Turn Your SUV Into a Micro Camper With VanLab's Ikea-Like Conversion Kit

One such company is California-based VanLab, an outfitter that offers affordable and high-quality DIY camper conversion kits, allowing individuals to turn their regular vehicles into highly functional, self-contained living spaces. Until now, their kits were dedicated to van owners, but their latest offering is specifically tailored for the most popular sport-utility vehicles and crossovers available on the US market.

Granted, a fully-appointed camper van or travel trailer would be the ideal solution for those who want to enjoy all comforts of home during their camping trips, but not everyone is willing to invest tens of thousands of dollars on a camper, so the new camper-in-a-box kit comes quite in handy for those who want to enjoy the thrill of sleeping in the back of their cars. SUVs and CUVs are among the best-suited vehicles for camping and outdoor activities, offering enough ground clearance, payload, and towing capacity to carry your cargo.

VanLab's newest product is a one-size-fits-all camping kit that can be installed on a plethora of SUVs, from market pioneers like the Toyota RAV4 and Jeep Grand Cherokee to the latest electric models such as the Tesla Model X and everything in between. The kit is made of Baltic birch plywood to maximize durability and keep weight to a minimum and comprises a tailgate-width kitchen that can expand to create a comfortable sleeping platform on top of the folded rear seats.

Drawing inspiration from IKEA furniture, VanLab flat-packs the SUV kits before shipping them to their customers, who will have to assemble and install them on their own. The good thing is that it also comes with clear and detailed instructions created by an expert team of designers and engineers, as well as all the screws, hinges, and hatches. For those who feel they don't have the patience and skill to assemble the kit themselves, the company will do it at its Simi Valley, California facility.

The kit is designed to fit perfectly behind the second row in the vehicle and can be easily removed and reinstalled. The kitchen box includes a full-size drawer on the passenger side and a slimmer slide-out on the driver's side. A removable panel can be fitted in between to serve as a table or a worktop. There is also a secondary slide-out table, a narrow slide with organizers for cups and utensils, as well as ample storage space to bring in your own stove, cookware, cooler (up to 30 liters), and other kitchen essentials.

In order to allow customers to enjoy the full in-vehicle camper experience, the company also offers a sleeper platform kit that adds supports and extension panels to create a sleeping platform. The panels seamlessly extend from the kitchen box into a spacious sleeping area measuring 75 x 51 inches (191 x 131 cm). Bed cushions are also available, but they are sold separately.

With the newly revealed VanLab SUV kit, you can turn your own vehicle into a camper at a fraction of the cost of a fully-fledged camping rig. If you want only the kitchen box, you can purchase it for $1,650, while the full kitchen and bed kit starts at $2,150 without bed cushions.