Need more room in your child's room?

[horseshowmom]

Hi, folks!

I just wanted to share about DD's redecorating of her bedroom. She's about to turn 19 and hadn't made many changes in several years. Also, her room is fairly small, so she had a shortage of space too.

She has friends who have the loft beds in their dorm rooms, and she wanted to try it in her room. We found plans on the internet, and she and her dad built one that was the tall size and held an XL twin mattress. She's tall, so that helped a lot over her daybed (we just added a 5 or 6 inch piece of foam at the head of the bed and didn't have to buy a new mattress - XL twin sheets fit great).

Since it's the tall size, she's able to put her desk, shelf, and TV underneath with plenty of headroom. She put a futon on the other side of the room, so she can watch TV comfortably from there. Now when she has company they can go back there and watch TV, and we can have the living room back.

We can't get over how much more room she has now. We should have done this years ago!

If you have a small bedroom, you might want to consider this...

 

[Beth76]

My boys' rooms are 12x12. We're looking for a loft bed for my older son. My younger son will have to wait a few years.

 

[horseshowmom]

My boys' rooms are 12x12. We're looking for a loft bed for my older son. My younger son will have to wait a few years.

We looked at some of the ones in the furniture stores, but they didn't have enough clearance under the bed (DD is about 5'8" or 5'9"). Some of the places that we looked at for plans had an option were you could buy the actual bed (with precut pieces) and have it shipped to you for assembling. We didn't do that, because we used lumber that we already had.

 

[CindyCan]

This is exactly what we're planning for my DD12's room this summer, complete with futon. Can I ask where you got the plans for the bed? We're good at making things (in the midst of making our own closet organizer right now!), and I'd love to see the plans you used.

TIA!

 

[horseshowmom]

This is exactly what we're planning for my DD12's room this summer, complete with futon. Can I ask where you got the plans for the bed? We're good at making things (in the midst of making our own closet organizer right now!), and I'd love to see the plans you used.

TIA!

www.collegebedlofts.com

DH and DD did complain a little bit about the plans (don't remember what the exact problem was), but it came out fine anyway. You can google "loft beds" or "XL loft beds" and find a lot of options. I remember finding one that was free.

http://www.oploftbed.com is another one.

Ebay also had some plans on there.

 

[lbgraves]

I can't wait for DD5 to get a little older & stop crawling out of bed in the middle of the night to come in with me. When this happens I plan to get a low loft bed to put her triple dresser under so that she has a little room to play (and for a desk). Her room is 10 x 8.

 

[horseshowmom]

I can't wait for DD5 to get a little older & stop crawling out of bed in the middle of the night to come in with me. When this happens I plan to get a low loft bed to put her triple dresser under so that she has a little room to play (and for a desk). Her room is 10 x 8.

While I was looking, I saw some really cute ones that have "curtains" on the bottom to turn them into a playhouse of sorts (one was a princess type theme and one was in primary colors). It seems like it may have had a slide on it too. They were pretty low and very cute. I saw one at a Walls Discount store near here, and it wasn't expensive at all (don't remember the actual cost, but I saw it in the JCPenney catalog for a lot more afterwards). I think I saw it on ebay too.

 

[Cindy B]

My son has had a loft bed from Ikea going on 5 years. Its great for some things (desk under the bed, storage) but there are disadvantages.

The disadvantages include: changing sheets are a pain, have to go up the ladder if there was an emergency (fire and such), and sometimes the kids try to jump from the bed.. possible injuries.

The loft bed is alos a treasure trove to "hide" things. I found all old school papers and such in there.