Hey guys, Jenna here, as many of you know,
I love a good female empowerment story.
And so in today's video I'm going to show you how one young woman decided to
convert a shuttle bus into a tiny rolling home and then after living in it for
some time, started her own business,
converting vans for other people.
The inside of Gloria's shuttle bus is simply gorgeous and you'll be able to see
firsthand how she was able to expand the space to feel alike a lot more than
just a tiny home. So let's take a tour.
I'm Gloria and this is the lavender moon bus.
Living in the bus was really incredible because it gave me the flexibility to
move where I wanted to be.
So shuttle bus was the great option for me, number one,
because they're a lot cheaper than vans and number two because there are a lot
wider and taller,
so you're getting so much more space for what you're paying for.
When I bought this bus, it was an electronic mobile shop basically.
So the guy had it all set up with walls and cabinets and things to sell
electronics at it. I tore everything out, gutted it. I put everything in here,
the shower, the kitchen, the plumbing, the electronics.
Completely gutted it and made it what it is now. My dad's a contractor,
so we had done an RV remodel before as one of the first places I ever lived in
when I moved out from living with them.
So getting into a shuttle bus was actually really exciting.
I feel like for all of my friends and families to witness me,
like transforming another space.
So at first when I lived in the bus,
I was just living at my parents' house in the driveway and then I expanded to my
friend's house driveway.
It was in a really beautiful space surrounded by nature.
And then after that I started parking all around San Diego.
So right now I'm not living in the bus because after converting this bus,
I loved it so much that I opened up my business.
And so I've really been tied down to working at my warehouse and my shuttle bus
just became basically a bed in a parking lot.
And I'm not sure what my plans are for the future.
I feel like my life changes every three months.
So I just evaluate when that comes up and see what's best fit for my lifestyle.
So my work right now is converting vans and buses and essentially what I do is
take any shell, van, bus, trailer,
whatever kind of space that people want and I turn it into a luxury off-grid
living space. You have the sustainability features built into your living space,
that means you're using less water, less electric,
which is going to be a huge part of, I believe, our future moving forward.
So being able to do it now and have less of a carbon footprint on our planet,
I think is a really huge thing to be a part of.
I took my daily living style and put it into the space and made sure that
everything I wanted and like a normal space I could have accommodate me in,
in a shuttle bus.
So it really shifted by mindset when it comes to like buying things.
Also like what's really important to me and what I actually need.
Welcome to the lavender moon best come on in
so this is the front of the bus. We kept the majority of this original. Uh,
the only thing I really did up here was paint this and put a new panel over
this. Basically everything else is original, the seat front console and things.
And over here we have the control panel for the lights,
the battery monitor and a power on and off.
So right behind the seat is where I put my water jug for drinking water.
I also have my curtains that I hang up for privacy and you know,
broom for cleaning
So this is the bathroom and shower area. This shower fits me perfectly.
I'm 5'2. So as you can tell, I fit great in here.
This jar was actually really unique.
I couldn't find a lot on what people did for shower.
So we built this out of plywood.
We put a rubber coating on it and then some poly wall paneling,
which is what they use in commercial kitchens and then we also put a porcelain
mosaic tile on the floor,
so the bathroom situation, which everyone wants to know about.
I have an emergency bucket that I put a trashcan liner in and I use cat litter
if I want to use that.
It works for about three days if I'm using this space consistently,
but for the most part I'm parked usually around facilities, so I just use those
Moving on, we have the kitchen area, it's six feet long,
which is a pretty good size. It's got the frigerator under here,
just lift up the countertop.
We put this on here so it could hold up when I wanted to open the
fridge and it's a 65 court fridge so it holds more than what I need for myself.
I have the knife rack, which is great just to grab nice and go.
We have storage up here that wraps all the way around the bus.
It's 10 inches wide and it's just a really great and simple way to have storage
in the upper space.
And then down here I have the propane and butane depending on what I want to
cook with or what I have fuel for that day.
And then under here I actually have more space and what I did was put these
boxes that turned into chairs
and then we have extra seating for guests.
And then around here I put this tile back splash and it was actually really
simple. I didn't use any grout or any a thin set to adhere it to the wall.
I actually just use fuse it, which is a really strong glue, glued it on.
