Jamie's bed

[celticdragonfly]

If you've been reading my journal, you probably know that selenite and I have been working on building a bed for Jamie. The original plan was a loft bed.



Today the bed was finally put together. (Much thanks to fordprfct for his help earlier in the day before he had to leave.) selenite had it mostly put together, ready to screw down the mattressboard up top.

And I looked at it, and said it was too high. Too high for Jamie, too high to put him in it. High enough that we were going to have to take the ceiling fan blades off. High enough that I didn't know HOW I'd change the sheets. And when we brought Jamie in, he was not able to climb up the end ladders.

In theory, it was a loft bed that you could eventually convert to a bunk bed by adding a lower level bed. I'd mentioned maybe we build a lower level bed in that he could use, and eventually he could use the upper when he was ready? This was going to involve buying more lumber and another mattress. selenite suggested we just move some of the pieces so that we had a lower bunk but no upper bunk. So we did that, and the two of us working together got it converted pretty quickly. So now it's basically a four-poster bed with ladder ends he can play around with climbing on if he wants, and it can be converted into a bunk bed when he's older. It has a nice under-the-bed area for play or storage.




(The proud carpenter rests on his work. I can see where his poor knee is all dinged up from yesterday.)


We introduced it to Jamie and he was very excited. He has been climbing into bed and climbing out, happily tucking the sheet around himself, ever since. He hasn't discovered going under it yet, but I'm sure he will.

We still need to add the magnetic blackboard we've built - that was going to go on the side of the bed underneath the loft, I think it can perfectly well go next to the mattress. Okay, he'll get chalk dust in his sheets occasionally, no biggie. And later I'm going to decorate it with yellow Wallies stars. But it's functional and ready to be slept on tonight.

Comments

[shadefell.livejournal.com]

I am blown away by how fantastic that bed looks! I called my fiance in to look at it, and we determined that the reason it looks so slick is because of the excellent paint job and the wonderfully rounded edges. Because I've seen home made furniture before, and it usually looks like crap. This bed, though, is AWESOME. Good job! It looks so incredibly sturdy.

[woobiewoobster.livejournal.com]

The bed looks great and I can tell you have one happy little boy on you hands! : ) Great job!

[quiva.livejournal.com]

That's a gorgeous bed!

You know, those rails that would have held the loft would be perfect to drape some type of fabric/netting/tent thing. I always wanted to sleep in a tent, inside, when I was little. Or maybe get a bit more lumber when you have the chance and turn it into a storage area? Or get one of those stuffed animal storage nets I've seen around. I think they're made to attach to the wall. Then you put the stuffed animals in there to keep them out of the way. Just some thoughts.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing. Sharon had one of those when she was smaller; it was triangular, though. So you could put two in the loft frame area and he'd be able to slam-dunk teddybears through the un-overlapped portion...

And yes; they attach to the wall (or in this case to the bed frame)with cup-hook-type screw-in hardware.

[archangelbeth]

Hammock!

No, wait, someone'd figure out "climb up and roll over till you fall off onto the mattress"...

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

It's gorgeous!

[filkferengi]

Excellent job!