Please forgive me for this for being a bit long....but i am excited!
Our daughter picked this beach hut bed to be her new bed that she would be getting for her 3rd birthday. Her older sister has a loft bed and was always climbing up so we liked the idea of it being lower for her. I had saved some pics from other sites and then showed them to her, she didnt want the girly house one's :( no she wanted the one i had actually saved for her brother. lol...
Anyway then i went hunting and could not believe my luck when i came across this site with this bed and plans!
My husband...ye of little faith didnt think we could do it but was willing to follow my lead and have a go!
This was our 1st ever time for builing ANYTHING!
And what a undertaking, however it all came together very smoothly and we are both so very proud of what we have been able to achieve.
Things we did a little different...
We altered the ladder on an angle to make it easier for her to climb (alas also for her 20mth old brother as well), also made the ladder upright supports x3 instead of x2, so the ladder now supports both our weights.(see pic) We made little window sills on each of the windows, added a book shelf inside as she is an avid 'reader' screwed in a light from you will know where. :) On the other 'open doorway' side which is against the wall we screwed on 2 x cross beams using 1x2 pine just for our own sakes to know that she cant fall from that side. We also added some dowell fixed with some saddle clips to hang the material from across the open section.
She has been using this bed for 2 weeks now with no problem.
You have made our daughter a very happy little girl,and parents (she is having day sleeps again now:)) because without your site we would not have known where to start. Thankyou very much.
Estimated Cost
AU $300 - $400
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
To finish I sanded the whole thing, rounding of corners where needed, ie: ladder, window sills, cross bracings, etc. Then prime 1 coat and 2 coats of chosen colour, which is Dulux, Antique White USA. We used a semi as we didnt want a shiny finish.
I would recommend to anybody going to build this bed is to undercoat/prime all side lining wood before nailing into place as painting in between ALL THOSE GAPS took ALONG time!
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner