I made window covers for the van out of Reflectix based on some online suggestions. They are simple to make and pretty easy to put up, since they just tuck in around the edge of the window and hold themselves in place.

But, they don’t allow for any ventilation. And they totally black out all light, and it’s pretty claustrophobic. I want to be able to peek out a crack in the curtain at night to see what’s happening outside!

I found this great National Park fabric at Craft Warehouse and thought it would be perfect for all the great adventures I hope to have in my van.

I bought black Kona cotton to line it with and provide more light blocking and privacy.

I thought for a long time about how I could hang curtains without making any permanent holes in the van. My first thought was command hooks and picture wire. But I couldn’t get the picture wire tight enough, or the command hooks stuck well enough.

Then I wondered if I could find a way to use a curtain rod. I picked up a couple of $5 curtain rods at WalMart that are the length of the full set of side windows.

I discovered that I could take the mounting brackets like this:

…and flatten them like this:

Then I can tuck the flat extended part into the gap between the plastic molding and the ceiling liner, leaving the curved rod holder exposed.

And the rod fits right through it!

The rear window is curved at the back, so I bent the cheap metal rod to follow the contour of the rear of the window, and cut the curtain panel to match.

These are all my finished curtain panels.

And here’s a peek at the finished product in place in the van!

I was a little skimpy with my measurements so I ended up adding extension flaps to get the curtains to fully meet.

I also sewed tieback tabs into each curtain, to hold them open during the day.

And here they are closed at night. So cozy!

A few more details. The walls of the van are curved outward from the top, and I didn’t want the curtains to hang straight down and reduce my interior space. I sewed magnets into each corner of the curtains, and used removable glue to stick metal washers to the van walls. The curtains magnet themselves right into place and stay out of the way.

For the front curtain behind the driver’s cabin, I used a 1″ wide 1/8″ thick aluminum bar that I cut to the right length with a hack saw and bent to follow the curve of the van ceiling. It tucks snugly in to the gap between plastic molding and ceiling liner, and the curtain slides onto it with a rod pocket.

I was most stumped for the rear windows. I didn’t want to put holes in the plastic molding to mount hardware. I made curtains in two panels that have magnets sewn into the corners, and attached washers to the rear door around the window. The curtains snap right into place on the magnets and hold fast, and during the day I can wad them up and stick them in a storage cubby beside the bed.