Hello! We got back two months ago from our big trip (details of which can be found here) and I promptly set about deconstructing the bunk beds in Emma's room.
Let me be clear about one thing: I love bunk beds; they are great in small spaces or for fitting multiple people in a room. They make a ton of sense for almost everyone out there.
But not for me. I had come to loathe these beds. There are two reasons for my extreme disdain:
1. We purchased them under duress on a tight timeline before our trip and I always felt they were too dark and hulking for the room, plus they fit poorly in the weirdly-shaped alcove.
2. I run an Airbnb and I nearly broke my neck every three days climbing up on that bunk to change the sheets.
So project Numbero Uno upon returning was to post these babies to Facebook Marketplace, stat.
Here's a good view of the alcove without the beds. Take special note of that heat register; it would cause me a lot of grief down the road.
My first task was to paint the room. Over time I've come to regret painting each room a different color; now they're all getting the same basic grey, although we still have a few rooms that haven't quite been brought into the color fold. I am also no longer willing to mess around with painting my ceilings a different color than the walls. Grey from top to bottom.
Chris painted these walls back in 2010, a few weeks before the arrival of our first child, and three weeks after breaking his hand in Mexico. It was a rough month.
Post painting, I covered the floor in plastic sheeting and began building. Because we still occasionally post our house on Airbnb, I needed to get the same number of beds in this room: two twins. The plan was to do a regular bed for Emma with a trundle stashed away that could be pulled out for occasional use.
I began by first building the trundle.
It's hard to tell in the photos, but that heat register is an inch wider at the bottom than at the top, meaning that the trundle stuck out perilously close to the edge of the alcove. Things were getting tight. I had a scant 1/2" for the trundle faceboard.
Next up was the main bed frame. I attached the frame directly to the wall studs; this thing is solid as a rock. I also learned that trying to drill through carpet will cause said carpet to unravel 12" across the floor but that's a story for another time.
Frame plus trundle. Slowly coming together. I used 2x4s for the main frame and 1/2" particle board for the mattress foundations. The outer frame and table top got fancy 1/2" plywood instead of the particle board.
The trundle is complete. Working on the table top and closet door.
The headboard and footboard got the cottage look: horizontal 1x4s nailed to the frame.
For the record, I really hate the sanding process. So. much. dust.
Ben gives it a test run.
Paint: same grey as the rest of place (Subtle Touch by Behr, which, if you want my honest opinion, has a touch too much purple but it's the color we chose for the upstairs hallway and everything is now following suit. I'm too cheap/lazy to repaint the entire place.).
The trundle face and closet door get some fancy trim.
More sanding before the final coat.
DONE. Hardware and lighting have been added. Closet door has been hung.
These aren't great photos (dark Seattle Fall days don't help the ambient light situation) but we're scheduled to have updated Airbnb photos done in the next few weeks so hopefully we'll have some pretty pictures to show on the website soon enough.
xo,
Sonja