We went out to find what we think are the best skoolie kitchen design ideas out there right now!
We designed over 20 different skoolie floor plans and a lot of it revolved around how to design the kitchen.
We would draw up a design a skoolie kitchen on our iPad, then wonder several questions.
Is there enough space for walking? Would we like the fridge next to the kitchen? Do we need more counter space?
Should we do the main center isle approach? Should we do an “L” shaped kitchen? A “U” shaped?
Should the kitchen be in the back of the bus, middle, or front?
The list went on…
Since there weren’t really any good sites to detail out the skoolie kitchen appliances, types of countertops, sinks, faucets, or other items needed for a skoolie kitchen, we thought we would create it. There also weren’t any guides detailing out the things going on behind the scenes, like plumbing or electrical. Stay tuned for more posts like these!
Here is our list of the best skoolie kitchen design ideas and layout types. Hopefully, these will help inspire your skoolie kitchen design and layout.
Skoolie Kitchen Design Ideas
The Skoolie Livin Kitchen
We figure we begin with our skoolie kitchen. We built our skoolie kitchen with a center aisle. We settled on the basic middle aisle approach after several design iterations. Our skoolie kitchen design changed several times, even during the build (even after we had some walls up). Our main focus was where the liquid propane (LP) tanks could be mounted under the bus as there are only a select few spots where they can go. We knew we wanted to group all the propane appliances together to limit the amount of LP pipe, reducing the potential for leaks! This was how we established the center aisle with the sink and range on the same side and the electric refrigerator on the other.
We hand-built all of our cabinets from steel and wood 2×4, laid out the finished butcher block countertop, and tiled the backsplash with subway tile and the stove area with small grey circle tiles.
As far as skoolie appliances and kitchen features, in our skoolie we have a Magic Chef 10.1 Cu Ft fridge, a Dometic RV range off eBay, and Sarah’s favorite – the Kraus faucet off Amazon. We also bought an Express Water 11 Stage Reverse Osmosis drinking water filtration system off Amazon that can take really high PPM water (contaminated) and filter it down to being pure and alkaline. We also have an Excel on-demand water heater mounted underneath the countertops inside the cabinet on the back wall between the range and the sink.
We are currently living in Wisconsin and the Midwest winters are harsh here! Another appliance we have in our kitchen is the Suburban RV Furnace which is mounted underneath the stove in the middle of the skoolie, which heats the front and middle of the bus. To control the RV furnace, we have installed an Ecobee WiFi smart thermostat. This helps us to regulate the temperature inside our skoolie from anywhere in the world on our phones. The RV furnace does a great job of heating the front half of our skoolie, but sometimes the back half still gets cold, which is where our Cubic Mini Grizzly wood stove helps out a lot! This also makes for a great ambiance at night! If you are living in a colder climate in your skoolie, this article on heating options might be very helpful to you.
Skoolie Kitchen Layout Ideas
Short Shuttle Bus One Sided Kitchen
Here is a beautifully done skoolie kitchen. The darker green color, almost black countertop, and uniquely designed dark backsplash, this skoolie kitchen is very moody. Done in a short shuttle bus, one side of the skoolie is the kitchen with a full-size refrigerator, and the other side is the convertible couch to second bed.
I love the color they did their kitchen cabinets and how they continued that same color onto all of the shiplap to cover the rest of their skoolie. The wood ceiling along with this color really makes it stunning.
‘S’ Aisle Skoolie Kitchen
This skoolie kitchen has so many cabinets and such a big countertop on both sides of their home.
This kitchen is done in a full size bus so it makes sense they have this much space to go off of and use. They only did open shelving uppers which really makes the bus feel super open.
Cozy ‘L’ Shape Skoolie Kitchen
This skoolie kitchen has a ton of upper storage due to their roof raise. We love how they did an L shaped kitchen layout and then they have the aisle off to the side of the bus versus a center aisle. This makes their skoolie seem pretty open and really separates the living area from the sleeping area.
