18 DIY Essentials for the Road - and How to Make Them
18 DIY Essentials for the Road
(And How to Make Them)
Guest post by Maggy, from Coucou Liberté
For this guest post, we're welcoming Maggy, a talented nomadic designer & illustrator. A passionate maker, she started putting together tutorials to help people build their own Vanlife essentials from scratch.
In this article, Maggy covers 18 of her favorite creations that will make your life on the road way easier. She created tutorials for all of these (and many more) which are available for download for free on Simpler Ways!
If you use any of these free tutorial, nothing would make Maggy and us happier than being tagged on your creations so we can check them out! @coucouliberte @simplerwaysco
"As a maker, the tiny space we chose to live in has been a constant source of inspiration."
We've built our vintage Mercedes van, Pépère, from scratch — and absolutely loved the process. But my favorite part started after we moved in, when I realized how living on the road created constant design challenges. Every day, I would face new limitations, and started thinking about all the way it could be turned into an opportunity! As a maker, the tiny space we chose to live in has been a constant source of inspiration.
I've made DIY tutorials for a lot of those creations, which for the most part share a core design challenge: optimizing space. In this article, I've hand picked 10 of these creations, and you can find many more on our Simpler Ways page!
I hope you enjoy these tutorials, and see you on the road!
Optimize your walls
An often unused part of people's homes-on-wheels are the walls. Stickers and postcards are great, but there are better ways to use this prime real estate to store your stuff. Thanks to these four ideas, you'll be able to have a dedicate storage space for some of the things you use most!
DIY Spice shelf
View tutorial
DIY Mug holder
View tutorial
For the stuff you'd rather not see
Keep it out of sight
A home-on-wheels is still a home, only way smaller. And while it's a lifestyle that pushes you to own less, you'll still have to carry around trash, dirty shoes and laundry. If you don't have these things sorted, they'll easily get in your way and your nest will turn into a stink box. Here's a few ideas to sort this out!
Keep the kitchen clear
The kitchen is by far the area of your home-on-the-go that will be the most prone to chaos. Leave it unclean once, and it will turn into hell in no time. Here are some ideas to keep the space organized so that you don't loose your mind after cooking your fresh pesto pasta.
DIY Fruit hammock
View tutorial
DIY Strainer
View tutorial
Minimize the electronics
Clear them away
For most of us, moving into the van means bringing in all sorts of electronics, from the basic phone charger to fancier objects such as drones, tablets and whatnots. These create specific design challenges I had fun trying to solve over the years. Here are 3 simple hacks that have made my life as a digital nomad way more comfortable!
Daily hacks
Here are some of the things we use the most. Some solve a specific need, like covering our windows or a removable, modular table, while the straps and cords we keep finding new use for every day.
DIY Door strap
View tutorial
DIY ball bungee cords
View tutorial
More from our free DIY tutorials library
Possibilities are endless. You've got some cool ideas, too? Add them to Simpler Ways!
DIY Art or book display
View tutorial
DIY Glass mug
View tutorial
DIY Pet basket
View tutorial
DIY Concrete succulent pots
View tutorial
DIY Soap holder
View tutorial
DIY Wood carved spoon
View tutorial
DIY Perfume diffuser
View tutorial
DIY Coat hanger
View tutorial
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