Step into another action-packed day of van conversion as we take on one of our biggest challenges yet - designing and installing custom kitchen drawers and clever appliance storage in our Australian van transformation project. Today's goal: creating the perfect storage solution for our microwave, electric frying pan, toaster, and all our cooking essentials while making the most of every single millimeter of space in our mobile home.
Follow along as Matt embraces his quirky hippie steampunk style while we dive deep into precise woodworking, sticking to the golden rule of measuring twice and cutting once to make sure our appliances fit perfectly. We're building a large custom drawer that will hold our microwave with the electric frying pan stacked on top, plus we're getting creative by using empty space inside appliances for maximum storage efficiency. Smart design is everything when you're living the van life dream across Australia's amazing landscapes.
From morning until evening, we're cutting wood, sanding, assembling, and solving problems through complex storage challenges. You'll see our complete process for creating proper ventilation for the fridge freezer, installing heavy-duty drawer slides, and making everything earthquake-proof (Matt's building philosophy - if it survives an earthquake, it's built right!).
This episode shows the real side of van conversions - the hard work, the precision needed, and the amazing feeling when your vision comes to life. We're working on sawhorses at back-breaking heights, dealing with sharp drawer tracks that cause cuts, and pushing through tiredness because we're so close to finishing.
Tomorrow brings bed base installation, front panel fitting, and getting ready for the solar installation team arriving in three weeks. We're also finishing up our house sitting duties, cleaning everything, and preparing for the next part of our Australian van life adventure. Whether you're planning your own van conversion, enjoying our journey from home, or just love watching skilled craftsmanship in action, this episode gives you the real DIY van building experience. No shortcuts, no magic - just honest work, creative problem-solving, and occasional moments of doubt followed by breakthrough success.
From appliance puzzle-solving to structural engineering, from hippie steampunk style to practical storage solutions, this episode has everything van life fans want to see. Subscribe for more real van conversion content as we continue turning this vehicle into our mobile home for exploring Australia's incredible scenery and remote locations.
00:04Yes, Matt's pulling off a bit of a punk rock kind of thing going on right now.
00:09Oh, the steampunk.
00:10Steampunk, that's the one.
00:12The old steampunk dude.
00:14With the rainbows and everything.
00:16Hippie steampunk.
00:18What are we up to today?
00:20Well, it's just gone 9.30 I think.
00:22We're making really good progress.
00:24We have finished one draw this morning and we're about to start on the big draw,
00:29which is going to be where we put all our appliances and stuff like that.
00:33So microwave, electric fry pan, what else?
00:36All the cookie things.
00:37All the cookie things.
00:38We like cookies.
00:39Master chef is going to need some place to put her stuff.
00:41I like cookies.
00:43This next draw is pretty much a replication of the one that we've just finished.
00:47Same build, just a slightly different dimension.
00:50So one thing I have a question about.
00:52This draw has a little lip at the front and that's obviously to help hold things in.
00:57When we've got a microwave that needs to open, have you made sure that there's an allowance for that?
01:02Yeah.
01:03What we're going to do with this is that we're not going to make it as big as what we give them a dry goods one.
01:06It'll probably only be about five, maybe 10 millimetres.
01:10At the very worst, the feet on the bottom of the microwave give you about eight to 10 millimetres clearance.
01:15There's enough height in the depth of this draw to be able to have the electric fry pan sit on top of the microwave.
01:22So we'll probably put a tea towel or something on top to reduce vibration, bumping, like sort of stuff.
01:27They occupy a very similar footprint. The microwave's a little bit bigger than the electric fry pan.
01:32But as far as combined height goes, one's 280 millimetres, 282 and the one's 77.
01:38So we'll be able to put one on top of the other and occupy that space.
01:41And we're going to utilise the inside of the microwave to be able to stick the toaster or the kettle in it so that we're not travelling with dead space.
01:48There's likely to be quite a bit of dead space when we're thinking about appliances and the space inside of them.
01:54So we're going to make sure that we're utilising it to the best of our ability.
01:58You want to get into it?
01:59Sure. What are we doing?
02:00Oh, we're going to measure up and start cutting some timber and getting this big drawer built.
02:03Awesome. Let's do it.
02:04Alright, hyperlapse. You ready for it? Let's go.
02:18Oh, we're going to get this big drawer.
02:21Oh, we're going to measure that.
02:22We're going to measure that big drawer.
02:24We're going to measure it.
02:27Oh, we're going to measure up and start cutting some timber.
02:30It can be a little bit more, that's what we're doing with our kitchen Bestroom'sier.
02:40We're going to measure that big drawer today.
