If you’re dreaming of living life on the open road and cruising around in a sweet campervan, you’re probably looking forward to a lifetime of adventure. Nevertheless, you probably have quite a few questions about how you’ll be able to stay clean and hygienic when you’re living out of your vehicle.
In fact, one of the biggest concerns that potential vanlifers have is whether or not campervans have toilets and showers. The answer? Sometimes.
While this isn’t the norm, some campervans do have toilets and showers. However, getting a full bathroom in your van requires quite a lot of extra work, so you’ll likely pay more for this feature if you’re hiring a team to do your custom build.
If you’re interested in having a shower and toilet in your campervan but want to learn more about what this would look like, have no fear – we’re here to help. Up next, we’ll show you 5 amazing van interiors and their fantastic bathroom set-ups to help you get some much-needed inspiration.
Here’s 5 campervans with showers and toilets to inspire your van conversion:
1. Camper Van with Full Bathroom by Superstition Customs
Our first interior from Superstition Customs is inside a converted Ford Transit. Offering a fully modern design and all the amenities you could hope for, this eco-friendly van boasts both a toilet and a shower.
In this modern camper van layout, you get a small wet bath with porcelain tiling on the walls and floor. Although most van conversion companies steer clear of porcelain tiles in their builds because of the extra weight, the fact that the bathroom in this van is quite small means that the weight difference is just a few hundred pounds.
While this might sound like a lot of weight, for a van like a Ford Transit, which is designed to haul cargo, it doesn’t make a huge difference performance-wise. However, the tiling does really help aesthetically and it makes the bathroom feel more like the one you’d have at home.
Another cool aspect of this build from Superstition Customs is that they used a funky type of silicone rubber grout in their tilework. Unlike traditional cement grout, which can break, this silicone rubber grout can flex to handle the bumps and the vibrations of the road without damage.
As far as the amenities go, the bathroom in this build has a Sun-Mar GTG Composting Toilet, which functions quite similarly to a standard cassette toilet. Finally, the van also has a wet bath, so you can shower in the bathroom whenever you’d like.
The primary advantages of a build like this one are convenience and aesthetics. Since this van has a dedicated wet bathroom with tiling, it looks and feels like home. However, since van space is limited, this bathroom is very small, so it can feel quite cramped, especially if you’re a taller or bigger person.
2. Class-B Campervan with Large Bathroom by Advanced RV
This fully customized van from Advanced RV puts a new spin on the traditional campervan bathroom design.
Taking up about as much space as a standard campervan bathroom, this model features an innovative expandable bathroom layout to provide added comfort while you shower. In particular, it has a new split door design on the bathroom door, which allows you to expand your showering area when necessary without eating up any of your living space.
With this split door design, the lower half of the door stays in place to stop water from flooding your vehicle while the upper half of the door can be propped open with a magnet. By propping open the door with a magnet, you get about 5 to 6″ of extra space for washing your hair and showering.
Additionally, this bathroom boasts a pop-out shower curtain holder which can be deployed whenever it’s time to clean up after a day of adventure. When you’re showering, you can fold down the curtain holder to stop water from seeping into your main living space. Alternatively, the shower curtain holder also doubles as a towel rack for drying wet clothing.
One of the other unique aspects of this wet bath is that it doesn’t have a sink in order to save space. Instead, there’s a sink in the kitchen, which is right outside the bathroom. Furthermore, the bathroom has a beautiful wood-slatted floor for both aesthetics and drainage, as well as a low-profile toilet.
The clear advantage to a set-up like this one is the expanded showering space, which is ideal for bigger folks and anyone that prioritizes comfort. Of course, this comes at the expense of having a dedicated bathroom sink, but many people will likely be willing to overlook this shortcoming for a larger shower.
3. Flip-Up Shower and Toilet Space by Clare Colins
If you’re really looking to save on space with your campervan bathroom design, this DIY flip up shower and toilet might be what you need.
Designed and built by full-time vanlifer Clare Colins, this bathroom is actually not a separate room but a small knee-high bathroom “box” with a flip-up top. The box is located right next to the kitchen and it has a solid wooden top lid that doubles as a bench space when not in use.
Within the box, there’s a fully corrugated metal interior with plumbing and running water for a shower. While the composting toilet is located within the box itself, the shower isn’t permanently installed.
