After finishing the upper cabinets, I took some time to figure out how I wanted to build my bench seats/convertible bed and got the measurements all squared away. I’ve got the bench seat frames all built out and painted, they are ready to be installed once the paint dries.

I was originally going to do a U-shaped bench, with the Lagun table in the back but I’ve decided to leave that space in the back open and build up a little platform instead. I’ll be able to run my wires and plumbing underneath the platform in a narrow channel, as well as have some additional storage for random things. Leaving the center open all the way to the front of the van will make it a lot easier for me to deal with longer surfboards. The Lagun mount for our table will be attached to one of the bench seats.

My bed will end up being about 53” wide. The bench seats are about 24” (depth) and that leaves me with a ~25” walkway. If you are going to go with this type of setup for your van, make sure to really dial in the height so that they aren’t too tall/short once you get your cushions. I’m stoked with how these turned out.

I’ll be moving onto my kitchen galley cabinet next, so stay tuned. Yewwwwwwwww!

And just like that we’re on to cabinetry! The first one took me like 9 hours because I couldn’t make up my mind on how I wanted to build them. Figuring out the angles of the sides is the toughest part about building the upper cabinets IMO. The second and third boxes were about 6 hours. I was going back and forth between using ½” or ¾” plywood for the upper cabinets, but I’m glad I went with the ½”.

I’m really stoked with how these turned out. I will be making the fronts later on in the build. I was really worried that the cabinets would not feel secure on the wall, but they are insanely strong. The boxes are ½” Baltic birch plywood and the face frames are Poplar 1×2’s.

There are a lot of ways to build cabinets, so I’m not going to go into detail here about how I did mine, you can follow along in the video(s) if you haven’t built cabinets before and you need some inspiration.

I’ll be working on my convertible bed/bench seats next, so stay tuned. Yewwww!

Materials/Tools Required

1/2″ Birch Plywood
Poplar 1×3’s
Kreg Pocket Hole Jig
Makita Driver Drill
Miter Saw
Makita Circular Saw
Dewalt Safety Goggles
Titebond III Wood Glue
Protractor/Angle Finder

I had planned on doing something completely different for my ceiling, but at the last minute decided to switch to using shiplap. There are a lot of options for shiplap, I originally wanted to use the more square looking shiplap but I was not impressed with the quality of the wood. I went with a more solid wood for the shiplap ceiling and this will allow me to drill into not only my studs but also my ceiling for support in places where I can’t hit a stud. The ceiling was a fun project and it’s always nice when you get an easy win in the van. Things are starting to come together!

Ben from Vista Vans (vistavans.com) helped run the electrical I needed to get done so I could get my ceiling closed up. Thanks Ben!

Materials/Tools Required

Shiplap
Rust-Oleum Primer
Paint
1 1/4″ Construction Screws
12v Ancor Marine Grade Duplex Wire
LED 12v Puck Lights
Makita Driver Drill
Miter Saw
Dewalt Safety Goggles

Ram ProMaster Ceiling Installation Steps

1] Prime/paint all boards

2] Cut each piece to the size needed

3] Using a hole saw, cut the holes needed for any LED lights. Place the LED lights in the piece of shiplap

4] Start installing the pieces of shiplap into the furring strips in the ceiling

5] Make sure to run your wires from the LED lights before finishing off the ceiling while you still have access

I’ll be moving onto my upper cabinets next, so stay tuned. Yewwwwwwwww!