Van Privacy | Our Minivan Camper Conversion

Privacy in a camper van is essential. You need to be able to get dressed, go the bathroom, and you know, just have a space where people aren’t staring at you all the time.

It’s equally as important to be able to close off the windows, so people can’t see what’s in your camper van or if you’re “home” or away.

There are a couple of easy ways to create privacy in a camper van. Both of which we’ve done in ours, and have used not just for privacy in the van, but also to help regulate the temperature in the van.

Our current van has 10 windows, and we wanted to keep them all open during the day. It makes for some fantastic 360-degree scenery. However, at night, and honestly in some parking spots, we need the extra privacy. So adding something to each of the windows, and having a curtain separating the front cab from the back was our solution.

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Privacy in Our Toyota Previa Camper Conversion

Blackout Curtain (to separate the front cab from living area)

Reflectix (cut to fit each window)

Reflectix window insulation from the outside, arboursabroad, vantrails

A Closer Look at Privacy in a Van

Blackout Curtain (to separate the front cab from living area) | find it here

Instead of spending loads on blackout curtains that are made for camper vans and RVs, snag some regular blackout curtains for home windows and cut them to your liking.

The ones that will work best for curtains in the van are ones that have rod pockets. This way you can just fish wire through the pocket, and it doesn’t take up any extra space for a large curtain rod.

We didn’t sew the bottom of our curtain because they are made out of a no-tear fabric, but also because you can’t really tell, and nobody wants to do that extra work!

If you don’t want to sew them, but do want a cleaner look, grab some sewing glue. It works great… I used sewing glue to “sew” Jay’s physio uniform in Scotland and you would never know!

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Reflectix (cut to fit each window) | check current prices here

Honestly, Reflectix was not our first choice when thinking of privacy in the van. In my opinion, it makes the van look a bit junky and not cute at all.

However, we cut pieces to fit each of our ten windows to work as insulation in the van. After how easy it was to install and take down, and truthfully just being ready to be done with the van build, we decided to hit the road without any added privacy barriers for our first extended trip in the van.

We used Reflectix more often than not. Not necessary for the insulating factor, though that was really nice in the below-freezing temps, but more so for just privacy. We needed it up when we would leave the van for extended periods of time with Georgie in it, and then typically had the Reflectix in the window near the toilet just for privacy too.

It definitely does not look cute at all, but it gets the job done. It’s a blackout barrier, insulation, and privacy shield all in one!