Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find just exactly what you're looking for? Then if you do, it's always a lot more than you want to pay for it. Okay, maybe it's just me or maybe I'm just cheap. Actually, I know I'm cheap, but that's beside the point. The point is, I wanted Katelyn to have a bed for when we moved her to her own room and put the other two girls together. We started a couple months ago by looking around a little and discussing the options from a financial point of view. Somehow I convinced my wife to let me build one that would be safe enough and not as expensive. Not only that, she gave up her parking spot in the garage so I had somewhere to work. I just had to be finished before it snowed...
I started off with a basic idea and plans drawn out and headed off to one of the greatest places on Earth, Home Depot. I picked up the basic materials and went to work using the other bunk bed we have as a general guide for the mattress supports.
It would have been pretty easy to make it like a traditional bed, but any of you who know me know I don't do easy very well. If there is a way to complicate it, I will probably find it. In this instance, I made it a loft bed with the hopes to build a desk under it a little later on.
It was a little tricky to get it put together without dropping it and potentially breaking the frame I'd built, but once again, the wife saved the day. She is such a wonderful support and was willing to help even when I didn't really know what I was doing or how she could help. Okay, enough shameless plugs about how great my wife is and back to the bed...
We wanted to have a little extra storage space in the room so I built a bookshelf to go under one side of the bed. This also added some nice support to reduce the chance of wobbles. The desk portion would add some support too, but we'll have to wait and hope it doesn't fall over before I get to that part.
Here is a side shot once it was all put together. Then came the long task of sanding. Luckily, I had some good helpers. They worked really hard for at least a good 15 minutes.
After sanding came painting. I am not a fan of painting. It takes a long time and many coats before I was happy enough with the final coat. There was a lot of sanding in there too because I didn't do a good enough job the first time through. You would think paint would cover up your mistakes, but I think it just highlights them.
Juliette wanted to help me here quite a bit too. She saw me sitting on a bucket painting the bookshelf and wanted to be a part of it. I didn't want her to ruin her clothes, but we did find a bucket for her and a dry brush works nearly as well. (The bike helmet was not a part of the painting process, but it still made her happy)
It was a little bit of a push at the end because of the pink wall. We used a metallic paint underneath so she could use magnets and put up her artwork, but the metallic paint was black and more difficult to cover evenly. After painting it pink, it didn't look very good and I had to sand it down and do it again.
When Katelyn came home from school, she had no idea I was hiding in her room waiting for her. She was quite happy to have her new bed.
It was a little high for her at first, especially compared to sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but I think she's used to it by now. As an added bonus, it's still standing! Next I have to plan and build the desk. Then, Sadie has already been sharing her ideas with me about how she could have her own room. We'll see how that goes.
.jpg)
