Wednesday, February 1, 2012

the girls room: double bunk beds

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i tried to remember to take tons of photos of the entire process--some details of the construction, some just for fun, some oops!
so now i can share some more details about individual parts of our project.

jeremy drew the plans for the bed himself. he based it off the photos of the double bunks at augustfields, and on the original photo she used for inspiration for her bunk room.

we were more limited in space than it seems either of those rooms were. we used literally every inch from window to window on the back wall.

both end walls were framed out and sheetrocked.

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and the rest of the bed was made from a combination of studs and MDF, cut to size in our backyard and brought through the window :)

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(he may kill me for this picture…hehehe)

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the drawers were something we (and by we i mean he) debated for a while. it seemed like a waste not to utilize that space, but it was also more time, effort and money to make drawers.

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in the end it was only about $30 worth of supplies and a couple hours to make the drawers on castors. and even if they’re just used to store off season clothing in the long run—it’s still better to have the storage space.

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he left only the tiniest gap between the bottom trim and the floor—hopefully to stop tiny bits and pieces from getting lost underneath ;)

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everything got at least two coats of primer and two coats of paint. the cut ends of the MDF got even more…boy can that stuff suck up paint.

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the back walls of the bed, end walls and ceiling were all painted white. we wanted it to look like a huge built-in piece—one unit all to itself.

we did initially paint the back walls the same blue as the other walls. but it didn’t feel right at all, so we changed it to the white.

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(it actually doesn't look bad in this picture. but trust me...it wasn't right)

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the final piece was the railings for the top bunks. a lot of the custom bunk bed photos we looked at online didn’t have railings on the top bunks! we couldn’t understand why—until we got to that point in our project.

jeremy was all “gobbeldy wobbledy construction speak no skinny wood that doesn’t warp don’t know what to use blah blah blah all the one-bys were twisted like noodles blah”
at least, that’s what i heard.

our solution: two thick wooden dowels, spray painted white and attached with closet rod hangers.

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the space isn’t as big as it looks in this picture for some reason. the baby is not allowed to be taken up on the top bunks, and that provides enough of a barrier for all the bigger kids.

jeremy’s initial cost estimate for the beds was $500. and in the end we came in right around there. that includes all the wood/MDF, sheetrock, spackle, trim, paint and even the lights. not bad for 4 beds.

sometimes when you’re in the midst of spending money left and right during a major project you can lose sight of reality and what’s what. so it helped that in our mail one day was an advertisement for a “cheap” furniture store…boasting of their white metal daybeds for “only” $199.

4 of them would have cost us significantly more than what we built, would have taken up a LOT more room, and in my opinion—wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome nice (hehe ana)

thanks for reading!
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7 comments:

  1. Are you kidding? Cheap metal day beds woulda looked like CRAP compared to the awesomeness in there now. Do you know how I DROOL over your house???
    I mean, not that I'm jealous or anything.
    And the dowels with closet rod hanger thingys? Inspired.

    ReplyDelete
  2. awww googs, thanks for the nice shoutout ;) and you know.. yeah, your fix is wayyyy cheaper than 4 individual beds. way cooler too. and certainly more affordable than what many people would do -- move to a house with more bedrooms. haha, we're contemplating that. maybe. we'll see. for now, bunkbeds are working just fine thank you. i love that your girls'll grow up together there, such a unique space built with so much love. and maybe a little cursing. but mostly love! xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can I have Ellie's spot till she's ready for it??

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  4. Thank you for sharing. I have been looking for this for my cottage basement. I couldn't find a detail showing on how to make. Great work and very inspiring.

    I have a few questions?
    Are there lights and plug sockets with each bunk?

    Did both bottom bunks get drawers?

    Are the bunks twin? did you use normal mattresses?

    I would like to make my bottom a double and top a twin.

    Are the top bunks safe for adult weight.

    Sorry for all the questions.... hope to hear from you soon.
    Denise, Saint John, NB Canada

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi denise!
      thanks so much. to answer your questions:
      yes, each bunk has a light and a plug socket. the little girls' sockets have childproof plugs in for now, until they get older.

      both bottom bunks have drawers.

      they are all standard size twin mattresses. three of them were mattresses we already had, the fourth we bought a normal twin from IKEA.

      the top bunks are very, very safe. they will easily accomodate an adult+. i sometimes climb in with one of my girls for snuggling and chatting.
      hope this helps!

      Delete
  5. oh my goodness!! we have struggled so much with a need for another bedroom and the big question of whether or not to move... this is a wonderful solution that we will copy-cat ASAP! thanks!!

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  6. WOW WOW WOW!!! we have a space problem for our children-to-bedroom ratio... and I can easily envision my 3 girls and their slumber partyin' gal pals enjoying this set up. we may try just a two-bed version with double sized mattresses in lieu of a wide enough bedroom for two beds end to end. thanks so much :)

    ReplyDelete

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