And then I cocked all the seams and moving on. Over here we have the sink.
It's a really large deep sink.
That's what I wanted to be able to wash all my cutting boards and dishes.
I have a diverting valve on my faucet so I can switch back and forth if I want
to just spray stuff.
And I also have a soap pump right here that's built in.
I didn't want like soap dishes falling around when I was moving.
Then over here we have the trashcan,
so I usually just pull this out when I'm cooking so I don't have to like open
this in and out more storage toe kick under there and then up.
Here's my utensil and junk drawer and I have multiple drawers.
I put all my dishes and cookware in as well.
And then here we have the pony wall and I use this for two purposes.
I have an outlet on this side and an outlet on this side,
so I needed somewhere to have a box for that.
And then I also went ahead and made this into an extra storage space where I
could have a table for cooking or eating
there you have it
this is my living room, little nook area.
My original intention with this was actually to have it be a foldout sleeping
area and then as I started building it,
I realized it's mostly going to be a space for me.
So I just hang out here when I'm drinking tea or reading my books and it's a
comfy space.
A lot of the time actually guests use it or this is where people sit when
they're riding in the bus with me as the passenger area.
So a super nice to have the windows everywhere,
one because each one of them has like two vents on the top.
So when I have the fan on,
I got a lot of breeze and there's a ton of natural light,
so I'm barely using my lighting in here unless it's nighttime.
And I usually only use like very low, like ambient style lighting.
So I love having the windows because basically everywhere I go I can see where
I'm at and enjoy the scenery and just take it all in within my space.
And next we'll move on to one of my favorite spaces where I didn't want to
compromise because the girls got a lot of clothing, so the closet
I moved out.
But you can see I was able to store all of my clothing in here as well as my
jewelry. I wanted to be able to have easy access to that.
It's one of the great parts about customization is whatever lifestyle needs or
desires that you have, you can really create it in a small space. Like this.
Up here we have the fan, it's a three speed, simple, fantastic fan.
And on the ceiling we put the paneling across.
It was definitely a pain in the butt to screw everything into this deal with,
you know, your arms hanging up here.
And then I put the led puck lights in all the way down as well as the ambient
lighting,
which is led strips that wrap all the way around and everything is dimmable.
So I like to have mood lighting in the evenings
So this is the bedroom and storage area. I have a six inch mattress,
it's four inches of high density and then two inches of memory foam.
One of my favorite mattresses that I've ever owned so far.
And then some of the other creative features that I wanted in here was an easy
space to view things. But I didn't want to build an a TV.
So I put this screen in here so that when I'm sitting on my bed,
I could have the projector over here. Now, yeah,
of course it will only work at night, but if I want to, you know,
watch something in the day,
I just use my laptop and then over here on the bed I have my reading lights and
I always have loved the look of sconces.
So I put these in and I also have a headboard right here that lifts up.
There was a couple of purposes for this,
but what it's turned into now is my laundry shoot.
So a lot of people I think don't think about where they're going to put all
their dirty laundry, where they're going to store that.
And so I just lift this up and throw things down there and then underneath I
have a tote in that I pull out when I want to do my laundry,
so all goes away.
Then I also put a Sprocket on this window so that it would hold itself up when I
opened it. So I just push it open and holds itself up.
I like to back up into the beach and have the breeze come in here.
It creates a really great flow as well.
So it's awesome having all these windows and being able to utilize them all.
I have window covers that I created to fit these custom.
So on one side they're tan on the other side, they're black.
At nighttime you can't tell there anything's going on in here.
So I put Velcro all around and it just sticks up
there and it's insulated.
So it makes a huge difference. Um,
like when I'm anywhere cold when these are on or not,
like the temperature is much more bearable in a cold place with these on
and so under here we have all this storage. There's a 42 gallon water tank,
a four gallon electric water heater. Here's where I put all my clothes,
extra shoes, seasonal clothing.
Living tiny has changed my perspective on life because now I can live with less
wherever I go.
And it's really changed my mindset moving forward with all of the things that I
accumulate. Everything that I use daily, I'm able to live on like so much less,
have the same quality of life, but I just feel so much better,
like not having the weight of stuff.
And so that's a huge part of this that I'm taking into my life moving forward.
Thanks for watching this week's video.
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