Rustic School Bus Conversion

Hi! I'm Chelle and this is the 97' International 7.3 school bus I spent a year converting and getting to the point I could re-register it as a motorhome in Texas. When possible I reused what I already had or could find on craigslist. I salvaged wood and other materials myself when I came across them and purchased everything else a little at a time as I needed and/or could afford.  

The bus is wired to run off either campground hook-ups or gas generator. It's set-up for boondocking without a generator as well. For camping off-grid I have solar lights, solar hot water, a propane cook burner, propane Mr Buddy heater, woodstove, Coleman outdoor oven and a BBQ grill. At campgrounds I plug into shore power, and only need 30 amps to run the large roof mounted a/c unit. I use my dorm refrigerator, crock pot, toaster oven, electric hot plate, coffee maker, lamps, fans, heated blanket, electric heater, and Coleman roof top air conditioner. 

The peace sign I painted on the storage box is symbolic of how long I've wanted to do this. I've been dreaming about traveling the country in a converted school bus since I was a kid and a magnificent smoke belching, monstrosity of crazy colors and peace signs pulled into the gas station next to us. I was fascinated both by the bus and the young people inside. A girl with flowers in her hair saw me gawking at her. She hopped out smiling and handed me me the biggest most perfect peach I had ever seen. I questioned Dad for the next few miles as I ate my peach. He said they were "hippies". From what I gathered 'hippies' didn't have real jobs or houses, preferring instead to live in a bus, like they were camping all the time, just going wherever they want. I doubt it was his intention but the whole lifestyle sounded 'right on' to me! I decided I wanted to be a hippie and live in a school bus! 

I wanted my bus to feel like a tiny home. I kept all the windows. The cuttains hang on cables the length of the bus, and I've sewn magnets into the sheers to easily toss them up and move around. I use a vintage potty I picked up at an antique fair, for midnight 'emergencies'. 

I picked up a used cabinet, replaced the damaged top with plywood, and covered the stains on the doors with color, then covered the whole thing a dark walnut to get a look liked. 

My carpentry skills matched my budget - both 'light', so I was mindful to keep my design simple, and serious carpentry work minimal. I used 3/4 insulation board and 1/2" construction grade plywood for the floors. The walls were insulated and finished with pine plank wainscoting. 

Awesome deck right? Well it was illegal. With some help I cut it down. It's safe, legal, and there is still enough room to swing the back door open all the way, store a generator, etc. The rails can be removed for loading, and gate drops down to use as steps.

  

The electrical was already done, which was the part of the conversion I had the most concern about. It had low miles, a new Coleman rv air conditioner insalled, all but 4 seats had been removed, it had a large rear deck, new tires, and string lights. The ceiling was spray painted black and a brand new refrigerator which reeked of cinnamon schnapps! I'm sure she was destined to be a party bus before I got her.  

Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin

There's a little place that sells Derksen portable buildings in Dayton and I always have a hard time passing it by, without stopping to roam thru the cabins and sheds, whenever I venture to town. Last week we stopped by again and got more information about the options and pricing of these little darlings.

This is a Derksen Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin. This one is 12'x30', the smallest of their 'Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin' style which come as large as 16'x32'. It's the most expensive style with the unique corner porch and bumped out windows, but also eats up more interior square footage than the others.

The price is $7,925 before tax, free delivery within 50 miles. It comes standard with 2 lofts, but the lofts are high and have little headroom above them. Optional extras to make the lofts more usable would cost extra. 8' walls are $500, lower loft (which come standard at wall height) $100 each. You can add more windows, 2x3's are $75 and 3x3' windows $100, a 2nd door is $200. So there's lots of options.
I was asked to check the 'rent-to-own' deal, so here's how it works. Monthly payments would be apx $360 for 36 months. Each month $260 of the payment goes to pay down the principle and $100 goes to 'rent'. I believe the down payment was one month's rent, and there is no penalty for early pay-off.

I found it difficult to arrange an interior lay-out that functioned well for us. It's hard to use that bumped out space. Possibly a kitchen/eating area, maybe a large built in window seat and extra bed. You'll notice I don't have ladders or stairs figured out. The door being so far into the cabin is awkward as well, in my opinion at least. 

 These are photos of the same style cabin only 4 feet longer at 12x34. They can be finished out really nice. The bathroom is behind the kitchen, and bedroom beyond at the end of the back of the cabin.

Nook in the front of cabin

Barn Loft Guest Apt - Collage

This a collage of the studio apt we built in the loft of our barn. It's just one part of a whole 'off-grid backyard retreat' we're working on. We'll be adding a bathroom to the barn and a funky greenhouse/outdoor shower that can use conventional or solar hot water. Someday we plan to build us a tiny sustainable off-grid home, so in the meantime we're learning and trying to become more sustainable here. We've been hit by two hurricanes since we moved here - both times going more than five weeks without power. We'll add a few more tiny cabins/sleeping quarters that use solar and other alternative energy. In the aftermath of another hurricane and power outage we'll move out of the big house, and into our backyard retreat, where we can efficiently generate enough renewable energy to keep our tiny cabins lit, cooled, completely functional with or without city utilities.

More photos here...

I love Pickmoney it's a photo editing site. You can create collages and nice Pinterest pins too. Here's another using the same photos.

The Essay House at Tiny Texas Houses

It felt strange to pack my truck for a week-long workshop at Tiny Texas Houses. It was the first time I've been anywhere alone in a long time. I looked forward to attending the building-with-salvage workshop in Luling by Tiny Texas Houses and also some time just for me.


Though I packed my tent prepared to camp, Brad offered me the little writer's cabin they call the Essay House for my stay. It's a sweet little cabin in the back and like all his tiny houses - it's built with love and 99% pure salvage.

I woke that first morning imagining this is what it must have felt like to be a settler on the Texas frontier. A fog had rolled in during the night, I could just make out the faint shape of deer taking advantage of the cover the fog offered. 

The cabin has no electricity or water right now, though it's fully equipped for it when it finds it's final resting place. I enjoyed sitting and napping on the porch. It feels especially remote tucked in among the Prickly Pear Cactus and Mesquite trees, shrouded in morning fog.

A ladder leads up to the loft and bed. Everything you could need packed into a tiny space that still managed plenty of room to move around.

It has a kitchen and a drop down table for writing or meals.

A shower and a tiny sink of course. There's a shuttered pocket door to hide the the bathroom while still allowing a sweet cross breeze thru the house.
It was very easy to imagine living in this tiny house. A simple life unburdened by all the non-essential 'crap'. A home like this would beg you spend time outside too.

Designs for a Loophole Cabin - 1

If you have Google's free SketchUp program
you can download this 3D file for a virtual 'walk-thru' here:

Loopholer Cabin - Tin Gables

The idea behind this design is it allows the option to build this house in 3 phases, but livable once the center unit with sleeping loft is complete. The bedroom and living room units could be added later.

I designed these with SketchUp and 'skinned' it with the very rustic materials I have available here now, rusty tin and salvaged barnwood. I should have stopped and got a screenshot of the basic floor plan before I got this far but no doubt this is just the first of many arrangements, styles, and materials. Next time I'll get a screenshot of the floor-plan.

Three rooms with a loft in the middle. NO, those are not skylights! Lol. I cut panels out to see inside. 

I added a false 'western' style front to the top mostly because I'm a pioneer at heart, and I struggled to get a rounded roof to overhang properly.... . I gave it a name and added a Texas star just because it needed something. I should have called it Rusty Ranch, maybe the next one.