Introduction: Building a Bunk Bed From an Old Wooden Door.

About: Well, they say life begins at 30. I have recently immigrated to Australia where my Father currently runs an olive grove and vineyard in the sunny South East corner of Queensland. And I have followed in his foo…

When I came across this white door that my neighbour was chucking out, I instantly had an idea in mind with it, so he pased it my way....

Space in my bedroom is at an absolute premium, so i've applied the same format that the Chinese and Japanese use; when you run out of space to build out, start building up!

I have a small single mattress a bit smaller than a standard single bed (about 75 cm × 180 cm). I wanted the bunk bed to be about 4 foot off the ground, so the end of my sofa would fit under it.

After a lot of umming and ahhing and sizing out, I came up with a plan to build 2 end frames for each end of the door, then 2 supporting beams for the door running lengthways and finally sturdied with some braces of some sort around the legs.
So, time to get to work!

Step 1:

Firstly, the materials. The door of course needed 4 legs and would mimic a very tall table in appearance. Here is the door itself, I cut about 15cm off the bottom as my mattress wasn't as long as the door. You can also see the frames I built from simple 2x2, 2x3 and 2x4 timber. You can also see the two lengths of wood to provide support length ways.

Step 2:

Here is the frame lent together and the door positioned on top: The mattress will sit a top this. I am keeping the design simple with no guard rails ( I haven't fallen out f bed since I was about 4!), although you must take necessary precautions as you see fit and guard rails are simply a MUST if you are building this for kids.

Step 3:

OK, this is the space I am going to be filling with my new bunk bed: And directly underneith my UV glow graffiti wall of course :-D 

Step 4:

I then assembled the whole arrangement in said space. I then added reinforcements in problematic weak points of the framework, which were liable to make the bed unstable. After these were installed and the door screwed to the frame top, it was solid as a rock!

Step 5:

Now adding my small single mattress, which fits perfectly, a sheet, duvet and cushions, This bed is tucked nicely up and out of the way. I will possibly add a small 2 rung ladder at the pillow end but for now, a foot up from the sofa does fine!

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