Bunk Beds

Willett decided recently that he no longer wanted to sleep in his crib. We talked about getting another twin bed to put in their room, then went to American Furniture to explore options. We stumbled on to some bunk beds and thought that was the easy answer. For $700 and an afternoon assembling the bunk bed kit, we'd be in business. Then I got to thinking....

...maybe I can build a set of bunk beds.

Thanks to an incredibly resourceful mom in Alaska, and her website www.ana-white.com, I found easy plans that turned this into a reality. I altered her design a little bit, putting the ladder on the end. I also used Select Pine (no knots, better grain) and stained the wood rather than painting it. Golden Pecan stain with two coats of poly, and A LOT of sanding.

I've got a great helper.

Every good shop needs a good set of tools.

Applying the stain.

I love how this detail turned out. Almost like a mortise and tenon.

Owen decided he needed to make a set of bunk beds himself, complete with its own ladder.

I guess Willett has to sleep on the bottom, inside the green wood cave.

And here it is!!!!!!!

No better way to test a new bunk bed than with a good book.

We are all a little tired after this one.

Good thing he has all that room.

So, what turned started out as a half day bed assembly idea, turned into a weeklong project. 22 hours, buckets of sawdust, lots of bad 80s metal on the iPod, and about $375 in materials (I screwed up the first ladder attempt adding $60 in materials).

But the boys love it.