**FREE** Plans For DIY Twin House Bed
Is this not the cutest little girl bed you've ever seen! Ever since I knew I was having a girl I knew I wanted her to have a cute room. I've been eyeing this design and planning for the day Annalise was ready to move into a big girl bed. I had planned to wait a few months to let her adjust to life with baby brother around but then one day I put Leeland in her crib and she was ready for him to have it and for her to have her own big girl bed. I showed Bryce a picture and he set out making the plans and in about 3 days, it was done! The total work time was probably around 12 hours. Not bad if you ask me. I've heard a few people interested in how we made it, and since we didn't have plans to go off for it, I thought I'd make plans.
Ya'll, I AM NOT a graphic designer. I thought I was going to make the plans look all snazzy using Adobe Illustrator, but geez, it was a nightmare! I spent 20 minutes - 20 MINUTES! - trying to draw a line! A LINE! I can report I'm more familiar with Illustrator now, but this is not as snazzy as I had hoped for. But hopefully, It's clear enough for those aspiring builders to carry out your dreams of building this beauty. Best wishes!
What You'll Need
Tape measure
Chop saw
Power drill (we used an impact drill, though probably not entirely necessary)
5/32" drill bit
Phillips screwdriver bit
Countersink drill bit (my drill bit box came with the one listed below - I can't find a size measurement for it though)
Pin nailer
Pin Nails - we bought THESE from Lowes
2" screws - we bought THESE from Home Depot
(12) 96" Shiplap - we bought THESE from Home Depot
(3) 2ft x 4ft x 8ft lumbar
(14) 2in x 2in x 48in Red baluster - we bought THESE from Lowes
(3) 2in x 2in x 8ft Red baluster (you could buy all 8ft pieces if you'd wish!)
White paint
White Caulk
White Spackle or wood filler
Optional: Oscillating sander (we used to sand 2x4, but if your wood is rough you may need to sand more!
Master Cut List
(2) 2x4 - 39"
(2) 2x4 - 75"
(1) 2x4 cut to 18.75"
(4) 2x2 - 47.25 with 22.5 degree angle on one end
(4) 2x2 - 28.25 with 22.5 degree angle on on end
(4) 2x2 - 13"
(2) 2x2 - 75"
(1) 2x2 - 77.75"
(2) 2x2 - 48"
(2) 2x2 - 42"
(1) 2x2 - 5.75 with 45 degree angle on both ends
(2) 2x2 cut to 24"
(5) shiplap cut to 48"
(6) shiplap cut to 16"
(9) shiplap cut to 33.5"
(9) shiplap cut to 29.5"
(6) shiplap cut to 41.75
A Note On Making It In Pieces
** Above you will see your final product and how the bed breaks down into pieces so it can be moved/stored/reassembled as needed. Follow the steps below to know how to build it, but you can refer to this to know what the goal is. We built it all together and then we were able to disassemble it into JUST these pieces you see above when we moved it upstairs. Also, we painted it all when it was completely assembled, but the paint did kind of glue it together. In retrospect, we would have disassembled to these 8 pieces and then paint it.
Making Your Bed
Step 1:
We did not use a pocket jig, although you could, but pre-drilled our holes with a drill bit and countersink drill bit to make a space for the head of the screw and then put a screw in at an angle so that we didn't have any exposed screws on the outside. You will do this for most of the attaching!
Your roof pieces will be covered by the shiplap so you can just drill straight into the top. We used one screw and a couple of pin nails for reinforcement.
Make two of the house frame pieces you see above. One for the header and one for the footer of the bed.
Step 2:
Add the two 13" pieces by screwing in from the side. These will be what you attach the shiplap to. By screwing into the side you can take the header and footer off for transportation.
Step 3:
Make the rest of your frame by connecting your two end pieces, starting with the 2x4 bottom pieces.
You will need to cut a small notch in the 2x4 of your long piece so that the corners fit together - like the picture shown below.
3. Attach the #7 and #8 long frame pieces. You will of course attach #7 on both sides, The picture just shows one side. You should now have a little house! Most of the Pinterest houses and kits end here.
4. You will need two #9 pieces and they will attach to the #8 roof piece. Be sure to screw INTO the #8 roof peak pieces from #9 so that you can remove #9 with the rest of the roof. By unscrewing it you can remove the roof piece as one. See the image on the top to remind yourself of your final disassembled pieces will look like.
5. Put in your #10 pieces on both sides. Measure 44.75" from the inside of the #2 2x2 and that will be where the inside of #10 2x2 is placed (see photo below for an example of what I mean).
6. You only need #11 on the side where you are going to attach the wall as it needs extra support. We felt the back was fine without it as it wasn't carrying much extra weight or stress.
