Home office in a short bus?

[Entoman]

My wife and I are hoping to do a skoolie build and are trying to figure out if we can fit everything we want in a short bus so driving and parking won't be anymore difficult than it needs to be. We each have things we make which we are launching businesses with.
We would need an "office" that would accommodate a laser engraver, cricut machine, two printers, a shirt press and a sewing machine.
We would also hope to have a place to sleep, a shower/toilet combo, and some kitchen functionality.
Would it be feasible to accomplish this somehow in a short bus? Perhaps if we were to build upwards and make a loft sleeping space to conserve room for the office on the main level?

 

[nikitis]

How short are we talking?

a 30ft bus is decent and could probably be done with a small kitchen on one side only, and instead of couches up front make your office space there. Bed in the back. You can also park in regular parking spaces in lots with two spaces in parallel with each other which most parking lots do have. Any larger and you cannot without poking into the isle.

If we're talking a short short bus like 4-5 window bus, not without some amazing design trickery to fold and unfold counter spaces, and even with that, there's not a lot of storage for your stuff.

 

[cadillackid]

one of my busses *IS* a mobile office rig.. thats pretty much its purpose in life.. its a 7 window full chassis so a little larger..


I have 4 100 amo hour AGM batteries that I keep charged wit hthe alternator and a portable solar panel (when parked).. or can plug into shore power..


I sleep on an air mattress I toss on the floor if I choose to overnight (rare since I work in the hotel business)..


I carry a portable cassette camping toilet for those times i just gotta go.



the cabinet encompasses one of the road A/C units and also my router / switch / mini server. thre A/C keeps it cool driving and residual cool from the cabinet being cold keeps the equipment cool enough to run even when parked for a long time..



I use a portable A/C if I just have to use A/C while parked.. really I try to find places to park the rig where I can open the doors and windows .. I love my A/C while driving so it has a full engine driven system.


I use a diesel heater connected to the coolant lines.. runningthe bus heater fans to keep warm in winter.. I can have it 80 in there when its 0 outside..



Internet is provided by a Dual-SIM mikrotik router and also (recently) a starlink Mini.



so you can definitely Mobile office in a bus

 

[Slapdash]

What Nikitis and Cadillackid said, but if you want a 4-5 window, you could consider outfitting a small cargo trailer with the office/shop in the trailer. Then you could use the bus separately to pop out without disturbing the other, to go to town for more paper and engraving things and the like. With some electro gubbins shenanigans, you could power both rigs with one system.

 

[Thurmond1317]

I have a 4 window bus, at least 4 windows back from the door, I think that's how it works; but it is a tight fit for everything I want. A wet bathroom takes up at least one and a half windows length if you want to incorporate a toilet in that space. A kitchen sink will also take up about a window worth of space. And If you have a full bed especially that is at a permanent level, you don't have much space for other items. About 2-3 windows length on the opposite side free. If you are comfortable with moving and storing the items every time you want to use them, it's absolutely possible. But of course that depends on how heavy and large everything is.

If you want to maximize your space, I'd look into murphy beds or something like I'm considering and have your bed drop down from the roof with working space underneath it. Just takes some design work and accepting the fact headroom will be pretty non-existent under there.

 

[Albatross]

If you're looking for maximum-minimalism, then incorporating your sewing machine into a table like what used to be done in the old days would make it much easier to fit somewhere. That becomes a bit more difficult if it's something like a Serger machine, or an embroidery machine; as you'll need a lot more access to those machines in order to change out all the spools.



The only Cricut machine I've seen was quite large (around 5'-6'), and although it had a massive base, the machine itself could easily be removed from it's wheeled stand and somehow fit along a wall somewhere.


As far as the laser machines, I've seen, operated, and maintained machines that had 24" x 36" laser operating area and larger... although I'm aware that there are other classes of machines like the Epilogues that come in a much smaller form-factor. So the base of your machine really becomes a big deal in this regard.



As far as printers go, you could easily just put them in a cabinet or something above or below some counter space, assuming that they are something along the lines of a "normal" printer machine, and not some of the super-massive commercial office printers.



My personal bus is a 24', and while I could definitely figure out a way to cram it all in there, it likely wouldn't be comfortable long-term, and it would probably get tiresome taking it out on extended trips and living like that for a week or so at a time. On the other hand, I've been inside a 28' and 30' foot "shortie" bus, and while it's a bit more doable, it also leaves some question as to comfort and habitation.

 

[AlphaHare]

Depends what's a 'short bus'. If you're talking about a cutaway van bus then what you describe is probably pretty tight in a six window, unlikely in a five, and not plausible in a four window.

IMO - it really depends on the sleeping arrangements. If you go with a queen, then you eat up about 65 inches from the rear forward. You can lift it, but you won't be able to go higher than about 36" before it starts feeling cave-like. 36" gives you a huge 'trunk', but hard to access even with slide-outs.

Another option for just 'occasional' sleeping would be a couple single cots on the sides. Hinge them up for day to day, and fold them down only when needed. Still a bit cave-like, but if you could live with that then it opens up a lot of room for equipment.

If you're up for it, a folding tent on the roof is way easier than lifting the roof. Check out the overlanding community and the tent options.

Suggestion: Make a scale drawing and start playing with the layout. Cutaway van busses are about 90" on the inside, and the windows are on a 28.75" spacing. A wider rearmost window is 38.75". Add 10" behind that and you're close enough for sketching.

 

[nikitis]

If you're looking for maximum-minimalism, then incorporating your sewing machine into a table like what used to be done in the old days would make it much easier to fit somewhere. That becomes a bit more difficult if it's something like a Serger machine, or an embroidery machine; as you'll need a lot more access to those machines in order to change out all the spools.

I still have a working Singer from 1958. It was a model that was only made for 2 years but is 100% gear cog driven. Prior to them they were all belt driven. It is pink and shaped like the star trek enterprise. Folds out of the table. Carries everything in a small walnut table with brass fittings. I recently took it all apart and fixed it up and it works like new. It was missing one of it's spoolers so I took one spooler and imaged it and 3D printed a new spooler and now it's complete!