Plans/pics/ideas for a building Youth Bed.

[Jim2009]

Hi all,

I have a 5 years nephew that often spends the weekend. I would like to build him a bed (twin size). I was thinking about a train bed, but I'm told he now thinks Thomas the Train is for babies! LOL. Anyways, I have decided to stay away from theme beds. I would like to build a basic box bed with some storage (maybe drawers underneath and a headboard with shelves). It would be nice if the bed was some how fun for the child, maybe a canopy or something. I can build about anything, but finding the right look or idea could take me months.

Any good pics or plans out there?

Thanks for reading, Jim

[nailshooter41]

All I can say Jim, is get on it. My nephew got so big so fast that I doubt he would be interested in something that wasn't versatile for more than a year or two.

Just for some quick ideas, check this out:

like the 3 in 1. But I have seen the "adapt a bed" built without the floor level bed. Instead of the floor level bed, a small play table was built on one end and toy box on the other. It seemed to me that an imaginative lad could make it a small shop, a fort, a command center and just about anything else he could dream up.

Robert

[Aardvark]

[Ed Edelenbos]

I should have taken pics and kept the drawings I made... Just a few months ago I made a loft bed for my son. He always loved to play on his sisters bunkbeds. It has a shelf under for his computer/dvd player to go on, a book shelf, and a good comfortable chair to read in.

Ed

[Dave - Parkville, MD]

There is a guy who displays his beds on Lumberjocks. May give you some ideas:

[Leon]

What ever you build, don't build it for a 5 year old, or a 6 year old, or a

9 year old. See where I am going with htis? He will be a teenager before you know it. Build something that you would not mind sleeping in. Build something that you would want to actually keep.

[Pat Barber]

what I think Robert was suggesting.

Jim2009 wrote:

[Upscale]

Unless there's another younger up and coming sibling that would be happy to use it.

[Robatoy]

A captain's bed. Timeless design and very versatile. Hang some nautical elements on the wall around it. Maybe a world map... either an old style or modern map in a matching frame. Maps feed kids' brains.

[nailshooter41]

Yes it is. Thanks, Pat.

Robert

[Woody]

No plans, but lots of pictures here:

finished and installed this for my daughters 5 days before my twin sons were born. We had a local artist paint it. We'll be repainting it to be more "boy friendly" and having them use it.

I'd argue that making it for "a child" will make it all the more memorable and special. I suspect my daughters will *always* remember their bed.

Doing it again, I'd build the turrets from 12" diameter PVC piping versus plywood. Would save time *and* money.

Any questions, give a holler.

~Mark.

[Jim2009]

Cheers, Jim

[Jim2009]

Sounds interesting. I really like some of those loft styles I have seen, but I'm going to keep this bed closer to the ground, he really moves around alot in his sleep, and even thought they have rails I feel it's too risky. Epecially since this would not his home bed, he may not realize where he's at in the middle of the night and go splat on the floor.

Cheers, Jim

[Jim2009]

Murphy beds! I never thought about that.

Cheers, Jim

[Jim2009]

I agree to a certain point. I don't want to make a kids bed, but a bed that would start out a little interesting for a child but be able to convert into a more normal bed later on.

This is something like I thinking.

as he grows I could remove the tent top.

But I also want storage under it like in this pic.

[Jim2009]

Yes it is. Thanks, Pat.

Robert

Thanks Pat and Robert. It gives me ideas. I wonder what they did behind those doors?

Cheers, Jim

[Jim2009]

A captain's bed. Timeless design and very versatile. Hang some nautical elements on the wall around it. Maybe a world map... either an old style or modern map in a matching frame. Maps feed kids' brains.

:-) The walls are off limits... Here's the coolest one I have seen, but not for me.

[Jim2009]

Yes, I bet your kids love that. Too much work for me.

Here's a few more similar to yours

out that space shuttle.

Cheers, Jim

[CW]

Looks good for the kids and, if the inside of the turrets were done right, a good place for the cats.

[Woody]

Well, don't much care for cats, but it works for the stuffed animals.

And yes, this was a *ton* of work. It got so I hated coming home at night because I had a pending deadline (birth of twin sons) and would have to work late to get this done.

As a personal joke, I had the artist paint a "large white seabird" on the underside of the top bunk so that looking up from the bottom bunk, you could see it. She asked my why I wanted that. I told her is was the albatross that had been tied around my neck while building the bed.

The good thing about these things is I forget about all the work a couple days/weeks later.

~Mark.