Are White Walls a Good Idea for a Camper Van Interior?

Living full-time in a van can present unique challenges compared to living in a traditional home. Due to the limited space in camper van interiors, creating a feeling of openness can be difficult. Our objective was to overcome this challenge by designing a living space that truly feels like home despite the vehicle’s limitations. 

In this post, we prioritized the color of the walls by explaining why the lighter color is better, recognizing that it plays a significant role in shaping the entire atmosphere of the interior.

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White Walls Make the Van’s Interior Look More Roomy

Living in a van presents unique challenges due to the confined space, especially when sharing it with another person. Comfort and roominess are essential, so I chose a light and airy interior design.

White colors lend a sense of spaciousness and reflect more light, creating an illusion of depth. As a result, the room looks and feels more spacious than it is. 

White Walls Brighten Up the Interior

The interior of a camper van may often feel cramped and dim when all the doors and windows are closed.

With a simple change to white walls, your space will instantly feel more open and illuminated, even with minimal light sources. The high reflectivity of white color ensures that light bounces around the room, evenly distributing it throughout your camper. Not only will this brighten your space, it will give it a more inviting and spacious feel.

This is especially perfect for vehicles like Ford Transit or Sprinter, which can open the sliding door and back doors wide open, maximizing the natural light source. White walls give them a brighter and airier feel, even with a minimum light source, as the light reflects off the walls and illuminates the space. 

White Walls Are Perfect for Photoshoots

Are you thinking of starting a van lifestyle social media account? Believe it or not, you have the perfect backdrop in your vehicle!

Choose white walls for a timeless and classic look in your photos. These walls reflect light perfectly, allowing you to use natural light for your shoots. Not only does this make the process simpler, but it also enhances the mood and atmosphere of your photos.

They also give you a clean and simple background, highlighting the subject matter in your photographs beautifully. By using white walls, you’ll easily create a range of moods, from natural to moody and dramatic. 

What Walls Make Interior Decoration Fun & Easy

Choosing white walls as the foundation of your camper van interior is perfect for beginners and interior decoration experts. White walls are a blank canvas for your imagination to run wild, allowing you to add unique elements that reflect your style.

For example, if you’re traveling in Mexico, the vibrant, colorful arts and crafts are hard to resist, and it is an excellent opportunity to add some personality and color to your surroundings!

Not only are white walls timeless and versatile, but they also promote a sense of purity and simplicity. They work well with bold and muted color schemes, enabling you to create a bright and uplifting atmosphere that sets the perfect ambiance. 

Learn More: How To Decorate A Camper Van

Pick Your White Wisely

Ok, perhaps you have chosen white for your interior wall color.

When selecting a white interior wall color, it may come as a surprise that many shades of white paint are available. Standing before a paint swatch wall can be overwhelming, contemplating which shade best suits your needs.

Avoid colors that appear pure white on the sample paper but ultimately create a pale and cold feeling on the walls. Instead, you might want to consider whites that incorporate a slight yellow, red, or green hue, depending on your preference, to create a more natural and warm white on the walls.

We purchased several samples of different whites and then narrowed our selection down to 4. We then bought those sample paints and painted the whites onto a leftover piece of plywood to see the different whites side-by-side.

After considering several colors, we ultimately decided on “Twinkling Lights.” Although the color swatch appeared as a cream white, it seems to be a more standard white on the walls of our camper van.

Selecting the White Paint Finish

The shiner the finish, the more stain resistant.

When choosing the paint finish for the interiors of a van, selecting rougher paint seems like the logical choice for low-traffic areas. However, white walls in a van can easily display dirt and grime. A Semi-Gloss finish, such as BEHR PREMIUM PLUS, is an excellent alternative for walls and cabinets in a van. This type of finish is durable and provides a smooth, shiny surface that is easier to clean. It is an ideal solution for a van’s high-traffic areas.

The glossier the finish, the more stain-resistant the paint is. Most of the stains we’ve incurred in our van are easy to wipe off with a wet cloth.

Choosing White Walls for Our Camper Van Interior

After five years of traveling and living in our van full-time, we still love the design of our van interior.

We enjoy spending extended periods of time inside our van as we never feel confined or uncomfortable. The unique layout of our van without a permanent bed provides a proper living space that enhances our comfort immensely.

Additionally, selecting the right combination of colors for our van’s interior design significantly impacts our mood and overall camper van life experience. We are proud to have created an interior design that perfectly reflects our personality and lifestyle.

Thanks for Reading!

If you have any questions about the color of your camper van walls, please let us know in the comments section below.

Happy designing!