Magical Fiber Optic Light Ceiling for 2023
A fiber optic light ceiling is something we kind of stumbled upon while building our first skoolie back in 2019. It’s not something we were planning on incorporating into our build, but once the idea was whispered into our heads, nothing short of an amazing fiber optic light ceiling would do.
Our Story of Our First Fiber Optic Light Ceiling
This is a story about how our fiber optic light ceiling business originated and then became a reality.
It’s a beautiful thing when a plan comes together. I know it’s one of the oldest cliches in the world, but it rings so true sometimes.
What is even more beautiful is when the plan wasn’t even a plan in the first place. Let me explain.
Our First Fiber Optic Light Ceiling Install
Back in the Spring of 2019 while we were building our Skoolie, Caroline, down in Satellite Beach, Florida, a friend of ours gave us the notion to install some fiber optics into our build. The kind of fiber optics that are often installed in Rolls Royces, limousines, and Bentleys.
The kind of luxury vehicle with a fiber optic light ceiling came alive in the dark.
We have seen them in limousines that we have ridden in but never gave it a second thought. After all, that is what a limousine is all about. Something different, glittery, starry, and fantastical.
When Nat presented the pics and ideas that Bailey had forwarded to her, I was immediately and without hesitation convinced we had to incorporate this into our bus conversion build.
So, we got to research the materials and the procedure for installing this into our bus. There was nothing on the internet we could find that would give us an idea, much less clear instructions, on how to create and install a fiber optic light ceiling in our skoolie.
Just like most of our Skoolie build, we figured it out and made it happen.
Our first fiber optic light ceiling turned out beautiful. In fact, it was so much better than we had imagined. We would just sit and stare up at it, even in the daytime. The lights were mesmerizing and when it got dark in the evenings, the lights seemed to have an energy and soul of their own.
We ended up installing about 440 fiber optic strands that covered an area of approximately 5 feet wide by 9 feet long. You can read all about that process HERE.
The pattern of the fiber optic stars was totally random with the exception of Virgo and Gemini constellations and the Big Dipper. Admittedly, I think we were the only ones who could tell the constellations from the random stars because we were the ones who created and installed them.
Our Tiny Starry Ceiling in our skoolie garnered lots of attention and praise from everyone who saw it. Most people could not believe we were able to accomplish the installation it was so marvelous looking.
The beautiful and magical fiber optic ceiling came with a price during installation, however. It took about 80 hours to complete in total. There were lots of cursing and gnashing of teeth between the two of us as we ground to not only get the tongue and groove pine ceiling in but to do so while installing over 400 fiber optic strands.
Imagine drilling over 400 1/64” drill holes in the 6” X1/2” pine tongue and groove. The shortest piece of ceiling board was over 6 feet. Not particularly heavy, but when holding up over your head for over 5 minutes at a time while the other was trying to thread the fiber optic strands, anchor them to the back of the board with silicone caulk and then line it up to the adjoining piece of ceiling….
As you can imagine, patience ran short, tempers grew hot and many things were said to each other that should never be repeated or remembered.
We lived full-time, and traveled up and down and across the United States while enjoying our 32’ Skoolie, Caroline, for about a year when we decided to sell her.
We absolutely loved living in her, but we did not particularly enjoy traveling in her. In fact, we loathed the traveling part. I would drive the bus while Nat would drive our car, separated unable to talk unless we called on the phone.
The bus was just not fun to drive….very big and not very relaxing at all. The bus’ stealth rating was a zero! She grabbed attention like a dog to a fire hydrant. There was no such thing as urban or stealth camping in that behemoth.
So, very shortly after traveling from Wisconsin to Colorado, we decided we were going to sell the bus and purchase a van to build out and continue our travels.
We sold Caroline in November 2020 and then drove to Kansas City, Missouri the next day (Thanksgiving in fact) and purchased our Mercedes Sprinter!
The Van’s Fiber Optic Light Ceiling
Before we even drove our van back to Colorado from Kansas City to collect all of our personal belongings from our skoolie, we were already scheming on our next build project.
One of the musts we knew we had to build in our van conversion was another Tiny Starry Ceiling.
We were excited about it for so many reasons! The first and most obvious reason was to be able to have an amazing fiber optic tiny starry ceiling in our van to enjoy every night as we lay down in our queen-sized bed.
The other reason, obvious to us, maybe not to others, was how simple, easy and less cumbersome this installation would be.
We were thinking we would reduce the amount of fiber optic strands from over 400 strands to around 200 strands. After all, we were going from a large bus to an eensy-weensy van. Or so we thought…
The installation process for the van starry ceiling was much different than the skoolie installation. Not because of the smaller space. The area of Fiber optics was not really all that much smaller than the area we installed in the skoolie.
So, for the van’s tiny starry ceiling we decided to do a pattern of sorts instead of randomly placed holes for star placement.
We liked the idea of having the shape of a forming galaxy. As our nomadic life was beginning to take shape, it would be represented through the developing galaxy on our ceiling.
We locked in the design we wanted on our ceiling, drew a template, and got to work.
We originally were thinking of around 200 points of fiber optic light…. which escalated to almost 800 points of light.
We are absolutely in love with the results.
To be able to lay in bed at night and feel the ambiance of the colored lights up above is just like laying on a blanket in a field under the Universe full of winking stars.
The Future of Fiber Optic Light Ceilings
Every person who has been in our Skoolie or our Van has fallen into lust with our ceiling. Everyone who has looked upon them has suggested we build them for others.
So, one night while we were lying in bed under our stars, we talked about building Tiny Starry Ceilings for other skoolie, van life, and RV owners.
We realized we could still travel and explore while making these amazing ceilings for other people to enjoy as well.
We both agreed this is something we could enjoy together and loved the idea more and more making these starry night ceilings for others.
We have installed fiber optic light ceilings in buses and vans. Our customers are in love with them and it has changed the entire inside of their buses and vans, especially after dark.
We are very excited to ship some portable ceilings to our clients and travel to their locations to install full ceiling models.
If you are interested in a fiber optic light ceiling, Contact Us, so we can discuss how to put a Tiny Starry Ceiling in Your Tiny House!
Wrap Up To Fiber Optic Light Ceilings
We’d love to talk and consult with you about putting a Tiny Starry Night Ceiling in your bus, van, or RV.
Until then….Always Sleep Under the Stars.