Thread: WIP kids single bed

G'day

current project underway.
scope was to
- build a kids single bed with storage underneath.
- Has to be "cool"
- bookshelf at end of bed
- reletively cheap
- strong for years of abuse to come
- rail for young 'un

I designed this up on AutoCAD and have took inspiration from some kids gym equipment that is at a park near us utilising thick ply, rounded edges and simple joints.

The joints are not going to be nice and tight, but this is so that i can paint each piece individually and pull it apart as a flat pack if required.

The whole bed so far has used under 2 sheets of 25mm ply. These set me back $97 each.

I am going to router the edges of the whole lot so that it is not sharp at all and kind to little hands.

I did see someone on the forum use a round-head bolt to pull a mortice and tenon joint tight and am going to do the same for each joint.

I ahve yet to cut the drawers out, this will be the last bit after i have made the support for the mattress so that i know how much i have to play with. I plan on cutting out drawers on both sides so that if for some reason we move the bed/house we can change the sides of the drawers with no ill effects. Just fix the opposite side.

What would be your recommendation to paint the bed with? I was going to go a stain with a Cabots poly, but am still up in the air. It is going to cop some abuse over the next few years. My thought was the "end grain" of the ply would look pretty cool with stain.

I was also thinking about putting some holes in the side above the mattress height on the rail end so that you can see through it. But am worried about if little arms get caught in them while asleep.

The non-rail end will have the base of the mattress sitting 50mm below the rail and the mattress is 130mm deep, so the top will be approx 80mm above it.

let us know what you think, i only get to play on the weekends and am trying to get this done before number 2 embraces us with her presence in 6 weeks time.