Can you imagine living in a Tiny House with kids? What if we bring that idea to the next level. Imagine that you live in a school bus with three children, all under the age of five! Insanity, right? Well, this is not such a crazy notion to Denver and Vanessa Miller. A few years ago, this young married couple renovated a school bus to be used as their rolling family home. And they haven’t just embraced the idea of buslife; they are making it look easy!
I met the Millers at the 2017 Tiny House Jamboree, which I attended to give a talk on the lessons I’ve learned from the Tiny House movement. Vanessa was kind enough to show me the inside of their gorgeous home – a renovated school bus. When I walked inside, I immediately understood why these parents chose buslife. The Miller’s home is absolutely stunning and really spacious. With the added benefit of epic roadtrippin’ adventures, they’ve created an envy-worthy lifestyle!
Check out the video tour I shot of the Nomadic Miller’s Bus:
One of the most impressive innovations seen in the Miller’s skooly (slang for a converted school bus) is their “bunkroom.” Each of their three boys has his own 6-foot bunk with a small entrance, so they feel like they have their own space. The bunkroom is also separate from Mom and Dad’s room, so everyone has some privacy. And trust me, privacy is precious when you live in a small space…
“We wanted them to feel like they were in a cave,” Vanessa explained why they built small cubby holes for their children’s bunks.
The kitchen is absolutely gorgeous. A tile backsplash and a false granite countertop give the illusion that you’re standing in a traditional home. The Millers have an oven, four-burner stove top, full-size refrigerator, and large kitchen sink. Not wanting to have a lazy-susan, they created long corner drawers so that every inch of space was utilized to the max.
One reason why the Miller’s bus feels so spacious is that they decided to lift the roof. Not only does this allow for extra headroom, but the Millers were able to utilize this space for an extra bunk for their eldest child and for mounting a flat screen TV
Denver works remotely, so the Miller’s are able to live on the go, exploring the United States with their mobile home. Vanessa homeschool’s the kids while on the road. In order to do this, they converted their master bedroom into a school room with the help of a murphy bed. Vanessa can even lift it herself.
For more multi-purpose furniture solutions, CLICK HERE!
Tiny Houses Are Becoming Popular for Families
But the Miller’s aren’t the only brave souls who have decided to live tiny with kids. Macy Miller lives in her self-built Tiny Home with two babies and a great dane, and Kim and Raul, of Nerds Gone Tiny, are raising three kids in 365 square feet. Many members of the movement believe that living small will bring a family closer together and that it removes many of the barriers (physical and mental) that we place between ourselves and our loved ones.
Do you think you could join #buslife with three young boys?
*Some of the photos provided by Denver & Vanessa Miller.