We live in a small apartment and with our second baby we needed a safe space for our children to sleep. As their age difference is small (toddler of 2yrs and baby of 7mo) they can sleep together in the same room but the baby is not allowed to crawl out of bed, while our oldest should have some protection from falling but can climb out if he wishes.

That is why we opted for a toddlers bunk bed (150cm x 70cm) which can be (partly) closed for protection.

Supplies

Toddler-sized bedframe
MDF 2440x1220mmx18mm 4x pcs
Screws (4.0x20mm, 4.0x30mm, 3.6x35mm-black)
Drilling machine (x2)
Jigsaw
Sandpaper 220p & 80p
Primer 1L
Paint 2,5L
T-Hinge 7x
Handle 5x
Paint rollers
Degreaser
Measurement tape

Step 1: Frame

I was not comfortable enough to make a strong frame so we bought this at blankenhoutenmeubel.nl to start of as a base. It came with a white primer, a stairs which we didn't use and two drawers for beneath the bed. Exact size is 161cm x 81cm x 170cm and we estimated it to be 220cm in height after the roof was finished.
Bottom bunk is 23cm from the floor to leave space for the drawers and the top bunk is 110cm from the floor as this leaves enough headspace for both children.

After sanding & painting the bedframe, the first challenge was the support for the roof as this was lopsided and designed in a freeform, trial-error way. I wanted it to be 50cm in height from the bedframe and have an asymmetric look. When we were satisfied we copied these beams for the front and started sawing the planks for the backside. It would serve as support for the support-beam itself strengthening the structure.

Step 2: Assembling

To give it an extra home-made look we sawed each plank with different widths. This was an idea heavily inspired by Mathy-by-bols and kids-playhouse. I made up a numbering scheme for each width of the planks which would total the whole width available:

topside plank width:
9 15 7 11 5 13 5 9 11 13 7 15
downside plank width:
15 7 13 11 9 5 13 5 11 7 15 9

As in the previous picture we thought hard and long how to cut the planks on the top side where the roof would be, but in the end we made a small calculation error and it was off by a few centimeters. The support beam was in front of it so you can't see though and once that was assembled we had a first good look at how our house would look like!

From here on we could add the second support beam on the front with an extra plank across the tip of the roof for extra strength.

Step 3: Little Doors

After finishing the support beams, backpanel and sidepanels it was time for the most interesting part: the little doors which should be cute, practical and protective for both children.

The lower left door is 78cm x 92cm made out of 7 planks (11 9 7 12 10 11 10 -- 8 9 12 11 7 11 12) and the two windows are 66,5cm x 65cm (7,5 9,5 12,5 10,5 8,5 11 -- 12,5 7,5 10,5 8,5 11,5 9,5).

On the inside of the doors we made small strips to hold all the planks together. Later we had to adjust this a little so it would not bump against the bedframe and we had to cut off corners where it would hit the roof.

Step 4: Finalize

With the doors in place the project was almost finished. Meanwhile we sawed the roof to our liking where we made it a few cm longer on the sides and top which looks very playful.

It was time to do the finishing touches for the few planks missing on the front size below the roof and more decorative planks around the entrance for the bottom bunk. In the window we sawed small strips for the window frame to project small babies from escaping.

Last thing to design where the wooden locks for all three doors. This simple solution works perfectly, but I had to cut out a little bit of the upper doors and fixed an extra wooden block onto it.