Reno’s – Progress So Far

With the seats out, we marked out on the floor our designs.  We stuck tape to the floor to visualise our design, pulled, it up again to move and reposition.  This happened a few times as we tossed ideas around until we eventually decided on our final design.  Over the months we had had plenty of discussions about what we wanted in the bus, we just now needed to fit it in.  You would think in a 12.5 mt bus there would be plenty of space, well there is but we didn’t want congestion.  There were a few things we weren’t prepared to compromise on:

• Full queen-size bed
• Separate shower (we had a joint shower/toilet in Merlin and this was not for us for fulltime living)
• Pilot seat up front beside the driver – I didn’t want to be sitting behind the driver on a lounge
• Dedicated pantry
• Decent sized sink
• Locks on all cupboards/fridge etc (a few times in Merlin when driving cupboards and the fridge have flung open resulting in everything being spread all over the floor – not cool!)
• Flat floor with full head height

Our end design split the bus into 3 sections- Bedroom at the back, bathroom in the centre with the remainder an open plan kitchen/dining/living space.  We decided to position the bathroom off to one side to allow privacy to the bedroom without the need to have doors.  We will only have 1 door inside, that being on the bathroom – we figured this was a must for when we have visitors.

Note: the above picture is actually a video (sorry new to this) if it doesn’t play here you can right click and play in a new window. Please try.

Bedroom

Now our bus has the motor housed at the back so our bed will be set on top of the motor.  This means we have 3 levels or step ups.  We are not going to build this up to be flat but instead build our bed over top and utilise the space underneath for storage.  The bed will go along the bus, not across.  I really want to be able to walk on either side of the bed for ease of making it as well as wanting Fred to get about without hitting his head on the ceiling.  One of my pet hates in our smaller bus was having to climb on the bed to make it.  As the bathroom wall will section off  two thirds in front of the bed, we are going to utilise this space for clothes storage; hanging and drawers.  Access to the bedroom will be via a hallway nestled along the side of the bus.

Bathroom

The bathroom will be simplistic, shower, toilet and basin.  Fred discovered a bargain on Ebay, a 900mm x 900mm shower screen in great condition for $40 with the added bonus of being just around the corner from home.  We had already decided to have a shower base of 900mm square so this was perfect.  We picked up our shower base from Bunnings, a very light weight model.  This will be setup just inside on the right hand side of the room.  Beside this alongside the wall of the bus will be our compost toilet.  We decided to go with a compost toilet to minimise our water usage plus we didn’t want to be pumping out tanks or cassettes.  We will have a corner basin and that’s the bathroom done and dusted. 

Kitchen/Dining/Living

We want this area to be open and welcoming but to flow easily into the back areas.  It was a no brainer that we would start the kitchen from the bathroom wall.  We have elected for one bench top with the sink and cooktop set in and full drawers underneath.  To allow for the offset hallway to the bedroom, we are putting the pantry and fridge across from the bench which will provide more privacy for the back but also allow for our relaxation area to spread out in the remainder of the bus.  This area will be made up of the pilot seat at the front door beside a funky tv cabinet that Fred has built.  Attached to the middle of this cabinet will be our dining table, which has the ability to fold down and set inside on a riser is the TV.  Another pilot chair (actually these are 2^nd row seats from a Honda Oddessy) will be on the other side of the table beside the cabinet.  This cabinet also has cubby holes which will be utilised for storage and to hide our shoes at the front door.  Across from here will be a lounge that we are yet to build.  If I have done my math right there will be enough room between the TV cabinet and pantry for my wine barrel. – an essential item lol!

What we have done so far

To date we have concentrated on the inside of the bus.  We have removed the carpet from the ceiling and walls and replaced it with pvc tongue and groove panelling – very lightweight and looks fab!  We have put down a floating floor which is clip lock panels with a grey gum finish – again fab!  Fred has built the bed frame repurposing an existing bed from our house.  This is in place, just waiting on the struts to arrive to finish.  He has also built the bathroom frame and attached the shower base to the floor. I have tinted the windows, this was a job and a half due to the size of the windows and I had to enlist Fred’s help – which could of landed us in the divorce courts lol!  Just between you and me, I discovered I could do it better alone.