand that sits in a cup holder so that we can watch streaming TV in here.  Since we have cut the cord at home and have YouTube TV, as long as we have a cell signal, anything we can watch at home, we can also watch while camping.

Obviously, we'd rather be hanging out at a campfire than sitting in the van, but for longer trips, this works well if it is raining or if the bugs are too annoying.  In addition, we generally keep it like this for packing up the car and driving so that we can throw more stuff in without having to organize it underneath the bed immediately.

Okay -- so now we've covered the bed platform, other sleeping issues, and the living room.  Join me in my next video when I show you the kitchen and share miscellaneous thoughts.  And let me know what you think.  Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching!