A School Bus|Skoolie Conversion Tour with Soulful Bus Life

[Music] hi everyone welcome to our school bus conversion tour we are parked on a beautiful beach in Louisiana so we thought it was a good time to show you around our school bus so come on in and we'll show you around so when you first come in the bus we have this little cubby that we built it has a just kind of simple coat rack that we installed and it holds the dog harness the cat harness dog towel wet jackets kind of anything like that keeps it accessible but also kind of out of the way the other thing that we made sure we kept kind of part of the bus was this little area here we turned it into a shoe cubby again it just keeps the shoes kind of out of the way but they're still really accessible as we are coming in and kicking our shoes off the school bus originally had kind of an old plastic kind of slanted dashboard and we decided to actually tear that out and kind of put in a custom dashboard we had some extra wood so it was easy enough for us to take care and do that this really pretty piece of walnut is actually a banister that came out of the house belonged to a couple of our friends and they gave it to us and I fit really perfectly in the space and kind of framed out that new dashboard really well so we really love that that really piece of walnut there so the other thing that we did kind of in the front area is the driver's seat this is actually a seat that came out of Adams 68 Beetle and he replaced the seats in the car and so we had a couple of these sitting around so with a few modifications he was able to put this seat in it looks nicer and it's way more comfortable and it's still an air seat so that was pretty pretty nice for when we're riding around so the couch we have here this is where I ride when he's driving and our dog will sometimes pretty much just sit right here behind the driver's seat and our cat sits up on this pillow and this is a really cozy place to hang out and also it makes a really comfortable spot for when we're driving the back does open so there is storage back here and it locks in place for when we are driving and then this lifts up and then there's storage under here as well and also under here is where we keep our solar inverter which is why there's this vent right here because that just keeps basically just keeps it so that everything has plenty of airflow and ventilation we also have this toolbox that this was a toolbox that Adam had at our old house and he really wanted to find a way to incorporate it into the bus build because it's really convenient it has all of these really easy drawers that with one flip of the switch everything locks and stays secure when we're driving so he basically took the top off of it and built it into this space and it fits really perfectly and again it's great because we can just lock the doors when we're driving and we don't have any issues we have these knobs over here that we repurposed they're actually from the drivers area where it's just some of those electrical knobs and switches and we kept some and we just thought they were really kind of really cool light switches so these are really fun and then we also ended up keeping some of the plastic bluebird lighting that was in the School Bus and we really like these and to be honest we kind of wish we had kept more and installed more of them throughout the bus because they make really nice lights there's new LED bulbs in there and yeah so these are really great if you're doing a school bus conversion we would totally recommend putting some of those in the other lights that we put up here we have a light on either wall and they're both on their own switch so that basically if you're sitting here and reading or if you're here and Adams may be doing some artwork or something like that you don't have to have both lights on you can just have the one on that you need and we chose these particular lights because in a lot of the school bus conversions people put those really beautiful light fixtures but the bulb is exposed and we found those to be really harsh in our eyes because when you're in a bus everything is a little bit more eye level and kind of in your face and in a traditional home you're like sconces and stuff those are usually up higher and so you don't notice how bright the bulb is we notice how bright those bulbs are when we were doing shopping for our fixtures so we got these because the bulb is covered so it's not blinding you in the face but the light comes in through the top the bottom and the sides so these are really nice lights we're really happy with them and it still brightens up everything without blinding you the other thing that we have up here would be this the bookcase that we built so we both are big readers and this is kind of Adams bookcase and everything stays put really well some people kind of do those cabinets up there and we thought about that but we really needed bookshelf space so that's what we ended up doing here and then we also have these in wall speakers that they're actually from our old house and we just took them out before we sold the house and we're able to put them in here and now our sound system is set up so that if somebody's up here and wants to just have music on or if we want to put something on while we're driving we can actually just turn these speakers on and then there's nothing playing in the rest of the bus so that's really nice for if Adam wants to be up here and have some like meditation music on or if we just want to listen to an audiobook or music while we're driving so that's pretty much this whole area we love it up here this is Adams kind of man cave and it's it's a nice space so we'll kind of keep moving backwards okay so this is the only area where we actually have any walls in the bus and we decided to actually split up our closets so this is kind of our bathroom and closet area of the bus we have a kind of a his-and-hers closet set up so when you first come into this area out of the front of the bus we have Adams closet there's a top shelf where he can have baskets of some of his smaller clothes we have closed that hang and then he's got some storage space on this shelf down here behind the clothes is where we have our solar kind of electric panels and things like that they're really accessible still when we need to maintain anything or just check on stuff and then underneath here is where we actually have the solar batteries kept and this bottom shelf slides out and it's really easy to access all of that if you're interested in seeing our solar setup and how we kind of put everything together we do have a video that Adam put together that's all about our solar setup so we'll put a link to that in the description so you can check that out if you're interested in learning more about that part of our bus build across from Adam's closet is our composting toilet area we just have a curtain we just basically reuse the curtain from one of the windows in our house we chose not to do doors because at the end of the day you're in 240 square feet there's really not that much privacy whether you have a door or curtain and doors tend to tend to take up a little bit more space so we really liked this option we also decided to build our own composting toilet we really couldn't justify spending a thousand dollars on those pre-made ones so we have a urine diverter that we purchased and we've got a urine jug in the front and then we have a bucket in the back for the solids we have a vinegar water spray that we use we spray the urine area out after we've used the bathroom so it's really easy to keep clean this side lifts up and once where we keep our peat moss this side lifts up and that's where we can keep extra storage of like toilet paper and other items this is also another spot where we reuse some of those fun little knobs from the front electrical panel so these are our light switches for the bus and that's where we have another one of our bluebird lights up here and there is also a composting toilet fan that's kind of always on it doesn't really use any of our solar energy so that knob is always out because we always have that fan on next to the composting toilet is my closet it's just a little bit bigger than Adams but generally setup the same I have one top shelf here my hanging clothes and then I have baskets on the bottom across from the closet is our shower we do have a full 32 inch by 32 inch shower pan and then we've got those kind of waterproof walls put in and this is a really great little shower area we didn't really have to sacrifice much space or height the window opens if you want to get in a lot of airflow we also have a skylight here we have two skylights in the bus this is one of them this one is one of the ones it's the one that opens so when we take a shower we just open up that skylight a little bit let's all the steam out from the shower and it kind of just vents everything really easily we actually hang our toiletries just in one of these little mesh bags and it keeps things basically just dries everything out really easily it keeps it up off the floor out of the way and the shower is also a really great spot to keep your dog water because when it spills well it's already in the shower so it's easy to clean up so we'll kind of move on into the kitchen area and show you the rest of the bus so the front part of our bus is actually a hardwood floor we bought finished plywood and then cut them into the plank sizes that we wanted and just installed it that way it was more affordable about eighty dollars than buying those packs of the click together flooring and we really like how it looks we did put a sealant on it so that it can handle all the traffic of people walking on it and the dogs walking on it but anyway that's another option for you instead of buying those click together floor options this is kind of the back half of the bus here is kind of the living area this kind of what we would refer to it as we have a really big pantry we've got baskets up top here these don't fall down while we're driving everything stays put really easily the second shelf Adam actually put these pieces of wood in that make it so it's the perfect width for these mason jars since I like to do a lot of mason jar storage and bulk food when I have the opportunity we have a third shelf and then on the bottom here is where we have our pet food storage and behind the pet food storage is where the litter box is so the litter box is out of the way kind of out of sight but it's also really easy to access it to clean and just do with general cat box maintenance next to the pantry we have a refrigerator this was an item that we really didn't want to have to sacrifice size for our refrigerator it's a ten point one it does fit out the emergency exit door if we ever have to replace it for some reason but because we eat a lot of vegetables our rabbits eat vegetables we didn't want to have to get a mini fridge which obviously you're really limited on space and then those chest refrigerator options where you have to dig through and pull everything out to get to that one item that you need this was what we chose to do and I think it fits into the space really easily across from that area we have our kitchen sink this is actually a really nice big sink people comment on this quite often because we were not interested I really