Materials/Spend
- Hardwood Ply 18mm Thick x3 - £63.00
- Hardwood Ply 12mm Thick - £14.50
- Hardwood Ply 5.5mm Thick - £25.20
- Sheet of Pine - £14.90
- Whitewood - £19.00
- Stripwood - £7.50
- C16 - £8.45
- Hinges x2 - £4.00
- Drawer Slider - £14.97
TOTAL: £171.52
I framed my two benches out fairly early on in the build because I’m using one of them to house the majority of my electrics but now that I had my bed built, it was time to cover everything in plywood.
At the same time, I planned on building a retractable table and also some pull out storage below that. As well as storage, this would act as a bridge between the two benches making a small bed.
Plying the benches
We started by measuring out all of the upright sections for both benches using 5.5mm thick plywood. As the timber frame holds the majority of the structure, the upright sections didn’t need to be thick.
Most of the areas were simple rectangles, however the wall next to the side-door wasn’t straight so we scribed around the bulge and then cut the plywood to shape using a jigsaw. Once we had all the sections we needed, we simply fastened them in place using a nail gun, rather than screws.
We then cut a long rectangular section for the front of the bed. This spanned the full width of the van and measured from the top of the benches to the top of the bed. Because the walls of the van get narrower towards the top of the van, we again had to scribe a slight arc at either side and cut to shape with a jigsaw.
To make sure this upright section had more structure, we cut a length of 2x2 timber the full width of the van and screwed it in place over the top of both benches. We then cut four upright sections and screwed them in place between the new section of timber and the 3x2 timber supporting the bed. We didn’t nail the ply into place just yet because we still had the table to build.
The last thing to do was to cut two sections for the tops of both benches. For this we used 18mm ply so that it would be strong enough to support anyone sitting on it. The bench opposite the side door was a simple rectangle, whereas the section next to the side door we had to scribe one corner to fit flush against the wall of the van.
For the bench that was housing my electrical system, we cut a small hand hole in the center of the 18mm ply and then found a couple of magnetic latches and screwed one side in the timber frame and the other side to the seat top, just to keep it in place.
For the other bench, before securing the top in place, we cut out a large square section and fixed it back in place using two hinges. We secured the outside section in place against the timber frame, again with the nail gun, and left the middle as a lid that can be opened to access the heater and also for storage.
Building the retractable table
The next job was to build a retractable table that you can pull out from under the bed and floats above and between the two benches.
We used 18mm ply again for the table itself and cut some smaller strips and used them to frame the underside of the bench - gluing them into position and then screwing them in place.
We cut two lengths of 4x2 timber the full width of the bed and then fastened one runner to each of the two lengths. We then fully extended the runners and screwed the other ends in place on the side of the table.
We moved the whole thing (table, runners and 4x2) into place below the bed and then screwed it into place through the main beams of the bed, making sure the end of the table was flush with the upright section of ply that was in position above the benches.
Using a square and tape measure, we drew a rectangular section exactly where the table met the plywood and cut this section out using a circular saw to ensure the cuts were straight.
We then positioned the big upright section of ply back in position above the benches, made sure the table could fully retract through the newly cut hole and then nailed the ply in place on the side of the bed. The little section we had cut out, we then nailed into the end of the table.
To finish it off, we cut a small section of pine and screwed that on the exposed table edge. My plan is to paint the entire side of the bed white but leave the strip of pine its natural colour.
Building pull out storage
Using the 2x2 timber, we made a small cubic structure (much like the benches) that fitted flush between both the benches. Whilst retracted, the length of the structure went from a couple of centimeters under the bed to the edge of my kitchen unit.
I used 5.5mm ply for the upright sections and the bottom of the box and screwed this in place to the timber frame.
I then used 18mm ply for the top section and much like the bench holding my electrics, I cut a small hand hole in the middle of the ply so that I could pull off the lid if need be, so I could use it for storage as well.
Further bed frames
Lastly, we cut two lengths of pine the full width of the van to fit against the side of the bed. Both lengths being higher than the mattress to stop things falling off the bed.
Again, we had to scribe both sides slightly to cater for the curves of the van walls, then using a jigsaw we cut a dip in the center of the length of pine on the inside of the van, so the timber is higher at either end of the bed then dips in the middle so it’s easier to get out of.
We then fixed both lengths in place with some glue and screws.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to ping me an email or drop me a message on Instagram!
