Project Boys' Room Part 2: The Bunk Beds

My original vision for the beds looked like this:

But, wouldn't you know it?  That stupid room has one wall that is long enough for a twin bed.  ONE.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  This house is retarded.

Next vision:

How cool would this room be?!  I sat on this idea for months wondering how we could even begin to come up with it.  Then one happy day in blogland I stumbled upon this:

And wouldn't you know it? She got her idea from the same blog that I found the previous picture!  Biggest difference: this blogger posted the how to with step-by-step instructions.

Now, we were still limited to having ONE wall to work with so we still had to adjust and rethink things.  In the end we decided to build two bunks and have a pull out bed for the third one.

Andrew got his wish and now has a chop saw!  This made the project so much quicker;)
Jonathan thought that he was our best helper:

Reagan tried to join in as well:

By far the hardest part was screwing the lag bolts into the wall.  Such a workout!  My little brother, Noah, stopped by to offer his wood shop expertise and add a little muscle to the project:

Reagan guarded the drill bits:

Jonathan held the screws for daddy:

Here we are mid-way!  The top bunk frame was installed at this point and somewhat supported by those 2x4s at the corner:

I honestly used to be intimidated by power tools, but after this project I am all over it!  On the last day Andrew had to work so I finished installing all the last 2x4 slats and sanded it down.  Jonathan was so excited!  He wanted to jump on it:

Good news is the bed supports the weight of all 3 boys:

After I sanded it down I added a coat of clear poly to seal it and we put the pull out bed underneath:

 

One important lesson learned is that using kiln dried wood would be best...but, if you are cheap like me then you can make do with green wood.  Heavy, but it works.  The wood has been drying out pretty well, but at first I was really nervous about the dampness in the room.  I did end up laying some plastic down on the wood under the mattresses.  I clean and check it regularly and so far I haven't found any problems.  Fingers crossed!

Are you totally curious about the rest of the room?  Stay tuned!