When I did the makeover for my cute neighbor, there were a couple of challenges and both of them impacted the bed. The room was super small so it limited where I could place the bed. The longest wall (where the bed already was) made the most sense so I kept it on that wall. The only floor vent was under the bed however so his mom would remove one of the drawers on this bed so the air could circulate.
I knew I needed to make a bed that would allow for air flow but also still had some storage.
And here is what I came up with!
I used two pieces of ¾ inch plywood. Ever since I made the card catalog table with my son, I have been loving the look of the lines on the edges of the plywood. I wanted to do another project where they were exposed.
While at Home Depot I had them cut the pieces down for me A) so it was one less thing to cut when I got home but mainly because B) it fits better in the van cut down. I had them cut it so I had two pieces that were 40 inches by 76 inches. The leftover pieces became the center slats. Since 40 inches were cut off of the 48 inch by 96 inch plywood sheet, it left (just shy of) 8 inches. It actually worked out perfectly because with the casters and mattress it ended up being the right height for a child's bed.
I drilled pocket holes on the center slats.
Kreg Jig Kit (affiliate)
I decided not to stain the bed. I wanted it to stay light so it wouldn't compete with the awesome worn black floors. Once all the pieces were cut, holes were drilled, and it was sanded, I added two layers of satin polyurethane.
Because it is such a small, tight space, I opted to assemble the bed in the room. Here you can see the center slats I was talking about with the pocket holes.
Once I screwed the slats onto the bottom board, I added the top board and screwed it into place.
I wanted the bed to easily be moved away from the wall for when they needed to access whatever they stored on the other side of the bed. If this were my kid's bed I would probably fold up out of season clothes and store them on the side that touches the wall. When they need to get to that side, instead of removing the things in the front and reaching all the way back, they can slide the bed away from the wall and reach in easily. I used 6 of these all metal casters.
All Metal Caster (affiliate)
They raise the bed several inches and allow for the floor vent to circulate air.
I had to scoot the dresser out of the way so I could get the whole bed in the shot. I love how it looks!
This was the easiest bed I have ever made. My boys fell in love with it and they all want one now. I don't know for sure if it will work given the fact that we kind of need to g the bunk bed route, but I may be able to swing one.
If you missed the room reveal you can see it HERE and I have a tutorial for the painted curtains HERE.
The weekend is coming up. Do you have any projects planned?
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Painting a basement bedroom which will become our master bedroom.
Do the metal casters have a brake feature? How do you stop the bed from rolling around?
I actually meant to buy two that had brakes for the front corners but they were out of the ones with brakes. Since I was working with a deadline, I opted to use all regular ones. I told my neighbor that if there was an issue with it moving, we could replace two of them. It has been a few weeks and she said it is fine. In fact, I was over there yesterday to see the little boy's new lizard and we all sat on the bed like a couch. It never moved even with all of us on it. But yes, you could add a couple with brakes if you were worried about it.
Fabulous job - love the bed. Love the attention to detail. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Stacy,
I love receiving your emails and seeing how creative and energetic you are! I thought you might get a kick out of the fact that they all go to my spam file and I have to be sure to look for them before I trash its contents. I'm sure that the title "Not just a Housewife" is throwing someone off! It always amuses me. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Hahaha! Shoot! I subscribe by email to my blog so I can make sure that it looks right and so if I stop getting them I know there is a problem I need to fix. Mine were going to my spam folder in Gmail for awhile but it fixed itself after awhile. Thanks for taking the extra step to find my emails. I will ask the company if there is anything I can do on my end to change it. Have a great weekend!
That turned out great! I love that style, and furniture that can do multiple things at once! :) Thank you for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty
What a perfect bed for kids! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday!