Since moving into our house I haven’t been happy with the boys bunk beds. I didn’t like how awkward it was to crawl up and snuggle with Jack and I was always scared of someone falling off the ladder. So we split the beds into two twins which left them no room to play.
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When we got new bedroom carpet a few weeks ago, we had to disassemble the beds to move them out. That’s when I came up with the idea to build the boys the perfect bed. After years swooning over all the plans on Ana White’s blog and reading her book “The Handbuilt Home” this was the perfect opportunity to try our hand at some furniture building. Thankfully when I cautiously presented the plans for the Jr. Loft Bed to Matt he was even on board! So we sold the old beds and prepared for our biggest project to date: The DIY Kids Loft Bunk Bed with Stairs
Although nothing about it was difficult, it was time consuming, and consumed the greater part of two weekends. We followed the plans on Ana White’s blog pretty close, other than narrowing up the stairs by a few inches due to a furnace vent that would have been in the way. We bought all of our boards at Menards which came in just under $100 including the large piece of plywood. I spent chunks of time throughout the week getting all of the boards sanded. Then we spent a Saturday getting all the boards cut to the proper size. Then it was a week full of giving all the wood 2 coats of Bulls Eye primer and a top coat of high gloss cabinet paint.
The boys were SO excited the whole time we were building it and love it. Masey calls the whole bed his “top bunk”, even though he sleeps on the bottom. They also have dubbed the area under the platform the “hideout” and think they are invisible when they are hiding in there.
I installed Ikea Kramare lights next to each of their beds to use as booklamps.
I also installed the Ikea Kvartal track system around the inside of the bottom bunk. I used these clips from Ace to hang these Ikea curtains that I altered.
One convenient coincidence was that the boys lego play tray fits perfectly under their stairs!
I think I may revive the gutter bookshelves and put one next to each of their beds, but I’m still contemplating that one! For now I’m just happy that they are safe, they have room to play, and there’s room for Matt and I to snuggle them both every night.
I also LOVE how great their Pirate Quilts that I made them look with these curtains!
If you want to see how to make the quilts click here:
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Jessica Folsom says
December 26, 2016 at 3:08 pmThis is so great! I do have a question though, do you think you would be able to dissemble it if needed?
BrightGreenDoor says
December 26, 2016 at 3:29 pmYes, we actually did disassemble it when we moved. We kept certain portions together, but took apart what we needed to. Thanks!
Jen says
April 8, 2018 at 6:58 pmOn Ana whites blog I notice it isn’t a bunk bed. What other changes did you need to do for the bottom bed? It is just a mattress on the floor?
BrightGreenDoor says
April 9, 2018 at 12:40 pmYes ours was just a mattress on the floor. I’m sure it would be fairly easy to build into an actual bed frame on the bottom though. I would just add supports all the way around like on the top bunk.