Home Away From Home | Design and Build a Comfy Life on the Road
Your Home & Lifestyle Magazine
Alli Richards and Lizzie Ebersole’s entrance into designing and building custom vans was somewhat experimental. Before Safe + Sonder Vans, they’d finished two projects: one for themselves, and the other, “just to see,” recalls Richards. “After that one sold quickly, we were like, ‘This is something we could do.’”
The duo formally launched their Michigan-based business in April 2020, just as the global pandemic limited traditional means of travel and people began seeking alternatives. As the #vanlife trend grew on social media, so did Safe + Sonder Vans. “Without social media, I don’t know how big we would be,” says Richards. Thanks to its power, most of their clientele travels from western states to secure one of their custom builds. Since 2023, they’ve also added a fleet of four rentals with personality-filled names like Eddie and Watson.
“People compliment us a lot on how we decorate once we post photos and how we make it feel like a little home,” Richards notes, although she suspects the real appeal is that they provide a good base upon which their clients can show their own personality. “We usually tell people, ‘We are building the van, but we’re not building it for us. So if you want certain aspects, then 100 percent, we will do that for you.’”
Once the build is complete, Ebersole finishes the space with custom curtains and Richards adds decor according to the client’s preferences. While some are excited for a fully finished space, others like to have room to hang family photos or fill shelves with their own knickknacks.
“If you look at all of our vans, there’s a lot of similar characteristics, but then a lot of them are so different from the other, and it’s a display of the realm of our clients and how different they all are,” says Richards. It’s that richness of the community that they’ve come to appreciate the most.
Building the Blueprint
The first step in designing a custom van is securing the van itself. Safe + Sonder primarily works with the Mercedes Sprinter, Ram Promaster, or Ford Transit, encouraging clients to choose their van based on certain design and lifestyle preferences—like bed placement and driving features. Then, they work to understand the client’s individual desires, choosing the right appliances, interior upgrades, and finishes.
Once those details are finalized, Richards and Ebersole start their build with the exterior, cutting out the windows, doing roof work, and setting solar panels. Inside, they start by running electrical wires, installing insulation and framing, and hanging cabinetry and the walls. “Once we add the shiplap and Liz builds our cabinets, it totally changes the way it looks. It starts to feel like a little apartment,” says Richards. Ebersole lets her creativity take the lead with each cabinet build, finding new ways to enhance function and sneak in additional storage.
After paint day, the team finalizes and tests the plumbing and electrical system, then moves on to the finishing touches: cutting the bed, fitting the mattress, then adding a sink, faucet, handles, and hinges. “When we start doing a lot more of the finishing and I can see it coming together, I can see the character and what the van is going to look like,” says Richards. “I love it after paint day.”
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www.safeandsondervans.com
@safe.and.sonder.vans