Step 4:
Attach your 3 shiplap pieces on the header and footer. Use a pin nailer and nail into the inner 2x2's labeled #4. This allows the header and footer to be removed. So be sure to not nail into your 2x4's on the bottom.
Step 5:
Your shiplap should overhang the #2 piece of 2x2 just slightly because you want it to cover the header shiplap. On the other side, the shiplap should be flush with the end of your #10 2x2.
You should be able to attach all the shiplap and then add your window frame pieces afterward.
Pin nail into the #2 and #10 side pieces and the #6 2x4 but not the #7 top crosspiece, as this goes with the roof!
We had to add the horizontal 2x4 piece in between the 2 shiplap pieces because they were kind of warping out (See the photo below to see how the window pieces look on the inside).
Your last piece of shiplap should not go all the way to the top but should have about an inch extra so there is space for the roof pieces.
Step 6:
A note on cutting your roof pieces from your shiplap. When I measured our pieces they measure 33.5" and 29.5". We chose these measurements specifically so that we could get three pieces from one piece of shiplap. Two of the 33.5" and one 29.5". However, when I added that up it's actually 96.5". Supposedly the shiplap was only 96" but if you've done woodworking before the measurements are not usually actually what they say. Like a 2x2 isn't actually 2 inches. So weird. So just be sure to measure the full length of your shiplap before doing your cuts. You have to have the 29.5" or it won't meet up correctly with your crosspieces. But you could shorten the front pieces 0.5" if necessary since the overhang can be whatever you want.
The back pieces of shiplap will have no overhang since you will want your bed all the way up against the wall for safety. But the front pieces will have an overhang as seen in the photo.
You will want to start your first piece to line up with your shiplap on the end. Since your #12 and #13 shiplap pieces overhang the #2 2x2 in order to cover the header pieces then the roof also needs to overhang. It's easy to know on the bottom because the roof will meet the wall, but you want to be absolutely sure it's measured correctly on the top or else your roof will start to slant, and then the front and back shiplap pieces won't meet correctly on the peak. This happened to us, and while its difficult to see this error, it's still disappointing it's not perfect.
DO NOT pin nail into the main peak piece or your roof will always be stuck in a roof shape. If you pin nail into #9 and #7 then you can remove the roof pieces. Again, refer to the picture at the beginning to see your final disassembled pieces.
Step 7:
Caulking is optional - but I highly recommend doing this as it makes it look so much better. Caulk the joint between the roof and #7 from the inside since your pin nails will all be visible from the inside. I was worried this would not be sturdy when it was moved, but it didn't seem to be an issue. We also caulked the window pieces around the edge (you can see from the photo) and made it look a lot nicer.
Our 2x2's were really smooth so we did not need to sand any of those, but the front of the 2x4 where you would imagine the door to be was really rough so I sanded that. None of the other 2x4s are going to be exposed whatsoever so you don't need to worry about that. I have an oscillating sander which made it a quick process, but you can just use sandpaper too.
Paint! As I said, I painted it all while it was assembled but it did make some of the pieces a bit of a challenge to remove as it served a bit like glue. Bryce recommends disassembling and then painting. Up to you how you want to do this. It took two coats of paint over everything. I was concerned that the painting over the shiplap was going to look bad because the paint roller left a bubbly look, but after drying it was totally fine. You can still kind of see a little texture but it doesn't look bad at all.
You're done! Now put it together in your child's room and decorate if you desire.
Mattress:
This one got great reviews on Amazon. Unlike many mattresses that ship in a box this one actually has springs. it seems pretty comfortable. Strong smell for sure so if you can let it air out for a few days that is probably good!
Comforter:
I did not buy this, but really wish I had. I follow a bunch of kid pages on Instagram and one of them recommended the brand Beddy's for their kids. They are comforters that zip up. I looked and they are EXPENSIVE. But, this bed is so hard to make. I wish that I could just zip up the comforter. This one here is SO darling and looks so similar to the one we got but a million times easier to make. Take a look if you can afford it. BUT if you can't, this is the one we got from good ol' Amazon.
Decor:
I got these flowers from Amazon and attached them by wrapping with these lights, also from Amazon. These lights are my favorite. First, the lights are a good deal for how long of a string you get, but my favorite part is they plugin and have a little clicker to turn on and off. My daughter is able to turn it on and off and enjoys doing so.
The wreath I made for her nursery 2 years ago with some flowers from Hobby Lobby and silver-colored wires. Easy peasy But you could also do a eucalyptus wreath - that is what I saw on my inspiration post and it was so cute.
Other:
After a few nights sleeping in her bed, I was a little concerned by the space around the mattress and the wood window frame so I bought this braided bumper. I thought it completed the look (see below) and made me feel better about her in bed.
Well, there you have it! I'm SO happy with how it turned out. It's perfect and my dream come true because that is what parenting is about right, giving your kids everything you always wanted? Oh, just me? Ok.
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