Younger Son wanted a bunk bed for his birthday. And then Older son wanted one too. We started talking more and more about his birthday and we decided we would celebrate on our trip to Jamaica (which you can read about our Packing Guide for Travel with Kids on that trip here). We tabled the bed discussion so I could start my mommy homework. A low cost bunk bed option. I never want to spend a lot of money. And, soon, I'll start posting all the furniture - PERFECTLY GOOD FURNITURE - that people put in there alleys around Chicagoland. I have a few pieces in my home, sshhh, don't tell husband.
I first looked online at retail ideas. So I could see what's trendy, price ranges, and get inspired. After reviewing simple loft beds, I felt guilty spending even one penny let alone $200 when we have great perfectly good beds at home. My older son has a beautiful hand me down wood frame, younger son has his fire engine bed, found in said alley, and baby girl has her crib (a family hand me down from when my Older son was born).
This is the original crib assembled as a crib. The photo is from when my young son was a baby and the mattress support was attached high on the support beams.
I didn't include traditional wood option bunk beds because those were waaayyyyy out of my budget. I did save birthday money for some time and had about $500. . . however, we have perfectly good beds at home. Also the wood options are bulky chunky and take up way too much room. I also wanted to take advantage of the high 9 foot ceilings we have in the bedrooms.
Then I hit Pinterest for more ideas. And then Amazon, and then Ikea. I did find some nice simple steel framed Bunk and Junior Bunk Beds for $100 each. Again, the rather specific mom that I am, some would say very Type A, I would want new mattresses (latex of course) and now we are paying $500 PER mattress on sale at my wholesale find price.
UGH! I realized this is not the right decision to buy BRAND NEW BEDS when we had perfectly good furniture at home. What a HYPOCRITE I am trying to be cost conscious, environmentally aware, recycling, blah, blah, blah and here I am shopping.
I did find a few ideas on Pinterest, dresser conversion to changing tables, parents who built frames for bunk beds they wanted. Even craigslist had some great gently used versions. But - still NO - spending too much.
Then it was bedtime one night, mundane usually. I was changing baby girls diaper and my older son was hiding in the "dungeon" under her crib. I was already starting the consider the time I'll need to convert her crib into a toddler bed. This was a selling option of the crib a few years ago. And it hit me - as I thought through the toddler bed conversion instructions - to "reverse engineer / assemble the crib."
Crib Converts to a Junior Loft Bunk Bed for Younger Son, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.
I first looked online at retail ideas. So I could see what's trendy, price ranges, and get inspired. After reviewing simple loft beds, I felt guilty spending even one penny let alone $200 when we have great perfectly good beds at home. My older son has a beautiful hand me down wood frame, younger son has his fire engine bed, found in said alley, and baby girl has her crib (a family hand me down from when my Older son was born).
This is the original crib assembled as a crib. The photo is from when my young son was a baby and the mattress support was attached high on the support beams.
I didn't include traditional wood option bunk beds because those were waaayyyyy out of my budget. I did save birthday money for some time and had about $500. . . however, we have perfectly good beds at home. Also the wood options are bulky chunky and take up way too much room. I also wanted to take advantage of the high 9 foot ceilings we have in the bedrooms.
Then I hit Pinterest for more ideas. And then Amazon, and then Ikea. I did find some nice simple steel framed Bunk and Junior Bunk Beds for $100 each. Again, the rather specific mom that I am, some would say very Type A, I would want new mattresses (latex of course) and now we are paying $500 PER mattress on sale at my wholesale find price.
UGH! I realized this is not the right decision to buy BRAND NEW BEDS when we had perfectly good furniture at home. What a HYPOCRITE I am trying to be cost conscious, environmentally aware, recycling, blah, blah, blah and here I am shopping.
I did find a few ideas on Pinterest, dresser conversion to changing tables, parents who built frames for bunk beds they wanted. Even craigslist had some great gently used versions. But - still NO - spending too much.
Then it was bedtime one night, mundane usually. I was changing baby girls diaper and my older son was hiding in the "dungeon" under her crib. I was already starting the consider the time I'll need to convert her crib into a toddler bed. This was a selling option of the crib a few years ago. And it hit me - as I thought through the toddler bed conversion instructions - to "reverse engineer / assemble the crib."
Crib Converts to a Junior Loft Bunk Bed for Younger Son, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.
How I Set Up My Junior Bunk Loft Bed from a Crib:
(basically I assembled the crib upside down)
- I could simply flip the crib upside down,
- reverse the bed base upside down
- install the crib rail upside down
This would basically reverse assemble the crib upside down, elevated off the ground to a "Junior Bunk Bed Size."
Looks like a young boy sleeping in his crib. It's actually our Younger 5 year old son sleeping in his new (to him) converted crib to bunk bed. Super sturdy and safe!
So Now all we need is a ladder. See this post on how I made our Junior Bunk Loft Bed ladder for under $8.
NEW UPDATE :: YOUTUBE CHANNEL INFO ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT BLOG
Our family has had many adventures through the years. Mom, the @Minstr0Interior had an a-ha moment . . . Suddenly I See what we will have filled our life with, ADVENTURES! We travel, craft, sing, dance, collect insects and spend loads of time together. Sometimes too much time together. Our kids have recently begun to document their own adventures, and so this channel was born. Enjoy our adventures. Or not. WANT MORE? If there is a blog post accompanying this video we will share it here. Sometimes we will include the ingredients list of the craft or recipe, or the itinerary of our trip. In the meantime click play.
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Originally Published on February 1, 2014Make Mistakes. Breathe, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud
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