Jack & Henry’s New Bed

Updated- Ive shared all the plans! I am so proud how often this gets pinned!  The boys are now 8 and 6 (it’s 2016) and they still sleep in this bed every night.  We even successfully moved it to our new home!

So, Ikea sells this bed. (The Kura)

I love this bed. I think it’s fun and sturdy and totally appropriate for little kids who want to bunk but parents aren’t ready for them to be sleeping 6 feet in the air. Besides it is the right height for goodnight kisses. I will tell anyone how awesome this bed is. And those panels? Can be easily painted any color.

However, it’s a little messed up that the little brother/sister is stuck sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

In July I started sketching. During the course of one nap time I had a plan for a solution. My genius plan not only solved the kid-on-the-floor problem but it would also solve a small-bedroom-not-much-storage problem.

First we needed lumber. Which we purchased right after Labor Day weekend. Let me be clear, my plans were more than a sketch. These plans were exact. I included measurements for all cuts of wood, how many screws we needed, how many brackets we would use and where they would go. Since I could already see it in my mind’s eye I didn’t want my power-tool inclined husband to misinterpret my vision.

It rained a lot. And my husband quickly lost motivation. I bribed, I nagged, I tried to tattle on him to his parents. Nothing worked. But mostly the rain got in out way. So about 7 weeks later we were finally ready to assemble…

The kids loved it, even at this stage. But they were using the lower bunk and its plywood base as a tap-dancing stage. That activity was waaaaaay too loud for me.

Mattress- check!
Painted Drawers- check!
Drawer Knobs- out of stock at The Depot…

Henry is not sleeping in this bed yet. Only because he sleeps so well in his crib, we are not ready to mess with a good thing. Right now this bunk is being used as a bedtime book-reading location. Baby steps. Since Henry isn’t jumping out of his bed at 18 months we aren’t going to rush anything.

Here are the plans we used: they aren’t the most comprehensive things in the world, but they certainly got the job done.

We used 2x2s for the frame, MDF for the drawer bottoms and 1x10s for the rest of the structure. The plywood top lays directly on the base, and is attached to the bed with L brackets. This helps with noise and reinforces the structure.

Finally- here’s this set of plans, with a ‘shopping list’.