Sometimes I ask myself why I spent 2 months’ worth of evenings building these bunk beds for my two children. I could have quite easily popped down to the local bed shop and picked up a flat pack for a couple of hundred quid. The problem with these is that unless you spend a lot of money, you end up with a wobbly bed which over time tends to work itself to bits with the kids jumping on it all the time. Off the shelf, beds are also reasonably uninteresting for the children and in past experience, poorly made before you even get to assemble them. I thought it would be nice if I could make something slightly different so I sat down and started to design a bed to put flat pack beds to shame!

Objectives

I wanted to make a bed that would be as safe as possible for the children (ages 6 and 2 at the time) could play on but not fall out of. Conventional beds tend to have ladders to climb up on and this worried me. It would be very easy to fall off one of these and knowing my two children, the slighted fight would result in the 2-year-old being pushed down the ladder or having her fingers accidentally trodden on. I also wanted to break up the play area in the bedroom to two separate areas so they would both have their own space to play.

Another consideration was making sure that neither of them could fall out of the top bunk. This always used to worry me when they were in bunks before. Their previous bed used wooden slats underneath the mattresses which had a tendency to be kicked off from the bed below so I wanted a base for the mattress that would be bomb-proof!

All the wood should be sanded smooth and all the edges should be routed to avoid any injuries should a child be pushed into a post. The gaps between any slats should be smaller than a childs head to prevent the obvious happening should one of my little horrors decide to try and hang themselves.

Masterplan

Until I built these beds, I had very limited woodworking skills. I think my biggest project to date had been to make a carcass for some cupboards (still not completed) for when I was living in my last house. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from DIY is that you should never scrimp on the materials and always try to over-engineer anything wherever possible. I knew how wide and long a mattress was so this was an ideal starting point.

I ordered the following items:

• Screws
• Coach bolts
• Varnish
• Chisels
• Paint Brushes
• Drill Bits
• Electric Sander (cheap powerdevil)
• Mallet
• Sanding Sheets

Prepration

Now I had to find a source of timber to build the beds. Due to the size of the bed (almost 9-feet uprights) and the quantity of wood (over 80 meters), I had to find a local supplier who could deliver. I had a scout through the Yellow Pages and rang a couple of large Builders merchants. Considering I wanted to spend a reasonable amount of money with them, they didn’t seem that interested and Saturday delivery certainly seemed a no-no. Finally, I rang a company called RTF in Rushden (Northants) who were extremely helpful and while I was speaking to them, I suddenly had a very bright idea!

I asked if they could also route all the edges of the timber (save me buying a router, bits, etc) which they readily agreed to do for a very reasonable charge. I told them I’d fax through the details of what I wanted and could I pay by Visa and have a Saturday delivery. No problem I was told so Saturday morning, I sat an waited for the delivery to arrive.

Saturday morning came and lo and behold, the wood turned up nice and early, the driver of the loader helped me in with all the timber and even better, all the wood was cut to the exact length I’d ordered – all 55 cuts of it. This was a major bonus and something I really hadn’t bargained for. I then came to inspect the wood expecting the worst having had past ‘warped’ experiences from some of the large DIY stores but all the wood was perfectly straight and could only be described as ‘beautiful’.

Building the bed

Now the only problem with the wood is that I ordered 4×4 and 6×1 inches etc but RTF supplied metric values (ie. 100mm x 100mm). A quick check of the plans later, there didn’t appear to be any major problems with this so armed with my trusty 15-year-old drill, I got to work drilling and chiseling. It took 2 weekends to get the bed looking like a bed and the only major problems were getting it all glued and screwed and square with only one person – it weighed a ton!!! I made the frame for the bed first with the 4 uprights and the mattress support rails (6 x 1 in) morticed and glued in. It was a bit of a nightmare getting all the tenons in at the same time due to the sheer size of the frame (9 foot tall) and when I lifted the whole lot up, I nearly split my sides. I then measured corner to corner to square up the bed and left the glue to set overnight.

Then I fitted all the side rails for the top and marked them in the order they went on to make sure the holes lined up when I came to fit them back after varnishing. I also made the raised platform and drilled the holes for the horizontal slats. The stairs up to the top bunk/play area was an absolute nightmare and were mostly done by eye and common sense. Now for the worst part – the sanding.

I didn’t realize how much surface area there was to sand !!! It took me almost a month of sanding to get a perfectly smooth finish (evenings and weekends). It made it easier than I could take most of the bed to bits to do this and I’d already sanded the frame that was glued and didn’t come apart. Fortunately, my neigbours were noiser than I was at night so I couldn’t really complain about the noise from the sanding. Having completely sanded smooth every bit of wood in sight, I vacuumed the room 3 or 4 times so no dust would settle on the newly varnished wood.

Varnishing the bunk bed

Varnishing took a couple of hours and I retired from the fumes to let the bed dry. I’d only varnished the main bed – the play area would have to be done after the bunks had been fitted into the alcove in the bedroom. The major problem – I’d not taken into account the extra width of the skirting boards!!! When I came to fit the beds in the alcove, they wedged solid. One attack of the skirting board with a crowbar later and they fitted perfectly 😉
Once the beds were in the alcove, I fitted the play area. I’d deliberately left this till last so I could account for any variances in the walls, squareness of room, etc.

