Being number four in a family has positives and negatives.  The positives are giant and everlasting.  He has been surrounded by people that adore him since day one.  He has three big siblings to play with, protect him, and indoctrinate him into all of their shenanigans.  His parents are a bit wiser and a lot more tired so most of the small stuff slides.

“Let’s Build this Kid A Bed!”

The negatives, I think, are mostly inconsequential.  His naps were often on the go, nary a sleep schedule in sight.  Baby proofing the house was nil.  He never had matching sweater vests to wear to church like his big brothers did when they were his age.   (Okay, maybe that is a positive!?!)  He has his own room, which he has not slept in for years.  Who can pass up the comfort of sleeping in the same room as a big sister?  I don’t think I have bought so much as a set of sheets for the kid.  Everything in the room came from someone else being done with it.  It’s time! Let’s build this kid a bed!

By occupation my husband an engineer but is also capable of making anything he sets his mind to.  We make a mean team.   I have too many big ideas and he can build them all.  It’s a pretty awesome set up.

Loft Bed DIY- So, this loft bed for number four is a departure from his fine furniture ways. Its made from untreated lumber that we painted and is simple and sturdy. And the best part was he made it in two weekends and for well under $200! It is absolutely and perfectly what we need right now!

  The thing is he likes to do things the right way, the fine furniture way.  This also happens to be the “take a really long time” way.  When he is done his projects are epic, as in , we would never have enough money to pay someone to do the kind of work he does.
So, this loft bed for number four is a departure from his fine furniture ways.  Its made from untreated lumber that we painted and is simple and sturdy.  And the best part was he made it in two weekends and for well under $200!  It is absolutely and perfectly what we need right now!
 

Lofted Bed Materials List

Loft Bed DIY- So, this loft bed for number four is a departure from his fine furniture ways. Its made from untreated lumber that we painted and is simple and sturdy. And the best part was he made it in two weekends and for well under $200! It is absolutely and perfectly what we need right now!

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Lofted Bed Painting How To…

I think painting this monster took me as long as it took my husband to make it.  There are four main pieces- the bed platform, the two tall ends of the bed, and the desktop.   For this step each of these pieces are still separate.  When painting was done we carried these to his room and assembled them there.   The painting steps are as follows.
 
 Painting DIY loft bed and desk

 

  • Prime each piece with paint.  I used leftover from another project, just to seal the wood.
  • Paint a coat of Behr Interior eggshell paint in Dark Denim.
  • Sand to remove any rough spots.  Apply enough pressure to remove the paint down to the wood at corners and expose some wood grain.   This gives it a less uniform finish that I like.  It will allow the stain used in the next step to soak in in some places.
  • Wipe all dust off with a damp rag.
  •  For this step don some vinyl gloves so your hands won’t permanently be stained walnut brown.  Wipe Minwax Wood Finish in Dark Walnut  stain onto the wood, following the grain of the wood.   Immediately  use the same rag to wipe off any excess stain.  This just gives a little depth and variation to the paint.  It’s not a completely even finish but I like that.  This stain took a few days to dry.
We hauled the above pieces upstairs unassembled.  My hubby used screws to assemble to it could someday be taken apart and put back together again when he goes to college. (Muffled sob.) Once the lofted bed was assembled we unrolled his new mattress and flopped it up there.

 

 Mattress Decisions

 This is actually the fifth one of these exact same mattresses we have purchased.  We have a bunk room in our basement that houses four of these identical twin xl mattresses.  We originally bought the bunk room mattresses because we needed four of them and these are undeniably a good deal. 
 
They are actually super comfortable and have worn perfectly.   Even my giant of a husband sleeps on them occasionally and they support him.  The mattress comes all shrink wrapped up in relatively small box but puffs right up after an hour or two unrolled.  My kids and I are all super sensitive to chemicals and smells and I didn’t notice any nasty, lingering smell for these either.  Bonus.
 

His bed is done and his desk is covered with Lego’s and crayons, as it should be.  He is so, so proud of his grown up room  his daddy made for him.  Has he slept in it?  Nope.  He’s still sleeping in his sister’s room. For now he loves playing in there and knows he has a grown up room just waiting for him when he’s ready!

You’re one weekend away from a new lofted bed for your kiddo! 

If you like our lofted bed project check out our bunk room project.  Maximum memories in a minimum space!