Custom Overhead Cabinet
We’re tackling the overhead cabinet above the couch in an attempt to increase our ever precious storage in the van and add some organization to our lives. Since day 1 of the van build we’ve been scouring Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest for inspiration and ideas that fit our style, offered plenty of storage, and most importantly, were easy to build. We ended up getting a little carried away in the end and busted out just about every tool in our possession but we’re very happy with the result. Though we did set the bar pretty high for ourselves for the remaining cabinets! You’ve watched the video (if not here you go!) so we’re not going to cover everything a second time but we’ll try and provide some additional details we skipped in the video and a quick summary of the whole process!
THE DESIGn
The biggest design considerations were weight, strength, and storage. We wanted to construct something that was solid and wouldn’t break loose but we were careful to ensure it remained lightweight and we understood that the more material we used to construct the cabinet the less interior space we would have. Ultimately we settled on a relatively simple design that utilized an end cap on either side with narrow support beams running in between. There is a fully open space between the end caps and a solid face for the door. The majority of the strength and rigidity will come once the cabinet is securely mounted to the ceiling and wall. The design can be best seen in the sectional view in sketch below.
Maintaining an open back to the cabinet was key for us since we already had our outlets and USB ports mounted within the wall panel. We worked hard to wrap the wall panel in a nice tweed fabric so it seemed a shame to hide it behind the cabinet. We also left the top of the cabinet open which has the added benefit of giving us access to wiring within the ceiling and a small hidey-hole where we can stash smaller items that tend to slide around the cabinet when we’re going down the road.
The final shape was largely dictated by the contours of the wall and ceiling and the size of the space we had to work with but we did make sure to create an angled face that extends in towards the center of the van as it rises towards the ceiling. All the corners are rounded over and softened to ensure any bumps to our heads would be met with minimum curses and name calling.
Here’s the original sketch for the overhead cabinet. We only had rough dimensions but the main purpose was determining how the cabinet would be constructed.
THE MATERIALS
Material choices were made based on weight and other design considerations, such as finish options and trims. We choose to use 3/4” maple for the construction material and while 3/4” seems like overkill, it was necessary for the use of tee moulding for the edging in certain places. From an aesthetic point of view it also added a nice “weight” to the cabinet and make it look solid and substantial. The majority of the van has been constructed with birch (or blondewood) so far and it has held up great but it is substantially heavier than maple. Since we weren’t constructing something to sit or sleep on, we could afford to sacrifice some strength for the benefit of weight saving.
The wood was all laminated with Wilson Art Folkstone 927 sheet laminate using 3M 90 spray adhesive. We found this spray adhesive worked much better than contact adhesive that must be rolled on. Some edges were covered using iron on edge banding in a similar light grey color and others were protected using tee moulding that was pressed into a routed groove (this dictated the need for 3/4” plywood).
The inside of the shelf was covered with a black speaker box felt-like material that has the added benefit of clinging to hook and loop bags. This gives us plenty of options for organization and stops items from sliding around. Lateral supports on the back of the cabinet were wrapped in the same tweed fabric that the wall panels were covered in to allow them to blend in and disappear into the background.
CONSTRUCTION
Building began with the two end caps as we scribed them to the wall and ceiling and cut the front edge to the desired angle. Once we had one made we could use a flush trim router to make a matching set.
Creating the connecting pieces between the two end caps just required us to determine the overall length of the cabinet and then subtracting the thickness of the two end caps. We then hashed out the required angles to make them all fit and used a table saw to slice them up and piece everything together.
After a quick dry fit we were happy with the shape and size and it fit well within the space above the couch. Now came the tricky part of laminating, wrapping, trimming, and ironing everything in place. The challenge was getting everything back together in the same position once everything was laminated and all the screw holes from the dry fit were covered. After a little head-scratching we devised a plan to drill small pilot holes through all screw holes and then laminate the inside faces of each board. Once the inside face was laminated we could drill back through the pilot holes and thus create the necessary hole pattern on the laminate. This allowed us to line everything up and then laminate over the remaining pilot holes so when all was said and done there are no visible fasteners or screw holes.
LIGHTING AND ORGANIZATION
Abundant and indirect lighting was a definite goal of ours with this cabinet. We made use of LED strip lights mounted underneath the cabinet that shines down on the couch below and a cheeky sneaky strip just above the cabinet door that shines up onto the ceiling and into the cabinet itself. Eventually the plan is to mount similar lighting on a cabinet above the kitchen counter to even things out and offer a lighting option other than overhead lights. We’re really pleased with the result but the power draw was slightly higher than we anticipated. With all overhead lights on as well as the cabinet lights we draw a hair over 4amps at 12v DC.
The whole point of the cabinet was always to add more storage. We like to keep things neat and tidy so once the cabinet was done we were eager to move in and put our sorting skills to the test. Seeing as the cabinet is conveniently located and easy to access we wanted to take advantage of it for storing our computers, camera, and commonly used chargers.
The first thing we made was a two-slot storage shelf to house our laptops or a laptop and tablet. This was made with bamboo sides and felt wrapped shelves to prevent scratches and add a little friction for holding everything in place.
Following the laptop storage we made a three tier rack with removable cubbies to store all the small things that never have a real home and fall out every time you open the door. Again, we wrapped this in a black felt fabric which allows us to adhere hook and loop bags to the side for additional storage options. The plastic bins we chose were something we found at Target and after the addition of some pull tabs they worked perfectly for us.
The final storage solution was for our camera gear, projector, and other larger items that we want to keep safe. We had some TrekPak dividers laying around from our Tacoma build so we put that to use and devised a shelf solution with slots for each and every item. Unfortunately, it seems TrekPak isn’t available as individual pieces now like it used to be so we were thankful to have some on hand.
SECURITY
The last item to take care of was security. We were less concerned about someone breaking in ransacking the cabinet and more worried about everything spilling out when we whipped an unexpected u-turn. There are certainly simpler solutions but we splurged a little and got swanky with a Stealth Lock wireless combination lock. The lock utilizes a numeric touch pad that can be mounted anywhere within the van and it unlocks the cabinet once the correct combination has been input. The cabinet then remains unlocked for 30 seconds before locking itself again, ensuring everything remains safe and secure.
I think the coolest thing about the lock is that the one touch pad can be paired to multiple locks so we can add locks to other doors and cabinets in the future that are all are controlled from a single touch pad.
Some electronics promise a lot and fall short but we’ve been very pleased with how this latch has performed and there has yet to be any failed openings.
Our biggest concern is that the battery in the latch will die and we’ll be locked out of the cabinet housing all of our electronics but we maintain our peace of mind knowing the latch has an 80lb holding limit so should we get desperate enough we should be able to break in with one swift yank. In theory, the latch should begin to warn us as the battery gets low but we have yet to replace the battery and test out this function.
CONCLUSION
Were there quicker and easier ways of completing this project? Probably! We put a lot of work into researching ideas and the best ways to complete our projects though. Weight, storage, and longevity continue to be the heart of most of our project brainstorming and we feel confident after completing this project and living with/using the cabinet for over a year now that we made the right choices. There is no rattling of the cabinet while we’re going down the road and everything stays where it’s supposed to. The cabinet is very sturdy and we feel confident that it will continue to serve us well and most likely will never need to be replaced!