This bit went surprisingly well and most of the work was done by eye and spirit level. I then fitted the 3/4 inch MDF bases to the beds and play area using 1x2in batons – screwed and glued. Being little concerned with the weight of the MDF on the top bunk as if this fell onto the person on the bed below, it would do a lot of damage. I needn’t have worried though; the top bunk will quite happily take the weight of two full-grown adults jumping around (don’t ask!!! 🙂

After the play area was varnished, I glued a piece of scrap carpet with some carpet glue onto the MDF and stepped back and admired my handy work. Then I went down to the pub and got very happy.

Also read: 5 Beneficial Tips to Clean Your Wooden Kitchen Cabinets in Dallas

A surprising and rather overwhelming phenomenon occurred at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Without much warning, all of a sudden people began stockpiling a variety of what they thought were essential items that they would need to make it through. Things like toilet paper were nowhere to be found, and you could consider yourself lucky to be able to find either fresh or frozen meats at your local grocery store.

While these drastic stockpiling measures seem to have subsided, many people are still having to deal with shelter-in-place and lockdown orders from their state or local governments. Because of such unprecedented occurrences, there are a few things you will want to make sure you have on hand for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Masks and Face Coverings

As areas begin to make plans for easing lockdown restrictions, it is becoming abundantly clear that, at least for the foreseeable future, going to public places without a mask or face covering will be out of the question. For this reason, your list of coronavirus essentials must include masks and face coverings for the whole family.

People are still being discouraged from purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) for obvious reasons. The general recommendation is that any type of fabric face covering will be sufficient to create a barrier that the virus cannot pass through. You can even make your own mask at home if you are so inclined.

Keep in mind that even if you aren’t particularly worried about catching the coronavirus yourself, wearing a mask or face covering will prevent you from accidentally spreading it to another person who might be at a much higher risk than you are. In such times, this is a simple way in which everyone can contribute to the common good.

2. Cleaning Supplies

One of the best ways to keep yourself and your family healthy during this time is to stock up on household cleaning supplies. While these were incredibly hard to come by at the beginning of the pandemic, many grocery store chains have risen to the challenge and been able to provide an adequate supply of disinfectants and cleaners.

Surfaces like doorknobs and handles should be given a wipe every few days. Take note of any other surfaces that you or anyone else in your household touch when you arrive back at your house after a trip to the store or other essential outing. These should all be given a wipe with a disinfecting cleaner as well.

3. Important Medication

While you want to avoid being one of those people who cleans the local grocery store out of over-the-counter pain killers and the like, it is a good idea to stock up on any medication that is important for you or a member of your household. Things like prescription medications should be refilled as soon as possible. If you take anything on a regular basis, you will want to ensure that you at least have a 14-day supply on hand of any essential medications that you shouldn’t go without.

If you are a lover of nature, then you would like to keep a terrace garden in your home. In city life, it is difficult to maintain a garden but you can perfectly keep a terrace garden if you follow the tips given here. You can enjoy looking at a beautiful terrace garden of your own creation every day.

1. Organize the terrace

If you are planning a rooftop garden, then keep your terrace ready for it. Take the unnecessary things from your terrace and then add some beauty to it by items based on wood. It always goes well with plants. So why not try adding wooden seats or other objects to amp up the look of your terrace. It will give it an earthly feel.

You also have to check if your terrace is suitable to keep plants. The conditions of the terrace have to be good for the plants to grow. If there is a lot of sunshine, then you can offer some shade to lessen the rays.

2. Opt for the right type of plants

Here are some plant options for you to choose the right types of plants for your rooftop.

For the airy terraces

If there is the wind, then you have to reject the types of plans that have a thin stem. They may look pretty but they would not fare well in your balcony. So you can go for plants such as crotons, cacti, and succulents.

For sunny terraces

The plants such as Bougainvillea and geranium are suitable for sunny balconies. They are well known to handle the heat. So use such types of plants for your terraces.

For closed terraces

The sunlight is essential for the growth of the plants. So the plants that can survive with little sunlight are orchids, African violets, Peperomia, and ferns.

3. Choose open or closed terrace

If you prefer the small rooftop in your home to be open but save it from atmospheric exposure, then opt for glass as it can serve your open terrace well. But if you want to keep the terrace garden private then you can keep it close with other options like attractive tent coverings.

Also read: These 8 Plants Exhale Oxygen Even in The Night-Time

4. Grow the plants and trees

If you want to get the real garden-like feel, then you can grow vegetation on your terrace. You can even grow bamboos and grasses for a good feel. But if your garden is small you can opt for the vegetation that needs only less space to grow.

5. Make the platform raised

You can try the raised platform on your roof. You can use the wooden raised beds or even the metal ones. Two feet is the right size. You can grow tall shrub in them and even small trees. You can use waterproof membranes to prevent the plants from damaging it.

6. Choose the right furniture

To set up a roof garden means you have to create a space that will allow you to relax in the evening with tea or read a book. For creating that sanctuary, you have to choose the right set of furniture. You can choose the set of furniture in advance. There are many types and themes available. If you want to go for a rustic feel that goes for a stone-like or wood-like furniture set.

Also read: Garden City in Denmark Looks Like A Grape on A Vine If Looked from Above

7. Add a highlight

You can choose a particular area to become the highlight of your terrace garden. This will be the main point of your garden. You can place an attractive sculpture, tall tree, waterfalls, birdcage, etc. If you have guests over this will be a great addition to your terrace garden because they will get impressed.

Conclusion

A terrace garden is a great addition to your home. You can follow the points here to make a special kind of place in your home. Spend quiet time with yourself in this serene place.