Last Updated on April 30, 2024 by Nikole

Hello, Nikole and Clark here! We have been traveling in our Ford Transit Connect camper van for over a year now. Traveling in such a tiny space with two people has been quite a challenge especially when it comes to camper van organization.

Every single nook and cranny really counts when it comes to camper van organization.

Finding storage for every little thing is a necessity, even if you have a large camper van. If your camper van is unorganized, you have come to the right place. You can start organizing your van by filling up empty spaces in your van with cabinets, hinged shelves, or netting.

Thankfully, depending on how you utilize your space, you can find storage for all of your adventure gear.

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Best Ways to Organize Your Camper Van Effectively and Efficiently

As I mentioned above, every space in your campervan serves an organizational purpose. It’s up to you to be creative in how you use those areas.

One can maximize living space within a camper van by building shelves, drawers, and pull-out tables within your already existing design. Think of all the spaces within a vehicle that you can use for organization such as overhead areas, under the bed, or even under your camper van sub flooring.

Utilizing Existing Storage Spaces in Your Campervan for Ultimate Organization

The best storage solution for our camper van is utilizing already existing spaces such as the space that is already underneath the front seats and above the front seats.

Using areas that already exist within your campervan not only gives you the extra space you will undoubtedly need, but it’s free!

1. Camper Van Organization Under The Seats

I can’t tell you how many camper van accessories we were able to fit in the storage space under the seats of our van. We like to store things like electrical cords or items that will typically get dirty from being outside.

These items are flexible so we can easily fit them under the seat that way they won’t get jammed in the sliding tracks.

Make sure nothing gets in the way of the sliding tracks of the seats….it can be very annoying, trust me!

Try using Gear ties to keep items like cords together. Gear ties will prevent cords from having a mind of their own. You can also put the items in storage bags to prevent dirt and debris from getting into your van.

2. Storage Above The Front Seats

Most cargo vans (like ours) will have quite a bit of space above the front two seats. That space doesn’t really serve a purpose. Why not make use of that space by creating more van life storage.

You can utilize that empty space by building a shelf to organize more of your camper van gear. In the picture above we have our clothing neatly organized in our packing cubes on the shelf. We love storing our clothes here because it creates easy access to something we need to get to quite often.

You may want to consider building doors for the shelf, so it looks more like a cabinet, to hold items in their place. While driving we constantly had items falling on the floor because we only had a small 1-inch lip holding everything back.

If you don’t want to build doors, as we didn’t, I would recommend using velcro strips to help your bags or bins stick to the shelving unit.

Outside The Camper Van Organization

Is your camper van so unorganized that your trips are just an organizational cluster? We’ve been there! Our camper van is so small, it’s hard to fit everything inside. You may need to start utilizing empty spaces inside your van as well as outside of your van.

When we started utilizing the outside of our van, it was a camper van storage miracle!

You store items on the outside by using things such as a hitch-mount cargo carrier, or a roof rack with a cargo carrier. These both really come in handy when you want to save space on the inside of your van.

3. Cargo Carrier for More Van Organization

Our cargo carrier has given our van substantially more space on the inside. It’s useful for items like backpacks, tables, and chairs. Try not to put things you would need easy access to like toiletries.

Make sure your cargo carrier is completely waterproof or you do the waterproofing. We’ve had some unfortunate events because we did not test one of our cargo carriers after purchasing it off of Facebook marketplace.

4. Hitch-Mount Cargo Carrier

A hitch mount cargo carrier is a great storage alternative or addition to the roof rack cargo carrier. The only reason we don’t use one is because of our bike rack.

Bikes are a great item to have while living the van life, unfortunately, they can take up a lot of space if you store them inside the van. Here is a post about some great bike rack options specifically for camper vans.

Incorporating Storage Inside Your Camper Van’s Layout

When you plan the layout of your camper van build you should consider all the areas you need for storage. You want to think about how everything flows according to where you walk, where doors open, and how far your drawers can open without getting in the way.

5. Camper Van Storage Under The Bed

Underneath the slat bed has served to be the best place for camper van organization. We have several storage bins underneath that hold our kitchen supplies, lighting, and various other items.

You could even build cubby holes or have slide-out bins under your bed. This area of the camper van has the most amount of space to be creative.

6. Let’s Talk Shelving/ Cabinetry

The best way to maximize storage space in your camper van is by installing overhead cabinets or shelves along the top of your van. If you have a large (especially high-top) camper van, you will benefit the most from storing clothes, travel gear, and accessories near the ceiling- you won’t need to worry about overhead items taking up living space.

Make sure that if you have shelving or cabinets your stuff is fastened correctly so you can avoid items falling off your shelves and breaking.

Let’s take a look at the different camper van shelving and storage options.

7. What is Recessed Shelving, and Why It’s a Space Saver?

Recessed shelves are quite genius really, because you can incorporate them into the walls or shower of your camper van.

These shelves are included in your setup by cutting an opening in your wall so the shelf juts in instead of outward into your open space. This idea really helps save space because the shelves are a part of the wall instead of freestanding.

Need a tutorial? Check out Josh Sun for the full rundown.