The built-in foldable table is a great idea for a kitchen table, pull it out when you are eating dinner or even working from your laptop and fold it away when you’re not using it for more space.
L+ Shaped Skoolie Kitchen
Like the kitchen design above, this skoolie kitchen is almost just backwards plus the extra storage and fold-down table/bar area for eating. Having a spot to eat in your skoolie is so so nice, whether it be a dinette, a fold-down table, or a built-in dining space. Otherwise you’ll find yourself eating on your bed and/or couch.
One Side Skoolie Kitchen
This countertop is super practical and light for a skoolie conversion. A popular choice are butcher block countertops which is a solid choice but they are very heavy. Waterproofing and sealing a piece of smooth plywood would be a much lighter option.
The one wall kitchen design is really nice. These owners put a desk directly across their kitchen and really have it all in this skoolie.
A sink, an induction stove, and a mini fridge are really all you need in a skoolie kitchen.
Galley Kitchen
It seems crazy that this kitchen is in a school bus! A big sink, a full size refrigerator, and a full range with a vent hood are all fit into this bus. This skoolie has so much storage with uppers & lowers. The green on the bottom and white on top is beautiful.
Middle Aisle Skoolie Kitchen
This skoolie kitchen has a really minimal design. The center aisle and one sided kitchen means it’s the perfect spot for seating across the way, which is exactly what they did.
One thing we had a hard time figuring out was structuring and supporting the upper cabinets. These guys made supports from below the cabinets and attached them to the pillars of the windows, which is a good idea for supporting the upper cabinets.
Short Bus Skoolie Kitchen
Alright, this skoolie kitchen amazing – especially for it being in a short bus. This bus has a pull out chest fridge underneath their bed.
I love a skoolie that has open storage as well as closed cabinets in the kitchen. There’s plenty of space for dishes, pots and pans for the range, and a nice area for a pantry.
The Simple Bus Kitchen
This skoolie kitche is the epitome of simple, yet it has everything you need plus us a mini microwave.
A fridge, sink, stove top, and plenty of cabinet space for food and dishes.
This kitchen design would be perfect for full-time living with the apartment-sized full fridge.
Lots of Cabinets!
Look at all of the storage in this skoolie’s kitchen! From this picture alone, I can count 12 pull-out drawers let alone the upper cabinets. They’ve even fit a dishwasher in their skoolie.
It looks like they went with the Avanti side by side fridge, which is such a popular choice for bus kitchens! We were a click of a button away from buying this fridge, but we went with sacrificing some counter space to get double the fridge/freezer space in our Magic Chef refrigerator.
Shuttle Bus Skoolie Kitchen Design
This is such a calming and cozy skoolie kitchen in a shuttle bus. A small sink, a two burner stove top, and a mini fridge/freezer combo on the other side, perfect for a small skoolie.
White, wood, and rattan help give the design an airy and boho-ish feel to it, especially with the leather-strap handles and the pink orange and brown shower curtain!
Hello! I really like the look of having your spices hanging from a piece of wood (rather than in a cabinet). Seen above in the picture with “Cozy Skoolie Kitchen Design”. Did you end up doing this? If so, did you ever have issues with the jars unscrewing while you were driving? Thanks for the feedback!!
Hi Kelly! Yes, we mounted our spice jars right to the bottom of our overhead kitchen cabinets. We have had no issues. We used 3 screws in each cap through the caps into the bottom of the cabinet making a triangle out of the screws. This helped with ensuring the jars would not wobble when driving and would be strong enough to tighten them very well. They are VERY secure and tighten really hard, so we have no issues/worries at all with them.
Quick question on the cabinets and kitchen designs… are these with a raised roof or just an average height roof such as a 6’4″ one?
Hi Avery! I would say the majority of these are average school bus height, however, the ‘Lots of Cabinets!’ one did do a roof raise. I hope this helps!