Plan an RV, camper van, boat cabin or shipping container home
Open the Class C Motorhome, Camper Van Conversion, Sailboat Cabin, Shipping Container Home (40 ft) or Container Studio (20 ft) from the RV, Boat & Container group, then rearrange or add RV, van and boat pieces from the RV & Boat tab in Furnish. Every template uses thin walls and real low ceilings, so the plan and the 3D view show how tight the space really is.
In a van, a motorhome, a boat or a shipping container every inch is spoken for, and the question isn't where does the sofa look nice but does the bed, the galley, the toilet and the walkway all fit at once. A plan drawn to the inch, with the real ceiling height, answers that before you cut plywood or sign for a container.
RoomSketch3D has an RV, Boat & Container group in the template picker with five furnished plans and an RV & Boat tab in Furnish with 21 pieces sized for narrow coaches and hulls: a vehicle cab, dinettes, a jackknife sofa, short-queen and bunk beds, galleys, an RV fridge, a wet bath, overhead lockers, a cassette toilet, van bed platforms, and a V-berth, quarter berth, U-shaped settee, boat galley, nav station, helm and companionway steps. The templates use thin 3 to 4 in walls and real low ceilings, not house walls.
This guide opens each template with its real dimensions, shows where the pieces are, and lists the outside constraints that set your interior: road width limits, container internal sizes and the minimum ceiling heights for a tiny dwelling.
What you'll need
- •A RoomSketch3D account on the web, iPhone, iPad or Android
- •The inside length, width and height of your van, coach, hull or container
Step by step
- 1
Open the RV, Boat & Container templates
On Home, tap Use Template, then RV, Boat & Container · 5 (or search rv, van, boat or container):
Template Size Ceiling What's in it Class C Motorhome 8′ × 25′ 6′8″ Driver and passenger cab, a booth dinette, a jackknife sofa, a galley with sink and cooktop, an RV fridge, overhead lockers, a wet bath and a short queen bed at the rear Camper Van Conversion 6′2″ × 12′6″ 6′2″ A bed platform with garage storage across the rear, a galley cabinet, a compact fridge, overhead lockers, a cassette toilet and the sliding side door Sailboat Cabin 11′ × 28′ 6′4″ A V-berth forward, a U-shaped settee and table, a galley with gimbaled stove, a nav station, a quarter berth, a head and the companionway steps Shipping Container Home 40′ × 8′ 8′8″ A shower room at one end, an open kitchen, dining and living area, and a bedroom with a full bed and wardrobe at the other Container Studio 20′ × 8′ 7′10″ A shower room, a kitchenette with sink, range and compact fridge, a daybed and an armchair Tap a card, name the design and tap Use this template.
RV, Boat & Container · 5 in the template picker. - 2
Class C motorhome: front to back
The Class C Motorhome is an 8 × 25 ft box (7′9″ inside) laid out the way most Class C coaches are. The Vehicle Cab (Driver & Passenger) is at the front, then the RV Dinette (Booth & Table) on the left facing a Jackknife Sofa on the right, the RV Galley (Sink & Cooktop) with overhead lockers and the RV Refrigerator down the left side, the Wet Bath (Toilet & Shower) on the right, and an RV Short Queen Bed (60 × 74 in, six inches shorter than a household queen) across the rear. The aisle between the galley and the wet bath is the pinch point: in the template it's about 2′5″. That's the number to protect when you swap in a bigger fridge or a wider bath.
The Class C Motorhome plan, cab at the top. - 3
Find the pieces in Furnish → RV & Boat
Scroll the Furnish room tabs to RV & Boat. The RV & Boat group lists the Vehicle Cab, RV Dinette, Jackknife Sofa, Swivel Captain Seat, RV Short Queen Bed, RV Bunk Beds, RV Galley, RV Refrigerator, Wet Bath, RV Overhead Cabinet, Cassette Toilet, Van Bed Platform (with Storage) and Van Galley Cabinet, then the boat pieces: V-Berth, Quarter Berth, Salon Settee with Table (U-Shape), Boat Galley (Gimbaled Stove & Sink), Marine Toilet, Navigation Station, Helm Station and Companionway Steps. Small items stand on the RV dinette, boat settee and nav station tables when you drop them there. Select any piece and type its real width, depth and height; for a van, measure between the wall panels, not the steel.
Furnish → RV & Boat. - 4
Look through the motorhome in 3D
Open the 3D view and turn it side-on with Dollhouse ticked. You see the coach the way you'd walk it: bed at the back, the tall fridge and the wet bath, the dinette and sofa, the cab seats up front. Height is where 3D earns its keep: the overhead lockers sit above head height in a 6′8″ ceiling, and anything taller than the ceiling gets a Flow Check warning.
The motorhome in 3D, bed at the left, cab at the right. - 5
Camper van conversion
The Camper Van Conversion is the cargo area of a high-roof van, about 5′11″ wide inside and 12′3″ long with a 6′2″ ceiling. The Van Bed Platform (with Storage) (70 × 54 in, 28 in high) runs across the back with garage storage under it; the Van Galley Cabinet (sink and cooktop) and a compact fridge line one side; the cassette toilet sits opposite, by the sliding door; three overhead lockers run along the top. A crosswise bed only works if the van is wide enough for you to sleep across it: a 70 in platform suits sleepers up to about 5′8″. Taller? Turn the bed lengthwise (it takes floor) or plan a flare kit. Type your van's real inside width to check.
The camper van: bed at the back, galley and fridge along one side. - 6
See the van build in 3D
In 3D the van shows the stack-up you can't read from above: the storage bin under the bed platform, the galley worktop and sink, the fridge beside it, the toilet tucked in front of the bed, and the lockers overhead. Check head room over the bed: with a 28 in platform and a 6′2″ ceiling you have about 46 in to sit up.
The van build in 3D. - 7
Sailboat cabin: a hull-shaped plan
The Sailboat Cabin is the interior of a 38 ft cruising sailboat drawn as an 11 × 28 ft hull with a pointed bow. Forward, the V-Berth fills the forward cabin. In the salon the Salon Settee with Table (U-Shape) is on one side, the Boat Galley (Gimbaled Stove & Sink) and Navigation Station on the other. Aft, the Companionway Steps lead up to the cockpit, with a quarter berth on one side and the head (a marine toilet and a small vanity) on the other. The ceiling is 6′4″. The bow is drawn with angled walls, so the V-berth sits in a real point. To match your boat's lines, select a wall corner and drag it, or use the Outline Editor.
The sailboat interior: V-berth forward, salon in the middle, head and companionway aft. - 8
The boat in 3D
Turned side-on, the 3D view shows the boat's layout end to end: the companionway ladder, the blue U-shaped settee around its table, the galley and stove, and the V-berth in the bow. It's a quick way to explain a refit to a boatyard or to compare two layouts of the same hull.
The sailboat cabin in 3D. - 9
Shipping container home (40 ft)
The Shipping Container Home is a one-bedroom home in a single 40 ft high-cube container: 40′4″ outside, 7′8″ inside on the plan, with an 8′8″ ceiling. A shower room (shower, toilet, vanity) is at one end; the middle is an open kitchen (fridge, sink, range and a base cabinet along one wall), a dining table for two and a loveseat; the far end is a bedroom with a full bed and a narrow wardrobe. The 7′8″ width decides everything. A full bed (54 in) across the width leaves about 3 ft to walk past it; a queen (60 in) leaves about 2′8″. Real high-cube containers are about 7′8½″ wide and 8′10″ high inside before insulation and wall linings, which take several more inches off each side; type your finished interior width into the walls to see the effect.
The 40 ft container home: bathroom, living and kitchen, bedroom. - 10
Container home in 3D
From the side the whole home reads in one view: shower room, kitchen run, dining table, loveseat, wardrobe and bed. Look at how the windows line up with the furniture; in a container every window is a cut-out in the steel, so placing them where they serve the bed, the sink and the sofa is worth getting right on the plan.
