With Ireland now in a second lockdown, many people have been confined to their homes and local areas.
For three siblings from a small village in West Cork, it is a chance to take advantage of their natural surroundings.
Tomas, Anna and Rachel McCarthy from Ballinadee decided now is the perfect time for a lockdown project. The idea for it came after Tomas visited one of his friends in Donegal, who had converted an old bus.
"Straight away when I saw it I was like I want one!," he said. When he told his sisters about the idea, they got on board and went looking for a bus for sale.
"We decided to ring a lot of local bus companies and we go in contact with a man who was selling an old Dublin Bus. It was on sale for €4,000 but we got it down to €2,500."
The plan was always to convert the bus into an Airbnb. Tom said: "We have a farm down here it is in a really nice location, near enough to the house. It is in a spot where it is looking into a valley as well."
They started by stripping out the seats downstairs to make up more room. Then they toke out the seats upstairs which took a lot longer to do, because of how old some of screws are.
@rcmacersWe brought a bus and we are creating a tiny home ? ##farming ##Irish ##bus ##renovations ##diy ##fyp ##live ##tinyhome♬ original sound - Rachel McCarthy
They are documenting their renovation on TikTok and say the videos have really taken off. Their first video now has over 1.6 million views and their second has close to 140,000.
People have become invested in their journey and checking in on their progress. They currently have all of the seats upstairs and downstairs taken out, and are also putting them up for sale.
As Tomas said: "The plan is to have the kitchen downstairs with an oven, grill, microwave and a sink all in place. We have kept the backseats so will space for around 10 seats there with a table, which will be like the dining area.
"Upstairs there will be a master bedroom at the back with a king-sized bed and at the front of the bus upstairs there will be another bedroom with two single beds."
He said in terms of the middle of the upstairs, it will be a lounge area with a pull out coach that will sit six people.
One of the biggest challenges of converting a bus into an Airbnb is heating it. They are thinking of either having spray on insolation from the outside or studded insulation from the inside.
They are also thinking of possibly putting in a stove downstairs to help with the heating as well. Down the line they also want to incorporate a jacuzzi into the mix.
The budget for the project is about €5,000 to €6,000 and they are hoping to have everything ready and up on Airbnb by May 1st of next year.
The McCarthy's are planning to charge €80 to €100 a night and reckon there is a certain type of clientele that would love to experience staying in such a unique Airbnb in a popular tourist area like West Cork.
@rcmacersBus bits - follow us on Instagram at ballinadee_bus ##part2 ##bus ##FYPirish ##DIY ##seats ##Buslife ##Camper ##covidproject♬ original sound - Rachel McCarthy
You can follow all their updates on their Instagram page.
* If you've embraced an interesting lockdown project, drop us an email at desk@breakingnews.ie
