This twin high loft took about a month for me to build from start to finish. The plans were easy to follow. My 5 year old had trouble with the side supports so, I built a custom ladder. As you can see from the pic I used the guardrail modification for a side guard and added an extra side rail for aesthetics. My Hubby and I were a bit concerned about the wing-nuts being a safety issue but after we put it together we only replaced the wing nuts with regular nuts for the sleeping area of the bed and turned the bolts so that the bolt head faced in and the nut faced out. As you can see the lower wing-nuts provide nice ‘hooks’ for robes and toys . After my husband creatively painted the hardware it looked good. I added a foot guard from leftover plywood for added safety at the ladder end. The paint is zero VOC and low VOC in semi-gloss. I hand-painted the name and coordinating flower design. Now the bottom is a reading nook, but will evolve to a study as she gets older.

The pine wood only cost about $120, hardware kit was from OP Loft (under $50-way cheaper than local hardware store), the majority of the cost was from the bedding ($50), mattress ($100) and paint and brushes, sandpaper, wood filler, caulk, extra hardware and wood ($150).

My husband thought that the work involved might have been worth the extra cost to have someone else build it. I, on the other hand, have minimal skills and found the experience enjoyable and empowering (I also did about 90% of the work). This bed is STURDY! It does NOT MOVE! I had fun making it, I can take pride in my work and my daughter LOVES IT!

- Danielle – Fort Worth, TX

- Thanks, Jerry, Joseph (age 12) and Jeffrey (age 6) of Pennsylvania.

We opted to use regular nuts instead of wing nuts. Some of the tolerances were a bit tighter, so I used a locknut instead of a nut and a lockwasher. We found using the nuts with a wrench and socket was easier than turning a bunch of wingnuts by hand or using a pair of pliers on them.

FYI – we saw a lot of other loft kits, including one sold by Lowes, and they were very flimsy comparatively. I don’t know that I would have felt secure with them. I pulled and yanked on the OP loft once my son and I had it finished, and it just won’t budge.

- Craig

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When most people think of bunk beds, they think of those shaky, wobbly twin-size beds they had as a child. But grownups sometimes need bunk beds too and often a twin size just won’t fit the need. That’s OK here at OP Loftbed because we offer bunk bed plans that can accomodate full size, or double, mattresses.

 Jeanne sent us these pictures and says, ”We purchased your plans and hardware, and my husband built this full-sized bunk bed for my daughter and her roommate at college. Her room was designed for one occupant, so the bunk beds really came in handy. The beds are extremely sturdy. My husband told my daughter if there is a tornado or hurricane, that she wouldn’t be going anywhere if she hung onto the bed!!”

One of the things we especially liked was the customized headboard shelf he made. Here is a picture of it. 

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You can see this bunkbed and dozens of other loft beds and bunk beds built by satisfied customers in our photo gallery. If you’ve built an OP Loftbed loft bed or bunk bed and would like us to share your craftsmanship with the world, just send a picture and any comments you may have to gallery@oploftbed.com. If you haven’t yet built your own bed, you can purchase plans for only $10!

For those of you that prefer still images, they even documented much of the project in a Flickr photo gallery. After the film production, they even added a custom desk to the loft bed supported by chains–you have to see it!

Paul in Minnesota built the bed you see heare and he wrote to tell us. “I went with the king sized loft so I could put two twin mattress up there so that both my 11 yr old son and I could sleep in. Under the loft made a perfect play area for my 6 and 4 year olds. I raised the height so that I could stand under it (I’m six feet) and added a couple railings. It’s really sturdy. Now I just need to stain it and add some carpet to the stairs for extra padding. Fun project, ended up costing around $150 which is really great for the amount of space it saved me (I live in a 650sf studio apt).”

You can see Paul’s loftbed and dozens of others built by satisfied customers in our photo gallery. If you’ve built an OP Loftbed loft bed or bunk bed and would like us to share your craftsmanship with the world, just send a picture and any comments you may have to gallery@oploftbed.com. If you haven’t yet built your own bed, you can purchase plans for only $10!