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Shane and Emily of Arbour Season are touring musicians who traded separate apartments for a DIY skoolie, and they have lived and traveled in it with their two young children. They built the bus themselves with pallet-wood cabinets, a galvanized-tub bathtub from a farm-supply store, and a big two-basin sink that makes washing and drying dishes easier.
Inside, a long galley kitchen runs across from a built-in couch, followed by a dinette, a kids’ bunk room, and a back bedroom with plenty of closet storage. On top, a rooftop deck doubles as a stage for the family’s concerts. This tour is a useful look at how a working family makes bus life function over the long haul rather than just the first year.
A Long Galley Kitchen Built for Three Meals a Day
The kitchen is the engine of this bus, and Emily designed it around how much she actually cooks. The double sink lets one side hold soapy dishes while the other side holds clean ones, which saves counter space in a room that has none to spare. Closed cabinets rise high on the wall instead of open shelving, so a coffee grinder, smoothie maker and a collection of mugs stay out of sight. The stove and oven came from an old RV, bought secondhand on Facebook Marketplace for about $150, and she chose it specifically because it has four burners instead of the usual three.
Cold storage is just as deliberate. A full-size refrigerator and freezer lets a family of four, sometimes five, shop for groceries about once a week, and it draws only about 1.5 amps, so it barely taxes the battery bank. Emily’s one wish for a future build is an efficient electric range so she could skip propane altogether.
A Pop-Up Awning, a Fold-Down Desk and a Rooftop Stage
The exterior shows how much living happens outside the walls. A pop-up awning and a fold-down exterior table create a “front yard” wherever they park, handy for outdoor meals or answering emails, and folding chairs store in side compartments. At the time of filming, the couple said they had 1,000 amp-hours of lithium batteries and four 450-watt solar panels on the roof, enough that the batteries were usually fully charged by mid-morning.
The roof is where the bus earns its name in the band’s world. The deck serves as both a stargazing perch and a stage for shows at certain events. Because their gear is heavy, they load equipment onto the rear deck, climb up, and pull it onto the roof in stages.
Bunk Beds Built Around Two Small Kids
The kids’ zone is a compact lesson in building for a growing family. Their son has his own bed with a bookshelf and a toy bin, while their younger daughter’s bunk was built later, after she outgrew co-sleeping. Her ladder is attached to the closet door, so the door locks shut and the ladder stays solid. A cozy, child-scaled sleeping nook like this keeps toys and bedtime contained so the rest of the bus can stay calm.
A Bathing Zone, a Composting Toilet and Room for Clothes
The bathroom is built around the kids. A galvanized steel tub from Tractor Supply, about $30, serves as the bathtub, which matters when a child dislikes showers, and the window stays open for light and breeze. A Nature’s Head composting toilet had been in use for about three years at the time of filming, and a 48-gallon fresh-water tank sits under the couch, with a Berkey filter for drinking water.
At the back is the parents’ bedroom, with a wall-to-wall mattress that Emily requested from the start. Under-bed storage holds seasonal items such as vacuum-packed winter coats, extra fans and a projector, while overhead storage holds clothes. Heat comes from diesel heaters, a main unit in the middle of the bus plus two backups, because the family likes to travel to cold places in winter.
The Built-In Couch Where the Whole Family Gathers
Across from the kitchen, the built-in couch is the social center of the bus, with storage underneath for board games, window screens and other catch-all items. A TV is there for rainy-day movie nights, and a small cabinet added later closed a gap between the couch and the chair to create an armrest. The couple also joked that the layout has one flaw: whoever is at the sink is right behind the person on the couch. It is a reminder that every small-space layout trades something away.
Design Details
- Builders: Shane and Emily, with no prior building experience (they found the bus on Facebook Marketplace and built it during a long stretch off the road at family property in Missouri)
- Type: DIY school bus conversion (skoolie), roughly four years old at the time of filming
- Kitchen: long galley with double sink, four-burner RV stove and oven, full-size fridge and freezer
- Bath: galvanized steel tub, Nature’s Head composting toilet, 48-gallon fresh-water tank
- Sleeping: parents’ wall-to-wall bed in back, kids’ bunk room with ladder
- Power: 1,000 amp-hours of lithium batteries and four 450-watt solar panels (at the time of filming)
- Heat: three diesel heaters (one main, two backups)
- Extras: rooftop deck and stage, pop-up awning, fold-down exterior table
What Makes This Build Special
- It is designed around a real job. The roof is a stage, and the exterior storage is sized for musical gear.
- Redundancy for cold weather. Two backup heaters mean one failure doesn’t end a winter trip.
- Kid-first details. A tub for bath time, bunk beds with a locking ladder, and room for toys and books keep the bus family-friendly.
- Honest lessons. The couple openly names what they’d change: an all-electric kitchen and a separate kitchen room someday.
- Cheap, smart sourcing. A secondhand RV stove, a farm-store tub, and inexpensive lumber for most of the wood show what a thoughtful budget can do.
Experience It Yourself
- Follow Shane and Emily on Instagram (@arbourseason)
- Arbour Season band website
- Listen to Arbour Season on Spotify
- Arbour Season on YouTube
- Subscribe to Tiny Home Tours
Video Tour: Bus Home Family – Condo on Wheels
Highlights
- Touring musicians Shane and Emily of Arbour Season live and travel in a DIY skoolie with two young kids.
- Pallet-wood cabinets, a $30 galvanized-tub bathtub and a double sink keep the build practical and inexpensive.
- A rooftop deck doubles as a concert stage and stargazing spot.
- 1,000 amp-hours of lithium batteries and four 450-watt solar panels power the bus.
- Kids’ bunks with a locking ladder, plus a bathtub for bath time.
- Three diesel heaters let the family travel in cold places in winter.
- They had lived on the road since 2015, first in an RV and then in this bus, before the tour was filmed.
Related Stories
- Their $35K New Mexico-Inspired Bus Conversion with Clay Interior
- Miss Daisy: Couple’s Retirement Skoolie
- Life Takes a Twist: Gymnasts Turn Full-Time Travelers in a Skoolie
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Natalie C. McKee
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I love this! It’s so adorable and pretty. What a lovely family. You did a great job building you home.