Anyone who’s done a van conversion knows how quickly you run out of storage. Once the bed goes in, then the kitchen unit, then whatever seating you’ve cobbled together, there’s basically no floor space left for anything else. All the small stuff, your books, toiletries, first aid kit, chargers, ends up in a heap on the bed every night.
A shelf mounted above the cab or along the sidewall sorts that problem out, and if you build it from clear acrylic, it won’t block light or make your van look like a cluttered cupboard. Let’s walk through the materials, how to measure up, the actual build process, and how to drill acrylic without snapping it in half.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick rundown before you start:
- A cut-to-size clear acrylic sheet in 5mm or 6mm thickness, sized to fit your space (600mm x 300mm is a common starting point, but measure your van first)
- 4 L-brackets (aluminium or stainless steel, 50mm or 75mm)
- M5 bolts, washers and nyloc nuts
- A drill with a sharp HSS or brad-point bit
- Masking tape, a spirit level, 220-grit sandpaper and a pencil
Acrylic makes a lot of sense for this kind of build. It’s light, it’s tough, and because you can see straight through it, you’ll never have to rummage around blindly trying to find your head torch at 2am. The transparency also lets light pass through, so the van won’t end up with that dark, closed-in vibe that solid shelving creates.
Measure Your Space First
Pick your spot. Above the cab is the obvious one because that space usually goes to waste, but the sidewall above a kitchen unit can work just as well depending on your layout. Measure the width and depth carefully, and leave a minimum of 20mm clearance on each side so the shelf doesn’t rattle against the wall when you’re driving on rough roads.
A 300mm-deep shelf will handle lightweight bits without any issues. If you plan on storing heavier items like tins or bottles, go narrower, something around 200mm, and add a centre bracket so the acrylic doesn’t flex under the weight.
How to Drill Acrylic Without Cracking It
Most people get nervous about this part. Stick masking tape across both sides of the sheet where you’ll be drilling, then mark your hole positions on the tape with a pencil. Keep every hole at least 15mm from the edge. Drilling too close to the edge is the single biggest reason acrylic cracks during a build like this, and once it splits, that sheet is done.
Go with a brad-point bit at medium speed. Let the bit do the cutting. Pull it back every few seconds to clear the swarf, and if the sheet starts getting warm under your hand, stop and give it a minute to cool down because heat softens acrylic and makes it grab the drill bit. After all the holes are drilled, run some 220-grit sandpaper around each one to smooth off any rough edges.
Fit the Shelf
Use a spirit level to mark where your brackets will go on the van wall. Fix the L-brackets to the wall first, before you touch the acrylic. If you’re screwing into bare metal, you’ll need self-tapping screws or rivnuts. Ply-lined walls are easier. Standard wood screws will do the job.
Lay the acrylic on top of the brackets, mark through the bracket holes onto the sheet, then take it back off and drill. Bolt the shelf down with M5 bolts and put washers on both sides of the acrylic. Those washers matter because they spread the load and stop the bolt head from pressing directly into the sheet, which could cause stress cracks over time.
Want to stop things sliding off while you’re on the move? A strip of aluminium angle screwed along the front edge works well, or you can run a bungee cord between two small hooks for something quicker and cheaper.
The Weekend Build You’ll Actually Use
Once it’s up, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. Everything comes off the bed, off the worktop, and goes somewhere you can actually see it. That alone makes mornings in the van about ten times less annoying. Clear acrylic keeps things open and bright, which genuinely matters after a few weeks of full-time van life when every bit of light and space counts.
If the first one works out, you’ll probably end up fitting a second. Most people do. A narrower strip above the kitchen unit or beside the sliding door gives you even more grab-and-go storage without eating into headroom. The whole project takes a weekend at most, and you’ll reach for that shelf every single day on the road.
