One of the pros of doing your own conversion is you can really customize everything to your needs, desires and even your size/height. Don is a composer and needs to be able to work from the road. We began building out his tiny music studio by building his desk which leads into a shelf.
We used an ergonomic desk calculator to determine the best height for the desk and monitor using Don’s measurements while he is sitting on the chair he will be using. The chair is actually a piece of Pilates Apparatus called the Wunda Chair . It is part of my (Mela’s) mini-Pilates studio on the bus. It was designed as something you can workout on AND to be a chair for your living space so this really fits our needs perfectly. It may not look comfortable but it actually really is!
We cut the desk so it can be screwed into the wall which took a little finessing, as you may have heard us say before - “there is no such thing as straight lines or 90 degree angles in the bus!” I then began staining the desk which took way longer than we wanted it to.
We bought a stain and polyurethane finish in one, thinking this would help save time as we could do it all in one go. Well, it had the opposite effect in the end. We loved the color after one coat, but it was not enough of the finish. I applied a second coat but then the stain color was way darker than we liked. We chose to sand it down and completely strip the stain off and start again. This time only applying one coat of the stain and finish mix to get the color we desired. Then I added a couple layers of a clear finish to protect the wood from stains and scratches. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a stain and finish in one again.
The desk is pocket screwed into the wall with bracing underneath to help secure it. This is just the first step to the desk and music studio area, we’ll update you with more as it unfolds.
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We install our mini-split air conditioner just in time for the warm weather.
