castle room

For my son's 3rd birthday we wanted to get him a new bed. Being the creative people (and cheapskates) we are, we decided to build a bed that would solve the storage problem as well as be fun. This room took approximately a week to finish. The frame was designed and built by hubby in a weekend. The plywood face was cut out with a jig saw on the front lawn and screwed to the frame. I am not an artist so I used my projector to trace the images on the walls and then painted them. I will admit this might not be a project for someone who doesn't know what end of the paint brush to use but it takes just a little imagination to come up with a cool idea. The whole project was under $150. My son has had his room for 3 years now and he constantly tells me of his plans for the next one. .

This is the frame made from 2x4 and plywood for the shelves. On top goes another sheet of plywood to support the mattress. This is a very sturdy construction. All of our family has been up there together, including the dog.

To the right is the plywood face painted with a faux stone finish. The crest above the entrance was a combination of ideas from my son. Maybe I should have found a family crest but we were in a big hurry to see it finished.

All of the details were picked out by my son. We had lots of fun going through my stencil catalogs and clip art books. Unfortunately pictures do not show the dimension you see in person.

The proud King giving a tour of his new kingdom. The ladder you can only see the edge of was made by 3 generations together. My son, father and grandfather. It is a really sturdy ladder and is built for smaller legs to climb.