Loft Bed With Built in Bookshelf and Pegboard

Intro: Loft Bed With Built in Bookshelf and Pegboard

I made this bed for my daughter, as her room is quite small, and storage space is limited.  Moving the sleeping area up high makes the floorspace of the room much more versatile.

STEP 1: Main Sections

The bed was built in my shed, in 4 main parts.  This allowed me to actually fit it through the door into the bedroom and also, the bed is far too heavy for one person to move when fully assembled.  I started with the bookshelf, then build the ladder and foot end.  Once they were complete, I made the base frame for the mattress, then the peg board backing.

STEP 2: Bookshelf

I have used 35x300mm solid ply to build the bookshelf.  It is very heavy, but also solid and strong.  If this ply is not available, you could just as easily use pine or particleboard.  For the backing, I used pegboard, as I had acquired a substantial quantity of this. again, you could use 3mm ply, MDF or something similar.  I glued and also nailed the shelves in.  Above the top shelf is a 90mm gap to allow an area for the bed rails to bolt to.  The bed head is 10mm ply, which has been covered with soft filling and some material.

STEP 3: Foot and Ladder End

For this end I used 90x45 pine.  I used fairly large size timber as I wanted to be sure that there was sufficient strength.  Again, the timber is glued and also nailed, except the treads of the ladder, which are glued and also screwed for strength.

STEP 4: Base Frame

The base frame is made from 2 stringers of 90x35 pine, with 42x19 supports along the inside of each length.  90x19 pine planks were cut, glued and nailed between the stringers.  at the head end, the planks were left off and I made a small insert to fit inside the top of the bookshelf, to allow for easier assembly.

STEP 5: Peg Board Back

I made the pegboard backing so that my daughter would have somewhere to hang her bags, scarves, necklaces, etc.  I simply took a sheet of peg board and cut it to size, and nailed it to a frame of 70x35 around the edge of the peg board to give it some strength.  Then I simply painted it and drilled some holes so it could bolt to the rest of the bed.  I picked up some peg board hooks from the hardware store and just fitted them where required.

STEP 6: Assembly and Finishing Touches

After painting all of the main parts with some pink paint sample pots that I got from the hardware store, it was time to bring in the bed and assemble it in my daughters room.  I simply put the bookshelf as near as possible to the final location, and the foot end as well.  Then it was a simple matter of lifting the base into place and bolting it together.   After that, all that was left for assembly was to bolt on the pegboard and move the bed into it's final position.  I also added a rail from Ikea and a storage tub for a water bottle.  In the bookshelf is a power supply board with four outlets for plugging in game chargers, camera charger, cd player, etc.

Comments

[fionagrace]

did you use screws or nails?????????

[catkinson54]

What is the child using to hold onto to climb the ladder? The ladder is underneath the bed, which is an awkward climb. If you make the bed longer, you can add rails for her to hold and grab and then a space to climb onto. I love the concept and the neat look of it. As someone else stated, it does need side rails for safety.

[Gui Toledo]

What's the bed's lenght? Being for your daughter I tought it would be about 1.5m long, but after comparison to the chair on the left I have no idea. Assuming I needed to make a 1.9m long bed frame, would I need a larger, stronger sustentation? Sorry about my bad english, it's not my first language.

[mattman2]

nice Instructable
going to see if my parents would go for this

[animal lover]

i know right? I love it, but my family is always rushing, so maybe, just maybe, I can get my parents to go with this idea.

[rmyles]

Roughly, about how much would you say this project cost you?

[jimis]

Great build, good use of space... but.....

Don't want to sound like a H&S nut but a bed so high without some side panels makes me nervous. I know the chances of any accidents is remote, but if a little one where to roll out from such a height....

being a Dad of 2 little ones myself, makes me wince to just think about it.

[awarden]

Yep have thought of that myself. Am in the process of making a rail for the open side, as well as a platform for books, etc. Just working out how to fit them so they can be removed easily to make the bed! I will probably use bolts with wing nuts.

[hungyhipo 2]

Nice job, you could use a few more up close shots but from a glance its very good.

[jessyratfink]

This is such a great idea. I've always wanted a bed like this. :D