Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Project Bunk Beds complete!

We finished the bunk beds about a month ago, but I have neglected to post the pics.  I love the bunk bed.  I love all the extra storage, I love how they look, and I LOVE that it is out of my living room!

We designed our bunk bed using a software program.  We liked this idea from ana-white for a set of beds that can be used as either a bunk bed or separate twin beds.  However,  I am not a huge fan of slats for the headboard and footboards.  For a few reasons:
1.  Maybe it stems from my childhood, in a room with my 3 little sisters, a bunk bed, crib and toddler bed, and dressers-we were a little cramped.  My sister was in the crib by my head, and would pull my hair through the slats.
2.  Dusting the one ledge is easier than in between each slat.
3.  Plus kids can climb slats better than solid wood- and our kids are climbers.
4.  Or, maybe it stems from my desire to live by the coast and have a beach house with bead-board throughout!
I wanted something solid like this.  As much as I LOVE pottery barn, it just doesn't quite fit our budget.  So we improvised.  Instead of buying bead-board/wainscoting which is kind of thin and flimsy for kids beds, and which can get expensive, we made our own at the width we wanted.  We knew we were going to paint it, so my husband used regular plywood and a router and made some awesome "beadboard"--it is perfect!
So how it works is: as a bunk bed, both headboards are on the bottom, and both footboards are used on the top.  Footboards are a bit shorter than the headboards, so you don't get your wack the head syndrome of the person on the bottom, and there is still plenty of room to sit on the top.  It is tall enough off the floor to store boxes of #10 food storage cans-score! For now it just has the box-spring we had for her twin bed, until we figure out what to do with it.
We also used 4x4 posts instead of 2 x 4's to give it a more solid frame, and a sturdier look. This also makes it wider than most beds - the twin mattress sits in between, giving about 4 inches on each side. My husband did amazing with all the building, cutting and designing.  I painted, nail gunned, and drilled.

Well enough talking, here are the pics! 















1 comment:

Whitney said...

I LOVE it!! Such ingenuity :) You both did a great job! I just wish I could see it in person.