When your child is growing there is not much left that separates them from being a boy and being a man. However while trying to be adult like they still cling to endearing childhood items like toys, but want more adult like things. You can quickly run out of room for them and then the problem becomes how to give them storage while allowing them to have room to express themselves and grow.
We considered many things, although perhaps the best solution was a loft bed. It would allow him a place where he could sleep, a place to hang out beneath it on a folding futon, as well as a place where friends and family could sleep if they needed to spend the night. And at the foot of the bed we would be able to put a desk for all his homework assignments. It was still young enough to be cool, and allowed quite a bit of growth with the impending transition into teenager.
As with everything there are obstacles specific to this project. One such obstacle is taking care of the measuring, ensuring you have a clear picture of what you want for the room and how to achieve that with correct measurements can save you quite a bit of money. You would not want to spend all that time and money into building something you cannot even get into the room or something you will have to leave behind once it is in. Our bed plans need to accommodate a queen mattress.
With many things that can go wrong, you do not want to have bad measurements waste all of your expensive materials. Once you have the materials you can head to the hardware store and begin shopping for wood. My son loves the smell of cedar, it reminds him of camping outdoors, so we decided we would spend a little extra for the top rail surrounding where he would sleep.
As mentioned our neighbor helped us with getting the wood for the bed from the store to our home and then offered to help build it. He offered his saw, although we were surprised when he brought over his chainsaw. I would have never thought that husqvarna chainsaws could be used in the building of a bed, however they managed.
We checked the measurements again before cutting the wood, honestly it could not hurt to make sure everything was accurate. We could have always bought more wood, but really no one wants to have to. Better safe than sorry. Our son even got wrapped up in helping out with the project. He enjoyed helping me measure and then helping the guys nail everything together.
The frame was built with supports to keep it from wobbling. We also added a desk at the foot of his bed a place where he was able to put his homework. We placed the ladder to climb up into his bed beside his desk at the foot as well. Because we have family that visit from time to time and he enjoys having friends over we wanted some place that could act as seating and bedding should it be needed as such.
We decided to just purchase a less costly futon for beneath the bed to use as a sofa or bed. We will be looking around for a better mattress for it, but for now it works. We had to make a compromise with my son for bedding. He had his heart set on the army green king quilts complete with the army crests that they had at the store. However as a queen sized mattress was on his bed, he had to settle for simply the colors.
