School Bus Turned Tiny Home Boasts an Open Concept Interior With a Space-Efficient Design

Van life involves a form of minimalism, as camper vans aren't large enough to fit all the things you have in a conventional home. Actually, a form of minimalism is involved with any tiny home on wheels.

However, if you're looking for as much real estate as possible, consider a school bus conversion rather than one based on a van. Another option is renovating an RV or a fifth-wheel trailer – here's an example of what that could look like.

Meet Sarah and Eric, the owners and converters of a 2008 Ford E-450 with a 6.0-liter diesel engine. Their goals with this project were to keep things as simple as possible, create an open floor plan, and make sure their rig was off-grid ready. As you'll soon see, they checked all the boxes with this skoolie.

As always, I'll start the tour with the rig's exterior. A roof raise is one of the most popular upgrades when converting school buses into tiny homes. In this couple's case, they didn't need one because the bus is a Collins style, meaning its roof is taller compared to standard versions.

The vehicle measures 24 feet (7.3 meters) bumper to bumper, so it offers a lot of interior space while also fitting in a standard parking spot with a bit of overhang. What's more, this is a handicap-accessible bus, meaning it has an extra door on the passenger side.

At the rear, you'll discover a hitch, a top-mounted bike rack, a storage box, and a ladder. Climb on top of the vehicle, and you'll find a sizeable roof deck holding surfboards and another storage box. Other notable roof features are four 100 W solar panels, a Dometic vent fan, and a chimney stack.

Step inside, and you'll notice the interior's open floor layout, allowing you to see until the very rear of the bus. Sarah and Eric made the living space feel open and roomy by not separating the interior areas.

The couple made a few significant modifications to the front of the bus. They installed a foldable chair with a seatbelt for the passenger and added a basket and upper shelves. Furthermore, they fitted two curtains for more privacy, one for the entrance and one for the windshield.

There's also an upper cabinet above the driver's seat that houses the skoolie's power system. Its highlights are a 2,000 W inverter, two 200 Ah gel batteries, and a charge controller connected to the 400 W solar panels on the roof.

Regarding aesthetics, the duo opted for a bright look with white cabinetry, a white slatted ceiling, vinyl flooring that imitates wood, and various wooden accents, such as the countertops and tabletops. Moreover, you can open a window, pull the shower head through it, and attach it to the vehicle's body to enjoy an outdoor shower.

Behind the driver's seat, you'll discover this rig's bathroom/ wet room. It comprises galvanized steel walls, an extendable curtain rod that doubles as a drying rack, a shower, and a Nature's Head composting toilet.

Next to the bathroom, a floor-to-ceiling unit provides storage for clothes via four cubbies and a hanging closet. Amazingly, it houses all the couple's clothes - it's not that the storage unit is huge, but rather that the couple downsized to very few clothes.

On the other side, the kitchen is surprisingly large and takes up most of the passenger side. It features a deep stainless steel sink with a flexible faucet, a built-in Dometic two-burner stove, and an Iceco chest-style refrigerator.

The couple has several options for kitchen storage, including cabinets, drawers, and three overhead cabinets. There's also a ton of counter space, allowing them to prep multiple dishes at a time. What's more, ventilation isn't an issue - the two have a Dynamic fan above the kitchen, which will draw smells out, especially when you also open the front and rear doors.

Between the kitchen and the handicap access door, Sarah and Eric attached a live-edge piece of wood to the wall, which holds a Bubic Mini wood stove. In larger buses, like the 40-foot (12.2-meter) ones, a mini wood stove is typically not enough to heat the entire living space.

However, in a bus like this, the wood stove will do the job and also serve as a nice aesthetic touch. Moreover, since it's right next to the bedroom, the couple will have plenty of heat while sleeping. Also, imagine turning all the lights off at night and just letting the wood stove light the surroundings while you lay in bed, listening to the wood crackle. Sounds lovely, right?

Opposite the wood stove, Sarah and Eric devised a seating area with a bench, two overhead cabinets for extra storage, and a large table. It's the perfect spot to enjoy a meal or work on your laptop. Moreover, a portable bench nearby allows them both to sit at the table.

Most skoolies I've covered here on autoevolution have a fixed bed at the rear. Well, not this one – Sarah and Eric devised a clever solution that allows them to have more walking space and sit more guests.

They created a sort of Murphy bed. I said "sort of" since the bed can be lifted upright to the wall, but there's also a couch next to it that supports it when it's lowered. The couch is large enough to accommodate three people, even four. Moreover, it houses a 55-gallon (208-liter) freshwater tank and the couple's snowboards.

To deploy the bed, Sarah and Eric must remove the cushions, open the two doors leading to the storage space underneath the couch, and then lower the bed, which will rest on the couch and the two doors underneath. Furthermore, a panel can then be flipped open to make the bed frame queen-size.

Finally, the rear wall has two USB outlets, a laundry chute on one side, and a long shelf with a lip that doubles as an overhead nightstand.

All in all, Sarah and Eric created an ultra-functional tiny home on wheels. What makes their effort even more impressive is that they finished the project in a mere three months. I love the open concept, the cleverly designed bed, and the fact that they still kept aesthetics in mind when designing this practical living space.