Van transformation: Driving Down Under earthy modern

Warm earthy tones, sleek modern interiors, and a spacious layout to-boot - it's easy to see why Driving Down Under has been attracting so much love!

We've grabbed Driving Down Under co-creators, Mason and Sarah, to give us the low-down on the transformation process, where they gathered their inspiration, and their top tips for first-time van renovators!

Who we are:

We’re Mason and Sarah, co-creators of Driving Down Under and members of Camplify. We are a young couple based in Melbourne, Australia with a passion for van building and road tripping. When we’re not travelling, you’ll find us at home, converting vehicles into tiny homes on wheels.

The first van we purchased was a Mercedes Sprinter who previously lived her life as a rural ambulance. The satisfaction we got from watching our first van go from an ambulance to a camper was so special that we knew vehicle conversions was an avenue worth pursuing. We have since converted multiple vans and we decided we had to share them with like-minded travellers who didn’t want the financial commitment of purchasing their own van. Hence, we turned to Camplify! We currently have one van listed on Camplify: ‘The Transit’ and we will be listing another very soon. Camplify is such a unique concept and the team have made the van rental process, for both us and our hirers, so much smoother. We have absolutely loved working alongside Camplify!

How long did your van conversion take?

The Transit conversion took approximately six weeks of blood, sweat, a few tears and many G&T’s! We worked between 4 – 5 days a week on The Transit from start to finish.

Would you rather, more storage space or an in-van shower/toilet?

This is an easy one – definitely more storage space! An in-van shower/toilet does add an extra bit of luxury and really turn a van into a complete home on wheels, but personally we don’t think they’re necessary. There is an abundance of public toilets and showers/swimming spots available on the road, and people often don’t realise this until they start their travels. We think you can never have too much storage in a van build. For an emergency shower, an outdoor solar shower or continuous hot water system would be a good solution that won’t compromise too much storage space. And for an emergency toilet… a shovel and a squat works quite well!

What’s one feature you could not compromise on?

We’re going to cheat a little on this question and choose two features because we think they’re both essential in any camper conversion. The first is some sort of ventilation, whether this is a roof vent/fan or sliding windows. It’s so important to get airflow into the van and is a life saver on hot, stuffy nights! The second is a good electrical and solar system. All of our vans are completely off-grid and there is nothing worse than having to worry about running out of power after a few overcast days.

Where did you go to find inspiration?

We’re always on the hunt for inspiration! Most of our ideas come from Instagram or Pinterest. We look at other vans and even houses to give us ideas for our builds. The décor in The Transit was inspired by the beautiful throw rug you’ll see on the bed. We knew we wanted to use the rug in one of our vans, so we chose it as our central piece and designed the rest of the colour scheme around that.

What is one thing you wished you’d known before you started?

We definitely wish we knew how many mistakes we would make! Van building is certainly not all sunshine’s & rainbows, especially because our vehicle conversions are fully self-taught, with YouTube videos and blogs being our holy grail. During our first van build, every mistake we made was so frustrating. Four vans later and we have realised making mistakes is so normal, and something to learn from too!

What is one piece of advice you’d offer a first-time van renovator?

Our biggest piece of advice to a first-time van renovator is plan, plan, PLAN! Measure everything twice, experiment with different methods of drawing your layout (digitally, by hand etc.) and put pieces of furniture or boxes into your van to test the heights of things. Get really creative while planning and ensure you’ve covered all of your bases. It may be tempting to rush through this phase of the build and get straight into the fun part, but adequate planning will ensure fewer headaches (and less wasted money) during the later phases of the build.

What's something you wish you could change about your van?

We were scratching our heads over this question as there aren’t too many things we would change about The Transit. However, we did use a hard wax on the timber floors and benchtops, but after a few rentals we noticed that wasn’t wearing too well, so we sanded the benches and floors back and used an oil on them instead. We also received some feedback from a few of our first hirers with suggestions to include certain things in the van (olive oil, an outside light etc.). We have since made these adjustments and hopefully, our van is now very well equipped for all of our rentals!

What is your funniest/best hirer story?

We have been so lucky with our hirers; they have all been absolutely wonderful and taken great care of The Transit on their adventures. They always keep us updated with lots of pictures, which we love! One of our favourite hirer stories would be the weekend when The Transit ventured down the Great Ocean Road. We received a heap of messages from our hirer, letting us know how much she LOVED the van. It was heartwarming to hear that someone appreciated our van as much as we do!

To hear more about Mason and Sarah's adventure, check out their Instagram @driving.down.under!

Want to take The Transit for a spin? Click here to book!