Living in a Bus Step 4: Clean, Gut, and Design a Layout

The weather is finally warm enough for me to get some work done on the bus! I’m hoping to get this project done by the end of Spring 2018, but with this cold spell, it’s been impossible to do anything.  The project itself can be a little overwhelming, but I keep reminding myself; one step at a time! And fortunately for me, I’ve got a lot of great friends and family to help me along the way.  I was really struggling to develop a basic layout, which has to be perfect if I want this to go well, so I called upon my aunt, an interior designer, to come have a look.

As I suspected, my original ideas were unrealistic; my bathroom was too small, and my plans were too complicated for such a tight space.  I’m dealing with a 12 X 7 foot area and I have to be able to fit the following items:

• kitchen with sink and cooker
• counter top
• bathroom with a shower and toilet
• seating area
• sleeping area
• storage for clothing, belongings, and kitchen accessories

My goal is to keep the furniture as mobile as possible.  I’d like to be able to move things around if need be.  I’m also not too keen on blocking off the windows even though I know it would hold in the heat and the cool.  In order for everything to fit and still feel comfortable, the furniture must be dual-purpose. For instance, I’d like to buy a handful of storage ottomans that I can use for seating during the day and slide together at night to use as a bed. I’ve had a few naysayers, but I like the advice, even if it is negative at times. It’s the only way I’ll learn.

I’m lucky that the bus was already partially gutted by the previous owner who only had a nice storage bench and cabinet with a beautiful handmade counter top.  I have to salvage the counter top.  It’s simply too beautiful to get rid of, but currently everything else is kind of up in the air.  My brother, as always, was happy to provide the muscle to remove the furniture pieces. Where would I be without my family to help me along the way? Here’s the layout my aunt helped me come up with.  It’s not terribly detailed, but I think it will be enough for me to go on and start the next steps: electricity and water.

What do you think? Am I forgetting something important?  My next step will be to see how many friends I can wrangle into this project to help me save money on the electricity and water, but first, I’ll have to make a shopping list and start a budget because I plan on funding this bus through the art of travel hacking (wracking up credit card debt on a travel reward’s card in order to earn points.) We’ll get more into that later. I can’t wait to go shopping!!!