8 Tips for the "Perfect" Floor Plan

The floor plan will single-handedly make or break your bus build. The design you decided on will influence everything from here on out. The layout can ultimately be the biggest influence on if you enjoy living in your build. So there’s quite a bit of pressure, at least that’s how I felt. I drew up/thought out at LEAST 50 different floor plans before I decided on the one I wanted. I debated on whether to put the bed across the back or to one size, could I fit a Queen or did I need to move to a Full, was it worth keeping the wheel chair lift in case I wanted to get a moped or motorcycle? Did a center or S shaped walkway give me the most space? There’s all of these questions and more that go into creating your perfect floor plan. Here are some tips from my personal experience that might be helpful…

1. Put everything that needs water on one side of the bus. This will help you save money on pipe, connections, etc. It will also prevent you from having to figure out where to run the pipe across if you have water needs on both sides of your bus.

2. Put your electricity on the opposite side of the water. One gallon of water weighs about 8lbs. By putting your solar batteries/electrical components on the other side of the bus it will help keep the weight level across the bus. Keeping the weight in the bus level is important so that everything mechanical wears evenly, as well as living in the bus comfortably.

3. Make a list and rank what is most important to you. If having a King or Queen size bed is the most important thing to you, then losing a foot or two in your closet or bathroom might be okay. For me, I needed a lot of closet space, and I wanted a fully functioning bathroom. This meant going from a Queen to a Full size bed, but this might not be the case for your build.

4. Use painter’s tape to measure and visualize your floor plan after you think you’ve decided on a layout. Even if everything is where you want it to be, your measurements might need to be adjusted. This was very helpful to me because I had a hard time visualizing everything on paper. When I finally did tape out my floor plan, I had to adjust how far my couch came out so that there was enough space to walk on the side. Something like shortening the couch a few inches is a small change, but might prevent you from slamming your hip into it everything you walk by, therefore making bus life that much more enjoyable.

5. Consider walking space/height. If you’re on the taller side, and you’ve decided not to do a roof raise, an S shaped floor plan might not be the best idea. If you’re okay leaning while walking for a few inches/feet and you feel that you can do that sustainably, then go for it. My bus height is about 6’2” in the very center, but my taller friends hit their heads when walking around my L shaped couch because of the ceiling curve.

6. Be realistic about what you are willing to sacrifice. Some people are able to roll up their clothes and store them in overhead cabinets in their bedrooms. I am not one of those people. It was important for me to be able to hang up my clothes, because if I can’t see the clothes I have I will forget that they exist. The same is true for if you’re willing to not have a shower, or have a two burner stove instead of a four burner. If you have a bigger family, or love to cook you might be more willing to give up the counter space for a four burner stove. Or to even have a stove that stays in place instead of a portable countertop burner. I’m not a huge cook, and will be alone or with one other person for most of my travels, and so having only two burners wasn’t a deal breaker for me. The same goes with the shower. If you feel comfortable always stopping at truck stops or a planet fitness to shower then maybe you don’t need one in your build. Bus life is supposed to be an enjoyable and sustainable adventure no matter if you’re converting a weekend camper or looking to live full time, so be realistic about what you’re willing to give up to prevent being miserable with your choices in the long run.

7. Give everything storage space. If you’re living in a home, it might be easy to move your current couch onto the bus. The plus side to this choice is that you won’t have to buy a new couch, or build your own. The downside is that you sacrifice a significant amount of storage space. My couch hides the original bus air conditioner that I dropped down from the ceiling, and my 30 gallon water tank. With about another 4’x2’ section of space that I can use for anything. All together the couch provides about 16 square feet of storage, in a space that’s only 200 or so square feet that's a lot of useful space. I also put my fridge on wheels so that it will roll out from underneath the counter, to preserve counter space. If you’re not sure how much storage you need, try to narrow down your stuff into piles of what you have to have, what can go if you have space, and what isn’t necessary. If you can’t do that then just create as much space as possible and go with it.

8. Don’t forget about the wheel wells. This was one of the hardest things for me when I was designing my floor plan. If you have a flat nose bus you might have four wheel wells, luckily I have a dog nose so I only had to deal with two. I easily covered one wheel well by putting my closet and batteries in the space. The other wheel though was right between what is now my bathroom and kitchen. I ended up putting a pantry over half of the wheel well, and putting my toilet on the other half. Many of my floor plans didn’t work out because I couldn’t find a way to manage the wheel wells that I could be happy with long-term.

No matter what, it’s important that your floor plan is perfect for you. I adore my floorplan, it gives me everything that I want, but it’s not perfect for my friend who is 6 '2” and hits his head on the ceiling when walking around the couch. It also may not be perfect for someone who loves cooking, or a family of four. My best advice is to try as many floor plans as possible, even if you like one plan try a few more to make sure your plan is the most efficient.

Thank you and enjoy the Sweet Life!

-Hannah :)