8. Overhead Shelving

Overhead shelving is the best way to utilize overhead storage space, especially if you have a high-top camper van.

Shelving is easier to build than cabinets, however, shelves won’t keep your items from sliding off unless you secure them. To secure your items, you could use velcro, bungees, or sticky mats to help hold everything in place.

9. Over Head Cabinets

Overhead cabinets are a great choice for those with large camper vans. After all, you should use some of that overhead space for some storage.

Overhead cabinets are great for kitchen items, clothes, and lighter items.

Here is an extensive tutorial on how to build overhead cabinets in your camper van.

10. Sliding Drawers

Sliding drawers are especially useful in kitchen cabinets and underneath your bed.

Sliding drawers are so practical, and I wish I had installed them in our Ford Transit so we wouldn’t have to slide our bins in and out from under our bed.

Having drawers not only saves you space, but they save your camper van floors from sliding bins across them.

11. Sliding Shelves

Sliding shelves are a great way to save space and keep an organized camper van. You can build shelves that slide in and out of your cabinet units. These should only be for temporary uses, like storing keys or cell phones.

You can also use a sliding shelf to extend your countertop surface. You probably already have limited counter space, so having an extension would really help when cooking.

12. Creating Organization in the Floorboards

If you have a thick enough subfloor (most won’t because it takes up too much headspace), or a raised floor you can utilize the space underneath for more camper van storage and organization.

You can make storage space underneath by building a small compartment while you are putting together your floor, and cover it with a trap door or a door that sits flush.

You do not want to compromise your insulation when doing this, so if you don’t have enough room to install a compartment, leave that storage idea out of your build.

Creating More Campervan Storage Spaces with Furniture

Why not turn every space in your camper van into a storage compartment- you will need all the storage you can get to keep your van organized.

One genius camper van organizational hack is to create folding furniture or use furniture for more storage space.

13. Utilizing Cushions

If you have a couch in your van, odds are there is space you can use to organize more van life items.

You can simply create drawers that slide out of the bottom.

You could also create a trap door under the cushions from the seats and store items that way.

14. Space Saving Tables

Tables are such a necessity when you are on the go, but they can be a pain to store- You can incorporate them into your build.

Tables can swivel out from a shelf, drawer, or wall for the perfect eating space.

Tables can also slide out from your cabinets or walls for the perfect desk for your workspace.

15. Bed and Couch Organizers

There are many different types of camper van beds you can build that can triple as a bed, couch, and storage area (you may even be able to incorporate a table too).

Bed organizers are perfect for those who have small or large vans. If your camper van is small like ours the only storage space you will have is under the bed- use it wisely.

Kitchen Storage Items

The best way to organize your camper van kitchen items is to expand your counter space and utilize the storage you have under your cabinets.

16. How to Expand Counter Tops for More Camper Van Storage

You can expand your countertops by building a hinged sliding table in your kitchen area. This will save you space and provide you with an extra prep area when you are cooking in your van.

17. Butcher’s Block Sink

You will often see a Butcher’s block sink in RVs. You have a cutting board or a piece of your counter that fits snugly into your sink which creates extra prep space when you need it.

18. Proper Knife Storage

A great way to keep your knives organized in your campervan is to set them up on a magnet. Keeping your knives on the wall will free up space in your kitchen cabinets.

Trust me the knives will be fine while you are driving, the magnets are fairly strong and will hold well.

19. Don’t Forget the Spices

You surely don’t need to cook bland meals in your campervan because you ran out of room for your spices. I’m personally not the one to leave spices out of the picture, so we include them in our kitchen cooking bin.

For those who have large camper vans, you can be a bit more creative than using a bin for your delicious spices. Try a roll-out spice rack for underneath your cabinets.

I’ve seen some van lifers glue the screw cap of mason jars to the ceiling, but I know I would be too clumsy for this and would end up dropping them while unscrewing them ( they do look very decorative however).

How to Store Shoes and Clothes in a Camper Van

Clothing and shoes will take up a lot of space if you let them get out of hand. The best way to deal with laundry organization in a camper van is by designating a spot for shoes, clean clothes, and dirty clothes.

20. Appropriate Shoe Racks

You may need to carry several different shoes for different occasions, which means you will need to store them appropriately. Whether you carry shower shoes or hiking boots they can all be organized into a shoe rack installed in the crevice in your sliding door.

You could also utilize the back swinging doors and install a rack for your shoes there.

21. Where to Put the Clothes

Clothes are one of those items you will need every day and every night. Be sure to store your wardrobe in an easily accessible area in your camper van. The best storage ideas for your clothes are above the front cab seats, in the drawers under your couch cushions, or build a mini dresser.

I recommend using a separate area, bag, or collapsible hamper for storing your dirty clothes until you can wash them in your van washing machine or a laundry mat.

Great Items to Help Utilize More Space in Your Camper Van

I used to think purchasing items to help life stay organized was such a big waste of money, so why not throw it all in one big bin? When we got a camper van this thinking really changed.

I realized that bins inside of bins help my husband and I live a less stressed-out life.

If you don’t want the bin hassle you can organize your items within your cabinets by maximizing your verticle storage. You can do this by implementing shelves or moveable components within your camper van cabinets.