didn't want to have to deal with one of those tiny RV sinks the tiny house sinks and to kind of show that you don't have to give up some of the I don't know your daily comforts of everyday living to live in a school bus so we got a really great deal on the sink from a warehouse that was just trying to clear out some of their inventory and so this was only about $60 and we got the faucet for $20 and it's a really fun shape and makes it so it's really easy for all the cooking and doing of dishes underneath the sink is where we have our hot water heater and our water filter again it's really accessible for if anything needs to be made you know have any maintenance done or the water filters need to get changed and then it's also kind of extra storage over here we have a really big drawer it's where we pretty much keep all of our dishes we got rid of that you know big multi-person huge dish sets that we used to have and just replaced it with Carrell we have four bowls four plates and just say you know a couple of miscellaneous cups and mugs and that's really all that you need for your daily living and it all fits really well in this drawer along with our pet food bowls underneath is where we have our pullout garbage and recycle again it's kind of tucked away really easily pretty adamant about trying to recycle when we're on the road and this allows me to kind of be able to do that all of the drawers and everything that all of our storage area basically have these little locks of they're kind of various depending on what drawer or cabinet it is and then the garbage just sees input with the bungee so when we're driving everything can get kind of locked in place and nothing opens and comes flying while we're going around a corner above this countertop we have a shelf it's just we're kind of keep our towel storage everything's up out of the way but really tidy and easy to access when we're doing dishes and stuff like that coming back here a little bit we have our dinette area Adam built this really nice table that actually lifts off and we can put it on the back bed if we want to do a movie night or a game night or something like that and then both of these dinette seats actually have three different storage compartments on each one and so one of them is this little pop open cabinet it's really deep it goes all the way back there so it allows us to store kind of our Seltzer waters and extra water bottles the back opens up and and it provides actually a really nice big storage area this particular one is kind of like my bathroom toiletry area and then the seats open up as well on both sides and has a really big deep compartment for storage of items there we chose to actually put this dinette seat here for the particular reason of the fact that it's where the emergency exit door is and so on a nice day you can open the door up and have that kind of fresh air and and that view but you also have this really big window right here so it's kind of like dinner with a view every night so we really like the placement of this and all the storage that it does allow for and we do have a hanging light as well with a little light switch there it kind of brightens up the area when you're cooking at night across from the dinette is this other really big counter space this particular counter space is probably a little bit bigger than some of the other school bus conversions and that is because we don't have a built in stove and oven so we've got really big storage area here this kind of little cabinet that kind of a catch-all for any kitchen and pet supply stuff and it just locks really easily so when we're driving nothing can come out and on the bottom here which is kind of the reason we don't have a stove built in is because we have two bunnies that's Piper and Sirius Black is over here so this is the bunny hutch these guys come out multiple times a day so that they can run around and just be kind of crazy this is their little cardboard box area they really like their construction zone on the cardboard boxes so we keep a little stash of cardboard boxes on the bus for them and the bunny's liking to run around and play and be crazy and then our dog being kind of a senior and having sensitive joints that's one of the reasons why we have the carpet we have kind of the carpeted area in our bus the carpet was free the pad and installation was really inexpensive but it makes everything a little bit homier and it's just better for our animals so we went that route with kind of our unique flooring in the kitchen area just to mention we do have this one single burner that's a really easy portable burner for we kind of use this most of the time and we have a camp chef oven which I'll show you in a second but we have this maxxair fan in the kitchen and this turns on it has a hood on it so if it's raining the rain can't come in but it has multiple settings you can have it so that the air is blowing out blowing in however you want and it really creates a nice airflow in here so that's one of the items we do turn that on whenever we're cooking at night which brings me back to our camp chef oven that we have we will put a link in the description for this particular camp chef oven we really like this it has two burners on top so if we need a second or third burner while cooking and then it has this oven that we have found that we can do anything you can do with a regular oven with this we have the little pizza stone for it so we can roast our vegetables we can make our pizzas baked cookies bread anything like that and it's portable so we do have it over here typically on the other side of the kitchen counter and we can actually move this outside on a hot day and cook