Rather, the shower head on this flip up shower can be hung up on a hook that’s attached to one of the kitchen cabinets right above the bathroom. To rinse off, you simply need to turn on the tap and enjoy.
As far as a sink goes, there isn’t one in the bathroom. However, there is a sink that’s located right to the bathroom in the kitchen, making this a great design for people who want to maximize their livable space.
Of course, the primary disadvantage of a bathroom like this one is that it requires a bit of set-up each time you want to use the toilet or take a shower. But, when it comes to making the most of a small living space, this design is hard to beat.
4. Pleasure-Way Pursuit with Full Shower & Dry Bath
This nifty Pleasure-Way class B+ motorhome features one of the few true dry baths that we’ve ever seen in a campervan. As a class B+ motorhome, this vehicle is essentially a camper van, though it has some of the over-cab storage space that you’d see with a class C RV.
Thanks to its slightly larger layout, this van boasts a spacious dry bathroom that comes complete with a shower, sink, and toilet. The shower itself is quite large (the owner is 6’2″ and can shower comfortably) and it features glass doors for an at-home feel.
Meanwhile, the van features a marine toilet with a built-in pump for answering nature’s call. While the toilet space does seem a little tight, it was designed that way to maximize the shower space for added comfort.
Additionally, unlike many of the other campervan interiors that we’ve seen, this model does come with a sink that has its own dedicated water pump for hand washing. It also comes with built-in overhead cabinetry for storage without taking up any extra floor space.
Another cool innovation is this bathroom’s pocket sliding doors. Since these pocket doors slide, they can’t accidentally swing open and damage something while you’re on the road. Plus, the sliding doors have mirrors on the inside, so they make the interior of the bathroom feel much more spacious.
As you might imagine, the larger size of this bathroom does mean that you have less space in other parts of the van for lounging and relaxation. But, if having a dedicated dry shower and extra storage space is important to you, it might be worth considering.
5. Full Size Shower in a Small Campervan by EatSleepVan
The final interior in our list, this campervan comes to us from the fine folks at EatSleepVan, who have come up with a clever way to create a full size shower without taking up any extra space in your van.
With this sleek shower, the only permanent fixture is a wood-slatted floor and shower tray, which are designed to be flush with the rest of the van floor. This shower tray is meant to catch the greywater from your shower and it has a drain that links up to the van’s grey tank for waste disposal.
Meanwhile, the showerhead and shampoo holder are mounted onto the wall and the shower curtain folds out when needed to stop water from going everywhere as you bathe. There’s also an exhaust fan to stop condensation build-up in your van while showering.
As far as the toilet goes, this van set-up has a standard cassette toilet that’s stored in a cupboard to the side of the shower. If you need to use the toilet, you simply need to remove it from the cupboard, do your business, then put it away when you’re done.
Like with the fold up bathroom that we looked at in Clare Colins’ van, the main drawback to this design is that you do have to set up the shower every night and the toilet whenever you need to use the loo. However, it doesn’t take up a shower cubicle worth of space, which is ideal since you’d only ever spend a few minutes a day showering, anyway.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, a little bit of ingenuity goes a long way if you want to have a shower and toilet in your campervan.
If I had to choose just one of these 5 great interiors for my personal van, I’d likely opt for the modern van design from Superstition Customs because I’m a big fan of modern style and homey aesthetics. That being said, if maximizing my van’s interior living space was the top priority, the DIY flip up shower and toilet from Claire Colins would be my top choice for its ingenious, multi-functional design.
See you on the road!
Up Next In Campervans:
What is the Least Expensive Camper Van? (8 Affordable Options)
How Much is a Ford Transit Camper Van? (New, Used and DIY)
How Much Does a Sprinter Van Conversion Cost?
How Much Does it Cost to Put a Pop Top on a Van?
David is an accomplished mountain endurance athlete who has completed over 25 ultra marathon races (follow on Strava). He is most proud of his finish at The Drift 100 – a high elevation, 100 mile winter foot race that zigzags along the Continental Divide in Wyoming. In the future he hopes to compete in the ITI 350 and ultimately the full 1,000 mile Iditarod Trail Invitational that follows the same path as the historic dog sled race.
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