Kat's Loft Bed

I used to post quite a few home improvement projects on my old blog, but I think this is the first one here. We haven't really been doing much around the house lately. This project was done late last summer; I've just been waiting for Shane to help me break down the cost. He still hasn't done that for me, so I'll just have to say that it didn't cost much at all.

Kat's room is small. It was originally going to double as a guest room, but after she moved in with us full-time, it became her room in earnest. In order to gain more floor space, Shane built a loft bed for her. In pink, per her request, of course.

Now, this isn't fine furniture by any means. But it's very sturdy. So sturdy that, should she still want it, it will probably last from now through her 'tweens, teens, and college dorm years (with the safety rail off, I'm sure). It might even be sturdy enough for her kids. It has a staircase instead of a ladder, which is not just easier to climb, but stabilized the bed even more.

It's made from pine: 4x4s for the uprights, 2x6s for the mattress box and staircase, and 2x3s for the top safety rail with 2x2 decking baluster for the verticals. We already had a good portion of this lumber on hand; any time Shane finds building supplies on a job site that are headed for the dumpsters, he asks a project manager or contractor for permission to "rescue" them. More often than not, permission is granted.

The bed required a few nuts and bolts, some nails and corner connectors, and a gallon of paint for both the bed and desk, with plenty of paint left over. It also includes a fluorescent light bar underneath. We used the mattress she was already sleeping on and the same quilt sets she had on the bed before.

Without a breakdown from Shane, I can't give a good dollar amount for the bed, but I know it cost us less than $100, and maybe even less than $75.

Kat slept on the bed as shown (with mattress on top) for about a month, then for reasons we still don't understand, refused to sleep "up top" anymore. During that time we put her mattress on the floor and her toys on the platform above. She recently changed her mind, saying she's a big girl and is sleeping "up top" again. And again I'm amazed at how much play space she gained by moving the bed up.

One thing I was dreading with this bed was making it every morning. I solved that by having her sleep on top of the comforter and covering her with other blankets, then just folding the blankets in the morning.

Kat's room is the coldest in the house in the winter. Raising her bed changed the dynamics of the heat flow, helping trap some of the warm air in the lower portion of the room as it natural rose to the top. The result was that her room ended up being one of the more comfortable rooms in the house for both play and sleep.