outside which is always really nice or just leave it inside and and cook indoors with it and then it's not taking up all that kind of valuable kitchen storage Bunny space for us one of the things we don't have in our bus is a wood stove yet we are gonna get one we just haven't totally landed on our make and model so for now what we actually use and again we'll put a link to the description in this for this particular heater it's a Honeywell heater and this little guy right here is a great alternative if you don't want to do the wood stove or for some reason you can't and you have a lecture cook up we can use our generator and run this for a little while if we need to as well but it basically heats up this whole bus really quickly if it's even 30 degrees outside we can turn this thing on high for an hour and it's really warm in here so it's a great alternative if you need one like that or you just want to have a heater as a backup in your bus will again put the link for it in our description of this video so that you can check it out yourself moving back here a little bit more to where Oakley is hanging out we have two sets of cabinets on this side we have kind of what is like our office area where we just kind of keep the general office supplies and a portable printer and then on the top we have this skinny little shelf where we can keep like that pizza stone I was mentioning and some other like you know bakeware and things like that and then across from that is where we have our TV and kind of media cabinet so we have our board games the equipment that runs the TV in the sound system and everything our DVD collection all of that and then we have our TV which we sold our old TV and use the profits to buy this one since it's smaller and it pulls out and we can turn it to the side I have a tendency to like to put on like a TV show or a movie or something when I'm cooking or doing meal prep so it's nice I can turn the TV and actually watch something over here or when we do our movie nights we can actually just tilt the TV and go this direction and then we have a really nice movie night we have two built-in wall speakers that kind of power the TV you also have the speakers on the TV as well of course but we have these speakers in our old home so we took them out before we sold the house and put them in here so it makes movie nights really nice grates great sound for for watching the back of the bus is our bedroom we have a king-size bed we've always had a king-size bed and we didn't want to have to downsize when we moved into the bus when you lift this whole platform up there's two water tanks 46 gallons each and there's one on either side and then down the center is kind of extra storage so all the stuff you don't need to access all the time is under here so we can just lift this up fill our water tanks access the storage whatever we need to do and then the very back of the bus is kind of our reading and book nook area the carpet is carried back there so the carpet installer actually put the pad and the carpet all along that ledge and then brought it down so that's kind of acts I label headboard and it's the book nook but it's also kind of the cat area because she really likes to hang out there and then I have my bookshelf up there there's little pieces of wood on either end of the books kind of adding acting as bookends but it also keeps the books from moving around when we are driving and then there is a lip on that shelf and above our bed we do have another skylight that skylight unfortunately doesn't open we might end up replacing it with an opening one at some point but for now that's at least allows a lot of light in and it's a little bit nicer than just having those emergency hatches we also chose in our bus to leave all of the windows we didn't replace any of them or take any of them out we did take them all out clean them reseal them and then we reinstalled all of them and there are windows screens on almost all of the windows now Adam did make a really great tutorial video on how to make screens for your bus windows and we'll put a link to that video in the description box so that you can check that out when you're needing to build your screens out he made that really great video and one of the things people do comment on when they come in our bus it's just all the light that comes in here it stays really cool because you can crack the windows let the breeze in you have all this daylight and it just makes for a really cozy home thank you for watching our school bus conversion tour we really hope you enjoyed seeing around Luna and seeing some of the unique things that we decided to do with our bus build we're very grateful for having done this bus conversion ourselves not only did it allow us to completely design the bus and create it exactly how we wanted it but it saved us quite a bit of money from having to hire somebody else to do it if you liked this video make sure and give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to see more videos from us in the future and don't forget to hit the bell icon so you receive notifications when that happens again thank you very much for watching the video and we hope to see you again thank you [Music] okay so we hope you enjoyed [Music] can you contain yourself are you ready edit try [Music]

Channel: Soulful Bus Life

Views: 940,622

Rating: 4.9081984 out of 5

Keywords: soulful bus life, school bus conversion, skoolie, bus conversion, blue bird, tiny house, DIY, self converted, vegan couple, sustainable, full time travel, full time RV, minimalism, minimalistic living

Id: so1roS0E6qw

Length: 23min 49sec (1429 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 17 2019