John Henry's Custom Bed

When my son, John Henry, was ready to move out of his crib, I wanted him to have a special bed, but after looking around at what was on the market, I found that everything was either crumby quality or out of our price range.  Well, of course I did what any 'rational' DIY-er would do. . .

I built him a bed.

I was only blogging at Yarnnation at that point, and since it wasn't made of yarn, even though it was awesome, I never blogged about it.  This means that I can't show you the process because I didn't photograph it, but I can show you its parts and all its functional awesomeness.

I made the bed to fit a standard crib mattress.  I can easily remove the mattress and the side rails and the platform becomes a train table or a place to build with blocks or legos.

The platform lifts up to provide additional storage.  In our old house that was key.  We kept the kids' off season clothes under there.

In the Apple House (notice the crazy log wall there) we have plenty of storage, so now we just keep cats in there!

I upholstered the frame, first covering it with two layers of batting and then with a sturdy home interior fabric.  I love the dots!

The side rails are also plywood with large L brackets screwed to them.  When the mattress sits on top of the horizontal part of the bracket it holds the rails securely in place.   I can say that with confidence.  John Henry has tested them in 'extreme' circumstances!  (He inherited a propensity to wander around his bed in his sleep from me.)

To upholster them I sewed two pieces of fabric together to make a slip cover of sorts, and after covering the plywood in batting, slipped it over the top and stapled it to the bottom.

I made one short rail and one long one.  In our old house there was one on each long side of the bed.  In this house, where the bed is against a wall, the shorter rail acts as a headboard.

And here's one more shot of the whole bed.   Don't mind the big blank wall above his bed.  This isn't actually where his bed goes.  I moved it so I could photograph is against a plain wall instead of a log wall, which always makes the pictures look orange.   If his bed DID go there (instead of Leo's crib) I would put a big areal themed map up there.  Hmmmm.  I think I feel another crafting project taking shape!  :)

If you like this project, check out the rest of my blog!  We do LOTS of furniture renovations.  Follow along w/ us as we embrace our adventure.  Find us HERE on facebook.

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I'll be sharing at:
Between Naps on the Porch's, Metamorphosis Monday. 
Primitive and Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday.