- 42 minutes ago
A RAM ProMaster 159 camper van becomes a future-proof mobile workspace in this tour of The Artisan from Sequoia and Salt. Built for a client who needed both a wig-making studio and an off-grid home, the layout is designed to adapt as life changes, with an open front flex space that can work as a professional station now and potentially become an interior bathroom or extra seating later.
Chris walks through the custom van conversion, showing the swivel seats, countertop extensions, sewing-machine setup, deep storage, and the thoughtful use of bamboo, shiplap-style walls, and fabric trim. The build also features a Victron 3000-watt inverter charger, 460Ah of lithium battery power, 400 watts of solar, a Dometic RTX 2000 12V AC, a gas heater, drawer fridge, water system, and rear shower setup. It’s a practical look at a stealth van layout made for work-from-anywhere travel.
If you’re researching camper van builds, ProMaster van conversions, off-grid RV ideas, or a custom mobile office that can grow with the owner, this tour offers plenty to study. It’s a strong fit for viewers interested in RV life, professional van conversion, tiny home on wheels design, and future-proof camper van layouts.
SEO: ProMaster camper van, RAM ProMaster 159 conversion, custom van build, mobile workspace van, off-grid camper van, future-proof RV layout, van life tour, work-from-anywhere camper van, stealth van conversion, RV and camper van ideas.
Chris walks through the custom van conversion, showing the swivel seats, countertop extensions, sewing-machine setup, deep storage, and the thoughtful use of bamboo, shiplap-style walls, and fabric trim. The build also features a Victron 3000-watt inverter charger, 460Ah of lithium battery power, 400 watts of solar, a Dometic RTX 2000 12V AC, a gas heater, drawer fridge, water system, and rear shower setup. It’s a practical look at a stealth van layout made for work-from-anywhere travel.
If you’re researching camper van builds, ProMaster van conversions, off-grid RV ideas, or a custom mobile office that can grow with the owner, this tour offers plenty to study. It’s a strong fit for viewers interested in RV life, professional van conversion, tiny home on wheels design, and future-proof camper van layouts.
SEO: ProMaster camper van, RAM ProMaster 159 conversion, custom van build, mobile workspace van, off-grid camper van, future-proof RV layout, van life tour, work-from-anywhere camper van, stealth van conversion, RV and camper van ideas.
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TravelTranscript
00:00If you go to an RV show, you'll see that people want to go there and they want to buy
00:03something
00:03and it might not be the perfect van for them. But if you come and work with a company like
00:06ours,
00:06it's our job to get that out of you so that we can prepare the van that's going to be
00:10perfect
00:11for you now and for five years after. This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures
00:16YouTube channel. Today, I have Chris with Sequoia and Salt back on the show. He's going to give us
00:21a tour of his newest creation, the Artisan. So join us. What's going on, Patrick? Thanks for
00:28coming back. I'm Chris from Sequoia and Salt Camper Vans. Behind me, we have our newest model
00:32called the Artisan. So to give you a little backstory on this van, so we had a customer
00:37come out to us. They just sold their company and she's taking on a new idea, which is building
00:44custom wigs for customers in need. So if you have had certain treatments that you lose your hair,
00:50she will help you and create a wig custom to your head. So with that being said, she also expressed
00:56loving to go outside, loving to travel and loving the outdoors. So she wanted to have
01:01a little collective space that would be both a camper van and a workspace. So let's walk around
01:06the van and I'll show you, we'll start with the outside. So we have the stock running boards that
01:10come with, or that were added onto this ProMaster. So this is a ProMaster 159 inch wheelbase, 2500.
01:20It's a brand new van, nice and clean. So she didn't go with a lot of extras on the outside.
01:25She added some extra windows. We have the rear bunk windows on both sides, the shore power adapter on
01:33the side of the vehicle, tow hitch receiver, rear cargo windows, another pill window, and the sliding
01:40door slider window with the integrated screen. On the roof, we have a Maxair vent fan in the rear.
01:47We added a Dometic RTX 2000 12 volt AC unit in the front. And then in between, we added 400
01:54watts of
01:55solar. So we like to add enough solar that it helps support the refrigerator being on all the time,
02:03especially if the customer decides to leave and travel outside of the van, that we're sustaining
02:09that power usage coming from the refrigerator. So as we walk in, you'll see on the floor, this flooring,
02:17it's called TwoTec2. It's really nice. It's a nice woven fabric. It's super durable and it has a nice
02:23little cushion. So, and it insulates underneath. You'll see we added some accents as you walk in,
02:30you'll see the bamboo. Let me, let me add this really quick. Patrick just closed the door behind
02:39y'all because it is like 10 degrees outside and it's freezing here in New Jersey. So bear with us
02:46as we go through this van. We have the two swivel seats that come stock with this van from Ram.
02:54You'll see we added a mirror on the driver side front. So this section is the section that the
03:01customer wants to build her wigs. So we added a countertop extension in front of the second
03:09galley and you'll see we added some L-Track on the wall. So we can use this. A lot of
03:13customers love
03:14this. You can add L-Track to any section of the van and then we can install some soft bags
03:20if the
03:20customer chooses. This size that we chose here was big enough that if the customer in the future decides
03:25that she wants to have an interior bathroom, that this size is perfect to fit an interior bathroom.
03:33Countertop extension. It's really nice long countertop extension. She could be working
03:39in the front of the van on her computer here. She has a, she's going to be bringing along with
03:44her
03:44a stool, like a styling stool with a backrest that she'll use for this. So she can either work over
03:50here,
03:51she has a sewing machine that she's going to connect in to the outlet on the wall right here. So
03:58this is
03:58a nice working station. On the opposite side, second countertop extension. So there's actually a lot of
04:07extra room that's added and we wanted to add a good amount of space in the front here. So she
04:12had space
04:13for depending on the customer that she doesn't know yet. The customer might, you know, uh,
04:21have accessibility needs. It might have a space that might have a, um, a wheelchair. So we wanted to give
04:27enough space that this was all open in the front here. All right. So moving to the passenger side,
04:32we have the galley. So we add, I showed you before, we have the countertop extension
04:37on the front side of it. We added all of these dovetail drawers. So this is a portable induction
04:44stove top. And, and a lot of the drawers, if we know that there could be a drawer that's pulling
04:49or
04:49holding a lot of weight, we add these nice locks. This is our house-made leather handles
05:02and a little port-a-potty sponge drawer.
05:10This is really nice. So we've been adding a lot of space underneath the sink and then also adding a
05:15lot
05:15of access panels throughout all of our cabinetry. You'll notice that moving forward, it just allows
05:21us to have accessibility or if you're, if this customer's in a pinch on the road, they can go to
05:26a
05:28mechanic and we can work with the mechanic and talk through any part of this van because we added so
05:34many access panels to work on any of the electronics or water systems. We added a toe kick light. I
05:39know
05:39that you filmed that already, Patrick, but a nice toe kick light right here. We went with a bamboo,
05:46bamboo throughout the ceiling. You can appreciate all of our nice trim work that we do inside of the vans,
05:51even around the AC unit and the inside. We trimmed all the tops. So these bamboo cabinet faces and then
06:00we put black laminate on the front of the bamboo so it's nice that you can continue all the inside
06:05having bamboo. Our self-supporting hinges.
06:10Our walls, we went with our house-made, starboard is the product. This is our shiplap
06:18groove that we add to all of it. This is really durable stuff. That's why we like using it. All
06:24right, so for the heating system, we have a velet gas burning heater. This connects to the accessory
06:29fuel of the vehicle to power this unit. We have a retractable faucet in the sink, a nice deep sink
06:38with a bamboo top. On the driver's side, again, another big deep drawer.
06:47This is an isotherm 85-liter drawer fridge with a freezer.
06:57Countertop extension. Some outlets with USBs built in on the far side of this. It's a very interesting
07:06drawer. So when you are breaking down the bed from lounge to bed space, you just go in here,
07:13you turn this little knob, and then you can slide out. Hold on. You can slide out all the panels
07:19for the bed.
07:23And you just turn it and lock it.
07:27Lock it off. So the upper cabinets, we did bamboo bodies on the upper cabinets. Bamboo doors, but we
07:34laminated the fronts black. So they show off really nice. I'm going to open all these so you can see
07:41how much upper space this customer has.
07:46And then when you walk all the way down here, Patrick, you'll notice we want the power system
07:50all the way in the in the rear of the van. So this is the Victron 3000 watt inverter charger.
07:57It has this van has 460 amp hours of lithium battery power. We added a gray dump valve right here,
08:05a toe kick light so you can turn the toe kick light on and off at night. So you might
08:10want to turn the
08:11upper cabinets off. So the upper cabinets are connected underneath. And then the upper cabinets
08:18and the toe kick cabinets are connected on the same channel. And we add the switch so that you can
08:22turn
08:22off one of the channels. So you can turn these on, turn them off together, turn them on, or you
08:30can just
08:30turn off the foot light. It's kind of nice. And the inside here. So let me see what else can
08:39I show you
08:39guys. Maxier vent fan. We added nice headers on the on the front and the sliding door. These are our
08:48pill
08:49windows from the inside. Really nice. And we added a fabric trim on the on the the sill of it.
08:56And you'll
08:57see we added that fabric trim along the back walls here. This is kind of a way to differentiate a
09:06DIYer to
09:08a builder. Like stuff like this, seeing like these every little touch, we try to add fabrics and colors
09:15to certain areas. And it's it's more work, but it makes it look so nice. So our lights from underneath
09:21here, we add in the rails of the bed. You see that? We cut a groove into this so it's
09:29nice and clean.
09:30So this is outdoor indoor Sunbrella fabric. So let's show you the power system and part of our water
09:38system. So one of the things we've been adding to certain vans is putting magnets on the bottom of our
09:44doors. Just because, you know, always need to access this panel. This is really for service.
09:52Nice and durable. So this is our power system here.
09:57Um, so, all right. So this is our 3000 watt inverter. We went with a customer. We added a
10:04110 hot water heater. So this is a three and a half gallon Bosch hot water heater. If you look
10:10down,
10:10we started adding a vent. So when you turn, uh, when you turn the inverter on,
10:15it will kick on this fan and start sucking all the heat and throwing it outside of the van.
10:22And then we added a special fascia underneath the vehicle that you're not going to get water
10:27or any critters up into your power system. And then if you look along the wall here to try to
10:32cut
10:32some extra weight out of the van, we started adding like, you know, certain grooves into how we
10:37construct the cabinets to cut some more weight out. All right. So this is our two batteries that are
10:43underneath. So you can see our two batteries that are underneath this platform here that holds
10:48our inverter. It's nice and clean. We have everything that you need to see here. All of our fuses,
10:55all of our breakers are all involved in this section on top of the van. And then if you see
11:00on that
11:00side, we have our, our DC DC and our MPPT connected our pexing, we're running from our water tank,
11:08which is on this side, which I'll show you in a second underneath the floor up and over.
11:13So when you see a van that has like a step up like this, it's for more than just extra
11:19space.
11:20When we're designing it, we realize, okay, well, there's a comfortable seat at a certain height.
11:25And when you add the cushion to it, you want to land the seat at a certain height. And if
11:30you have a
11:30lot of stuff that you have to put into a cabinet, you have to make these lounges a lot higher.
11:34So
11:34you have to adapt the floor to a certain section. And it's also really nice. It allows us to run
11:40our
11:40pex lines through the floor from one side of the van to the other. So lots of times that you
11:44see,
11:45you know, a thruway like this inside of a van, it's more than just storage. We are, we're doing a
11:50lot
11:50more in between that. So we're running wires. We're running our pexing through to get to the
11:55other side of the van. All right. So I'm going to put these back and I'll show you what the
12:00water
12:01system looks like. All right. So this slides over the lagoon table, pull this off the wall.
12:08Every single time I do one of these with Patrick, you guys don't see it, but Patrick really helps in
12:12the background. You know, he might be holding the camera, but he's also helping me move things.
12:18So this is a 30 gallon water tank and over the wheel well water tank. And you can see all
12:25of our
12:25pexing throughout the lines here. So this is for the exterior shower. This is our water pump down here.
12:31This is our blow off valve for winterizing. You can winterize with our vans by blowing out all the
12:37water in between goes. If you want to pump RV antifreeze in as well, you can do that. So we
12:45just
12:45give you different options as to how you want to winterize your system. And then you see here,
12:51this is our velet heater. So we took a lot of products and we kind of packed them inside of
12:56these loungers, which makes it so these loungers are not really usable space, but it really,
13:03for us to get all this stuff inside of this van and give you all the extra space in the
13:07front there,
13:07we need to figure out how to fit all these products inside of your van. So now let me show
13:13you
13:15how to make the bed. This slides out.
13:44And there you have it. Nice big bed for the customer to sleep on. And this customer is like five
13:53foot
13:53five. So she was okay with the length of this bed being that she didn't really quite need to have
14:00a longer space. So I can show you from both sides. I'm five foot nine,
14:10five foot eight, five foot seven on some days, but you know what? I fit in there just fine. Okay.
14:18All right. So let's talk. Let me bring you around the backside and show you the rear shower.
14:27Ah, I like to think I'm five foot nine. All right. Don't quote me on it. Okay. On the rear
14:34of the van,
14:35you can see that we added, see the fabric on the inside. We finished all the corners.
14:41We go with rock wall insulation and all the walls. All right. So on the rear of the van,
14:46you'll see we have the shower. So this is our quick connector port. We just connect it in right here.
14:51And then that's going to give you your shower as a little window, a little holder that goes on the
14:56window and the back of the doors. If you've seen in any of our other videos, this becomes an exterior
15:03shower. Well, Chris is really cool. I appreciate you coming out in this 10 degree day to do a video.
15:09It's actually quite nice with the sun. He's lying. It feels a little bit warmer than it actually is.
15:14I like the fact that she had this van built for a specific need for a business now,
15:20also wants to do some travel, but everybody knows life changes and she could adapt this van. I like
15:27that area in the front. You could easily add a shower enclosure with a regular toilet in that space.
15:33Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's, it's when we're preparing a van and designing a van for customers,
15:39it's identifying it's within those customer meetings that we have every single customer
15:43figure out exactly where you are in life. Like if we don't have that information and we can't build
15:49you the proper van, that's going to suit you for the two years to come. Because you know this,
15:55Patrick working in the RV market a lot, there's a lot of buyers that go out there and just want
15:59to buy. If you go to an RV show, you'll see that people want to go there and they want
16:02to buy
16:02something and it might not be the perfect van for them. But if you come and work with a company
16:05like
16:05ours, it's our job to get that out of you so that we can prepare the van that's going to
16:10be perfect for
16:11you now and for five years after. Yeah, that's great because people buy and trade in RVs every
16:19other year sometimes. They don't know what they want. Yeah. But having a van that she could grow into
16:23I think is a better investment. Absolutely. Well, I'll put those links in the description so our
16:29viewers can click over and check out what else you guys are doing at Sequoia and Salt. This is Patrick
16:34New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for coming by.
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