For me, this is the fun part. I always wanted to build my own house. Even as a child, I would sketch out floor plans and draw house elevations and ideas. The likelihood that I would ever get the chance to do that was a long shot at best. (Spending 30 years wandering from job to job while you focus on trying to become a famous Musician, as it turns out, isn't the path to financial freedom... Who knew?) Building out a Bus, however, presented a real opportunity to make it happen. Long before I was serious about this lifestyle I was already drawing out Skoolie Plans, Tiny House Plans, and had actually done several Van Conversions over the years (the first one, before I was even old enough to drive).

Have you seen that common design of a table top that drops between 2 storage-benches to form a bed when the back cushions are folded into the middle? I'm not sure if I Invented that, but I built one into the back of an old Econoline sometime around 1982. - I also once used a stolen park bench for a couch in a van. (I didn't, personally, steal it, but it looked really cool!) In all, I have spent Far too Many Hours over the years playing around with different Bus Conversion and Van Conversion ideas, moving fixtures, furniture, and walls to fit various design scenarios and purposes.

The reason I tell you all of that is to drive home the point that you will probably make design mistakes. I have, and I still do. After literally dozens of RV Builds, and countless hours, sketching plans, eventually graduating to software, and actually being paid to design and build multiple conversions for other people, I've become an expert in cramming functional items into small spaces. Even so, sometimes it still just doesn't work.

The truth is, whatever you're envisioning right now, that really cool design that you see in your mind's eye, that “dream house on wheels”, ultimately, might not fit into the space (at least not perfectly). It will be too cramped to function, it will be surprisingly uncomfortable, or you'll constantly bang your head on a shelf that seemed perfectly plausible when you put it there. -And That's Okay. - This is a process of trial and error.

The first thing you need to understand is that your initial Design is really just a “Rough Draft”. You'll need to do that rough draft for the purposes of choosing a Rig, and to decide how much space you're going to need, but even so, your design will almost certainly change (many times) before you finally hit The Road.

Before you can really start putting your plan together, you need to understand the size of things. -Actual Sizes of Actual Things. - For example, a Queen Size Mattress is 60” Wide by 81” Long. This doesn't include the headboard. A closet has to be at least 18” deep for it to comfortably hold a clothes hangar without tweaking it sideways. 20 hangars holding light T-Shirts take up about 9” in width if you want to be able to pull them out one at a time, and countertops are 24” deep because most kitchen sinks fit neatly into a 24” space (or vice versa). As you consider each and every item you are going to include in your Build, go around your house with a measuring tape and be realistic about how much room it actually takes for it to function properly, and for you to use it comfortably.

You'll also need to figure out what items you absolutely need to include in the first place. The smallest bathroom in your house is probably 5' by 7', or a little bigger. In a Bus or a Van, you might be looking at 3' by 3' (if you have a bathroom at all). If you stand at your kitchen sink and stretch your arms out in both directions you are looking at the average Total Counter Space for a Van or an RV. - The trick is in how you use the space, and how you make a single space do multiple things. The table you eat on is also extra counter space to prepare food, as well as a place to sit and work on your laptop. Drop it down between 2 benches (as mentioned before) and it's a bed… The list goes on and on.

You've no doubt noticed that the floor plans in the Bus Tour and Van Tour videos that you've been watching tend to be very similar in layout. The decor is different, but the space is often very much the same (right down to the “shoe cubby” by the front door). There's a reason for this. Ultimately, it’s due to the fact that a Bus or Van only presents a very limited space to work with. Many, many people have put many, many hours into optimizing these spaces for Full Time RV Living, and they’ve more or less got the most efficient use of space figured out.

That being said, you don't have to go with the “cookie cutter” plan that you see over and over again on YouTube. True, it might be easier to start by copying your favorite design and making a few adjustments to make your Space your own, but don't be afraid to take chances. Play around with different ideas. The bed doesn't have to be in the back. The shower doesn't have to be behind the driver's seat. You're not required to have a fold out couch/bed/lounge to the left of the door of your Bus. Your kitchen doesn't have to hang out halfway across the sliding door of your Van. - Get creative. It's a “rough draft”, remember?

Graph paper is fine, but you will eventually want to use some software to do your design. The links to the right are some functional and inexpensive House Design products, which will even let you view the layout in 3D! (They're fun and relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it.) I typically design a “house” the size of the actual Build Space of a Bus or Van, then start plugging in cabinets, fixtures, furniture, etc. The software “builds” them in real, practical (standard) sizes, so you'll get an idea of the true space needed for, say, an ottoman (or a Toilet, more to the point). You can usually make minor adjustments to the sizes, but I caution against getting too carried away on this. Measure the closest thing you have to the item in your house, think about the space required to use it, the space you need to walk around it, and how far it needs to be from other things (like a wood-stove). A Composting Toilet may only be 20” wide by 19” Deep, but it actually needs to sit a few inches off the wall, and you need to consider how much room you need for your shoulders and knees when you're sitting on it. Additionally, while the hallway in your house or apartment is usually 3 feet wide, RV designers regularly cheat that down a bit. That’s fine, but remember to leave enough room for your doors and drawers to swing open. Also, if you constantly have to turn sideways to squeeze through an area, it will get really old really fast.

What is this “Build Space” to which you refer? - I'm glad you asked. - We had a really difficult a time finding true dimensions of the inside of Buses and Vans when we first started, so we made the chart to the left. (Click to enlarge.) The truth is, sizes vary a little from type to type, and from manufacturer to manufacturer. The drawings are a little rough and not exactly to scale, but the numbers are pretty accurate, and quite sufficient for design purposes. Keep in mind that Buses and Vans aren’t “square”. Corners tend to be rounded and walls tend to tilt inward. Of course, once you have your Rig, your Rough Draft will change with the exact dimensions in hand. Plus, you'll know where the wheel wells are, the slope of the ceiling, and the actual size of the doors and windows.

It should go without saying, but before you start hammering and screwing things into place, understand that you are nowhere near ready to do that, yet. We've talked about setting up the fixtures, closets and furniture, and that's certainly the fun part, but your design has to include space for the “Nuts and Bolts”, “The Guts” or “The Systems” that make it all work. Where will you mount your Batteries? How many Batteries? Solar Panels? Charge Controller? Inverter? What about the Sink Drain? Grey Water Tank? Fresh Water? Plumbing? Water Heater? Propane? - In order to do all of that, you need to have at least a basic understanding of how it all works and how much of it you'll need. The next few Blogs address the different Systems (So la r, Wa te r, Prop ane) and some Unique Design Ideas. Be sure you go through them all (while playing with the design software) before you start pounding it all into place.

In the end, designing and building your conversion will probably be one of the best, hardest, most painful, most rewarding, and confidence-building things you will ever do. You will be talking about it more than you can imagine. Once on The Road, you will discuss it with almost every Vagabond or Full Time Nomad you meet. It will be a sense of pride and accomplishment for years to come. Sure, it's a lot to take in, it’s a lot to do, and it’s a lot to learn, but you really can do it!