The 40 ft container home in 3D. - 11
Container studio (20 ft)
The Container Studio fits a studio into a single 20 ft container (7′10″ ceiling): a shower room with a 32 in shower, toilet and small vanity at one end, then a kitchenette (sink, range and compact fridge), a daybed that works as sofa and bed, and an armchair. It's a good starting point for a backyard office, guest room or short-term rental. For a dwelling, the model tiny-house rules (IRC Appendix Q, where your area has adopted it) ask for at least 6′8″ ceilings in habitable rooms and 6′4″ in bathrooms and kitchens. Both container templates clear that; the RV, van and boat are vehicles and vessels, not buildings.
The 20 ft container studio in 3D.
Tips
Start from your real inside dimensions
Measure the finished inside: van walls after insulation, coach walls between cabinets, a hull at the height you stand. Then drag the walls or type the room size so the template matches before you move any furniture.
Keep vehicles under the road width limit
US federal rules cap vehicle width on the National Network at 102 in (8.5 ft); slide-outs and awnings are planned within that when travelling. The template motorhome is 8 ft wide.
Use the person for scale in tight spaces
Add the Person for scale in the aisle or at the galley: it's the fastest way to see whether two people can pass in a 2′5″ aisle (not comfortably).
Plan tanks and batteries as boxes
There's no water-tank or battery piece. A storage box or rug sized to the tank's footprint reserves its space on the plan and in 3D.
Common mistakes
Using a household queen in an RV
RV short queens are 60 × 74 in, six inches shorter than a household queen (60 × 80). Use the RV Short Queen Bed, or type the mattress you'll actually buy.
Forgetting that container walls aren't the container
The steel is thin, but insulation, framing and linings take several inches per side. A 7′8″ steel interior can end up around 7 ft finished. Draw the finished width.
Expecting curved hull sides
The boat template draws the hull with straight and angled walls. It shows the layout and the space between berths well, but not the curve of the hull or the tumblehome; cabinets against the hull side are in fact shallower near the floor.
Treating the plan as an engineering drawing
The templates are for layout and fit. Weight, axle loads, stability, gas, electrical and water systems need a builder, an RV technician or a marine surveyor.
Frequently asked questions
Can I design a camper van layout?
Yes. Start from the Camper Van Conversion template (about 6 × 12 ft inside, 6′2″ ceiling) and use the Van Bed Platform, Van Galley Cabinet, compact fridge, cassette toilet and overhead lockers from the RV & Boat tab.
Is there a shipping container home template?
Yes, two: a one-bedroom Shipping Container Home in a 40 ft high-cube container and a Container Studio in a 20 ft container, both in the RV, Boat & Container group.
Can I plan a boat interior?
Yes. The Sailboat Cabin template is a 38 ft cruising sailboat interior with a V-berth, U-shaped settee, galley, nav station, quarter berth, head and companionway, and the RV & Boat tab adds a helm station.
How big is an RV short queen?
60 × 74 in in the app's RV Short Queen Bed; a household queen is 60 × 80 in.
Does the RV wet bath have a mirror?
Yes, and in 3D it reflects the room like every other mirror in the app.
Sources
- 23 CFR 658.15, Width (eCFR) — "No State shall impose a width limitation of more or less than 102 inches … on a vehicle operating on the National Network, except for the State of Hawaii."
- Go RVing (RV Industry Association): Class C motorhomes — Class C model details: size 25–35 ft.
- Maersk: dry container equipment specifications — 20 ft standard: internal 19′4⅛″ × 7′8½″ × 7′10 3/16″ high. 40 ft high cube: internal 39′5 11/16″ × 7′8½″ × 8′10⅛″ high. Sizes vary slightly by container series.
- IRC Appendix Q, Tiny Houses (2018 model text, as published in the 2018 Seattle Residential Code) — AQ103.1: habitable space and hallways "not less than 6 feet 8 inches"; bathrooms, toilet rooms and kitchens "not less than 6 feet 4 inches". A tiny house is 400 sq ft or less. Later editions moved some of these rules; check what your area adopted.
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