Bunk Bed for the Butch Boys
Despite my vision of having both boys in their beautiful lolly cribs & eventually, converted toddler beds, Kai was just too tall and cramped to sleep in it any longer. I thought about putting Cruz into the converted toddler bed and bumping Kai into a twin size, but our space wouldn’t allow it. Ultimately, I decided to transition both boys into the Ikea Kura Bed. There are so many “hacks” for this simple system but due to limited space and to keep the continuity for the rest of the room (we all room share), I decided that a minimal house frame for the top bunk for Kai and a cozy den for Cruz on the bottom would be the way to go. Kai is currently obsessed with Batman so I thought a simple Batman loft would be fun.
The bed itself proved to be somewhat of a hassle & hack when David was assembling it. Although there were many, many ways to assemble and configure the setup, I wanted the large opening to be on one end, and the ladder and “window slats” to be on the other. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not foresee my idea and so the predrilled holes did not align with the setup I had in mind. It was a small change but I felt it worked best because aesthetically, the larger opening would visually create more space when we walked into the bedroom. Thankfully, David was able to use a few tools to make it happen! Lastly, we also decided not to use the solid panels that the bed comes with. After reading reviews, what prevented children from rolling out of the bed wasn’t the railing & panel, but actually the thickness of the mattress. A thinner mattress would allow the railing to function as a rail- so be aware of that. For additional safety, we installed two handles at the top of the ladder.
Once the bed was assembled, we asked our friend to crunch some numbers for the house frame, and it was off to the local lumberyard. The house frame was pretty simple to build, we used 1.5” x 2.5” wood that fit perfectly with the Ikea bed. I included the numbers that we used- but keep in mind that depending on how tall your ceiling is, the numbers will have to be adjusted.
For design and decor, I wanted to use some modern prints alongside a neutral color palette. Because Cruz is still so little, we didn’t get him a twin-sized mattress. We created a cozy den for him with a couch and his favorite toys. To finish off the boys’ bunk bed, we strung some beautiful globe lights.
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We discussed with the boys about being safe on the bunk bed. We demonstrated how to get up and down safely, how only 1 person can be on the ladder at a time- with nothing in our hands, and that we do NOT play on the top bunk. So far, the boys have been really good about following the rules.