Here are some items that will help you stay more organized within your already existing storage.

22. Packing cubes for Van Organization

Probably my favorite item has been our Yamiu packing cubes. We use these for clothes, shoes, and towels. We store them on the shelving unit above the front seats.

It’s so easy to grab one clothing bag off the shelf rather than sift through a bunch of loose clothes lying around.

We also have a separate bag for shoes and dirty laundry so it’s harder for them to stink up the van.

23. Magnetic Curtain Rods

You can use curtain rods for more than just curtains in your van, you can also use them for more camper van organization. They could be used to store clothes, hats, or jewelry.

We chose magnetic rods for our curtains so we could easily move them out of the way. One downside to magnetic rods is that they aren’t super magnetized, so you can’t hang heavy items on them. You can, however, purchase tension rods to store weight-bearing items.

24. Clear Storage bins

Organizing your camper van stuff in clear storage bins will help you find what you are looking for so much faster. Or if you already have bins and they aren’t clear you could label them.

25. Drawer Organizers for Campervans

Drawer organizers are one of those things I thought were pointless but actually come in handy when organizing cabinets. For example, in our kitchen bin, it’s nice to keep our utensils and our cutlery together that way there isn’t a bunch of forks and knives floating around.

These can also be great for organizing camper vans with cabinets, drawers, and shelves.

26. Vacuum Bags for Compressed Van Storage

These vacuum storage bags are great, especially for laundry or bedding. They are fantastic space savers and can help you store even more stuff in your camper van.

If you find yourself living in a camper van or traveling long-term in one, these vacuum storage bags are actually quite useful.

Blankets are often subject to mildew when they are stored out in the open, especially if you have trouble controlling condensation in your camper van. These bags can help keep the bedding you aren’t using fresh.

27. Campervan Seat Organizer

Organization on the back of your car seat is a great way to add some extra storage to your van without having to build anything.

We personally don’t like this method of organization because it doesn’t look nice and tidy. We also can’t fit one of these in our van, because the bed slides up against the two front seats.

28. Small Compartment Bins

These small compartment bins are great for organizing smaller items you may have in your van. You can store things such as batteries or jewelry. What do you need batteries for you might ask; lighting, remotes, and various other electronics.

29. Sliding Bins for Storage Under Bed

Sliding bins make for easier access to storage under your camper van bed. We just use regular bins with tops on them, and this is such a hassle, especially when we just need to quickly grab an item.

I recommend building sliding drawers with tracks to slide on as this guy did with his pull-out bed.

30. Sticky rubber Mats

I don’t know about you but we hate all things that rattle in the van. As you may already know, just about everything rattles! To help prevent the noise try organizing with these sticky mats.

You can place them in between pots and pans, bowls, and plates. Plus these mats really help to keep things from sliding around and breaking.

31. Netting Camper Van Storage

You can use netting on the ceiling of your van or on your walls. Netting can really come in handy if you have curved or diagonal ceilings. It almost serves as a hammock for all the things you need to store.

How We Pack Our Tiny Van for More Organization

There is a place for everything to be stored in our camper van with a specific place for each item. We finally found a system that works for us- I will show you this below.

32. Designated Bins

Don’t change which items go into which bins. Keep them in the same bins and in the same area. It can be a hassle fishing through your van for something you thought you put in one place but it’s actually in another.

33. Keep Items in the Same Spot

Kind of like with the bins I just talked about, try to keep certain items stored in designated areas within your van. You will go crazy if you keep switching up the areas where you store items. If you travel with someone, find an agreement on where everything goes.

34. Keep Dirtys Separate

Whether it be your clothes or your dishes make sure you have a spot for dirty items. We made this mistake with our clothes, and they all mixed together by the end of our trip. I honestly couldn’t tell you if what I was wearing was clean.

Dirty clothes or dishes can also be a disaster for moisture and mildew in your camper van. It’s best to deal with dirty items as soon as possible.

Where to Store Tools in a Camper Van

You may need some tools on the go whether it is your roadside kit, a shovel, or your winter tire chains for your camper van. It’s best to store these in the same place, like a cabinet or a designated bin. Try installing horizontal broom clips in a closet for things like brooms or shovels. Then place smaller items at the bottom of that closet.

Tools can be fairly heavy, so you should avoid placing them in above cabinets so they don’t weigh them down.

How To Keep Things From Sliding or Moving in a Camper van?

If you have a home on wheels, then things are bound to move around, fall, slide, and unfortunately break. Here are a few tips to help you store things that won’t slide when you take your camper van down the road.

1. Use those sticky rubber mats I mentioned above. They won’t stop everything from sliding, but they definitely help!
2. Store loose items in bins, cabinets, and drawers.
3. If your cabinets pop open don’t use bungee cords, instead, try building in gas struts when installing your cabinets.
4. Even though bungee cords aren’t great for cabinets they can be good for other things.
5. Try velcro strips for things like TV remotes.

Camper Van Storage Conclusion

Well, that’s all for now, if I find any more camper van organization and storage techniques I will keep you updated!

How do you keep your camper van organized? I would love to read about it in the comments.