Van Camping 101: Easy to Make Privacy Curtains

The second post in the series about van camping, I show you how to create easy DIY privacy curtains for your vehicle using few materials.

You can learn more about van camping in our post Van Camping 101. 

Let’s face it, if you’re van camping, the last thing you want to do is to wake up to see someone’s face pressed up against your window. I’m not sure why someone would feel compelled to do that, but that is one of my fears while trying to sleep in the van. That someone will see me sleeping. Weird. I know, but it does keep me up at night. The things I ponder.

Privacy curtains are also helpful to block out the lights if you happen to pull into a rest stop or Walmart parking lot for the night. When I was researching van curtains I found several options. Most involved attaching a piece of wire or heavy-duty string or something similar across the windows to create something very much like curtains. My husband and I wanted something different.

Since I use my van on a daily basis and I don’t always want it to look like a van camper, but I want it to be easy to transform in a moment’s notice, it was important that the curtains be extremely easy to affix. I think we came up with the perfect solution.

Getting Ready for Van Camping 101: Easy to Make Curtains

Gather the Supplies You’ll Need

About 2- 2 ½ yards of black felt
3-4 packages of black dot Velcro, depending on how closely you want them spaced
a pair of scissors that cut fabric
a piece of chalk like this or a Tailor’s chalk pencil

How to Make Your Van Camping Curtains

Cut a piece of felt to the approximate size of your van window.

Hold the felt to the window and with the chalk, outline the shape of the window. The chalk easily rubs off.

Cut the felt to fit the window.

Add the Velcro hook & loop dots to the window in 2-3 inch intervals around the entire window.

Affix the felt “curtain” to the Velcro.

Carefully separate the Velcro pieces to remove the felt curtain, leaving one piece (the hook or loop, it doesn’t’ matter) on the window.

The Velcro doesn’t stick well to the felt. I was going to hot glue the felt but my husband suggested that we staple the Velcro dot to the felt which was much quicker and worked perfectly.

One side of the dot remains on the window at all times which allows the curtains to be adhered and removed from the windows in minutes.

Since our van windows are slightly tinted the felt isn’t even visible from the outside of the van when it’s in place.

We’re now one step closer to van camping.

Did you miss it?

Van Camping 101: The Mattress

Van Camping with Thirty-One Gifts

Restocking a First Aid Kit for Camping

Simple Camping Tips for a Better Outdoor Experience

My husband and I started van camping in our minivan and have now upgraded to a Dodge Promaster. It doubles as my husband’s work vehicle so we haven’t made any permanent modifications and it does take a bit more work but we love the space it gives us. You can learn more about our experiences in the Promaster in the following posts: 

Used Camper Vans: Everything You Need to Know Before Buying

Top Ten Van Camping Hacks

Tips for Van Camping in Winter

7 Reasons to Rent a Camper Van or other RV this Summer