Selling Houses Australia: Tumby Bay bus, our first tiny home
Selling Houses Australia creates a teeny tiny home from a decrepit old rustbucket of a bus
Photography Melissa Heath/Selling Houses Australia
Welcome to Tumby Bay, although the home on this episode is not really tied to one postcode – because it’s a bus! The Tumby Bay bus renovation was one of our most challenging yet on Selling Houses Australia because there was simply very little room to move, and the budget matched the floor plan. It was SMALL.
Couple Sarah and Tom were in a financial pinch and needed to move on this bus, a snap purchase that Sarah deeply regretted. More of a nightmare than the ‘fun project’ she’d hoped for, it was time to move it on. I needed to do a lot here - it had no functioning spaces with the exception of the existing bed frame. But there was no mattress, to be clear… And Dennis had his work cut out for him on the rusty exterior.
Creating a tiny kitchen for a tiny home in Tumby Bay
Tiny homes, particularly ones that are going to be moved with any regularity, have really specific requirements for kitchens. Firstly, they need to be really clever and compact, to have doors that won’t swing open when travelling, and usually need full customisation. We couldn’t do that in this case, as the budget was too tight.
Instead, we went with cabinets from Kaboodle, available at Bunnings, painted in gloss white with hardware from Kethy. The benchtop is pretty but practical laminate in Squid Ink, also Kaboodle. We found the gas oven and fridge from Thetford, who make appliances for vehicles. A Metra 45 S sink and tap in White from Blanco was the final piece of the puzzle. It goes to show that with a little ingenuity, you can make off-the-shelf work almost as well as custom.
A master suite with a weekender vibe
In the sleeping zone, we kept the original platform for the bed, just added a bit of sparkle with some plush new bedlinen (it’s a linen quilt cover set from Rapee and a splash of Wattyl Feather Dawn, along with new laminate flooring from Flooring Xtra. The LED strip lighting carried into this zone, too. It’s 18mm x 9mm Black Shallow Square LED Profile Havit Lighting from The Lighting Outlet.
“We knew that we had to come up with some really clever solutions, but there’s all this stuff you don’t foresee - like how to get something level, when you walk to the other end of the bus and it’s not level anymore!” ~ interiors expert Wendy Moore
An actual bathroom for the Selling Houses Tumby Bay bus!
Okay, now, see my social feed for a video of exactly what was here before we updated the bathroom. It was basically the bottom of a shower stall… And it was horrible!! So first things first, some waterproofing and tiles, and all of our choices were budget-friendly Bunnings finds. We went with Wall Art New York White Tiles, a shower panel and a Mondella frameless glass screen, all from Bunnings. Even the basin - just $99 - was from Bunnings! It’s the Estilo White Square Counter Top Basin. It’s always nice to up the ante with a bit of glam, and that came courtesy of a Luna shower and taps in Black from Caroma.
Room to move outside for Bubbles the bus
Oh Bubbles… She’s so pretty, now!! Dennis had his work cut out for him removing so much rust from this exterior and basically priming her for this gleaming new paint job. He also built an entire (moveable) outdoor area complete with bathtub… An amazing result.
The sales history of the Selling Houses Tumby Bay, SA bus
Sarah purchased the bus on a whim, paying $6000 for it without getting any sort of inspection done. Her husband Tom was not on board, and they both quickly realised that this was a lot more than a quick weekend project. They needed to recoup the money spent, but unfortunately could not find a buyer They agreed to invest another $7000 in the bus renovation, hoping to get back their original investment..
Did Selling Houses Australia Tumby Bay bus sell?
Tom and Sarah were thrilled with the result of the renovation. They found a buyer for the bus at $30,000, meaning they not only made their money back but a tidy profit, too!
Who pays for the renovations on Selling Houses Australia?
The homeowners, Sarah and Tom, supplied the budget for this project: Dennis and I had a budget of just $7000, which simply was not enough to achieve what you saw on the show. The town basically chipped in to help with a lot of labour, and our suppliers and sponsors supplied the rest.
