Even before I'd bought my van I was excited at the prospect of designing my own motorhome, so I sketched many different layouts in a "brainstorming" session. Over the coming weeks and months, these ideas were refined and evaluated in detail, considering such things as:
Most of all, I wanted to depart from the usual VW layout of the kitchen/furniture along the offside and a bench seat alongside. This layout may have been good in the days of the rear-engined campers, but the Eurovan has no restrictive "engine hump" and better use can be made of the space. The layouts I designed are shown below.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Includes shower | Requires elevating roof |
| Maximises space - including cab | Small rear seating |
| Good floor space | Poor rear vision |
| Good rear seats for travel |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Striking design | No wardrobe |
| Large bed | Poor rear vision |
| Difficult to make? | |
| Poor rear seat for travel |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Good rear seating | No dedicated shower room |
| Quite easy to make | Weight balance? |
| Good balance of space between seats/kitchen | |
| Good rear seats for travel |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Large bed | Small kitchen |
| No shower |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| As layout 1 | As layout 1 |
| Tight for space in kitchen |
In the end I decided on a slight variation of layout 3, with the sink/hob unit and fridge on the other side. This was so that the fridge vents weren't covered by the sliding door when it's opened. It was advantageous to put the hob unit on the same side as the fridge, to simplify the installation of the gas pipework. Other proposed gas equipment (space heater, possibly water heater) could be located on the offside, under the seat.
Of course, we're limited to the 10 ft or so of interior length behind the cab. Now if only you could get an even longer Eurovan.......
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