Renovating Our Van in One Month

We made it to Boise, ID and we were already exhausted just thinking about all the work we had ahead of us for the month. We had to turn our basically empty shell of a van into something that we could live in for the next seven months. Luckily, we were going to have a lot of help.

For the next month, we rolled out of bed before the sun came up. We usually drove to either Home Depot or Lowe’s to pick up supplies for the day, then headed to Corbin’s brother’s house (where we were storing the van) and worked until sundown. Though our days were busy, we were stoked to be in town with family, since we rarely get to see them longer than a few days at a time throughout the year. We are so grateful with how supportive and helpful both of our families have been through this whole journey. We had many “family work days”, where everyone who could and wanted to, would spend the afternoon helping us out. Other days, we learned to squeeze in our family and friend time during the last few hours of the day, but more often than not, our eyes were drooping at that point.

We broke up our renovation plan into four main phases. Our first goal was to test and diagnose all of the appliances already installed in the van. We were fully loaded with a shower/bathroom combo, a four burner stove with an oven, a sink, water heater, furnace, and a refrigerator with a freezer. When we first bought the van the owner informed us that most of these appliances didn’t work and we were preparing to shell out a pretty penny to fix or replace what we needed. But, Corbin’s dad is extremely knowledgeable and handy and within a day he was able to switch a few misplaced wires and pretty soon EVERYTHING was working! We couldn’t believe it. Our old 1984 Ford Econoline was as good as new in our eyes.

Our next phase was interior construction. This was a fun week because the transformations happened so quickly, and we were able to watch as our van began to look like what we had been dreaming of. First we installed Reflectix insulation, the equivalent of metallic bubble wrap, on the ceiling and all the walls. Then we applied a new headliner material to the ceiling, and we were pretty proud by how that turned out. Next, Corbin’s mom and I painted the old wood veneer walls of the closet, bathroom, and kitchen. Corbin and his dad added a slide out countertop for more cooking space. Then on the weekend, both of them and my dad cut out wood panels for our beautiful walls while I added a peel-and-stick backsplash to our kitchen. Finally, we installed vinyl flooring in our kitchen and bathroom area, and got the carpet pad down.

Next phase was furniture construction! Both our sofa/bed and dinette are custom built by Corbin and his dad. The sofa is designed in a way that the platform slats slide out to form our bed. Additionally, the entire platform is on hinges so it lifts up allowing us to access our storage below. The dinette chairs are similar in design. They do not slide out but the slats are on hinges, providing us with awesome extra storage. Finally, our table is beautiful sturdy wood that is easily removed when desired.

The final phase was the miscellaneous phase- basically finishing up all that was left, designing, and moving in. Corbin and I installed the carpet, we finished up the cab area, and we reinstalled the kitchen cabinets and other fixtures. With all of these final thing things completed, the van was officially built! The only thing left was the interior design and decor, which was probably my favorite part. Preparing our sofa bed, choosing curtains, and adding little design touches really made our van feel cozy.

We couldn’t believe it, with lots of help from family, we had done it. The van was finished! We had about one day left before our send-off date, and we still had to move in and pack up what was left of our temporary home in my mom’s living room. Moving in wasn’t too bad, I was amazed by how much could fit into the van, really the storage was more than adequate and I’m sure we still brought more than we needed to.

Then it was the day. The day we had spent months of work and planning to get to. The day we were going to hit the road. We were so proud of ourselves and what we had accomplished, and now it was time to stretch the Wander Wagon’s legs. The open road was calling.