How we made "The Princess bed"
We live on hand-me-downs and old stuff. This is great, because it gives us opportunities to up-cycle! For example, my grandmother bought me a beautiful twin canopy bed when I was just a tot. I slept on it for nineteen years. It survived many moves (two overseas) and my numerous artistic whims. Then I got married and we took it with us to be a guest bed in our home. It stayed a guest bed for three years - until my daughter was born and decided she wanted to sleep in a big girl bed just before she turned two!
That was when I took a good look at it and thought, "Ew. This thing has really seen things.". I mean, there were chips, scratches, peeling old stickers, a few doodles and some sort of black, unidentified drippy substance that had turned to concrete. Also, all the pieces for the canopy had been missing for years.
It needed a major makeover for my princess.
So, I presented the idea to my husband. He agreed, and we went to Lowes.
Shopping list:
Then we went to Wal-Mart.
Shopping list:
All together we spent less than $100, but that was probably because we already had plastic tarps and all of the tools we needed.
So what did we do to make this bed newly refurbished and super cute and fun for our girl? Well, I didn't do anything but supervise, since I was pregnant with our son. My husband did all the work. XD
FIRST, my husband took apart the bed and brought it outside in pieces. He sanded all of the crap off of it (it didn't take long because he only focused on certain areas) and then wiped the dust off.
NEXT, he sprayed all of the bed pieces purple. He also sprayed one side of the plywood that we got. It took a few coats to get it covered really nicely. This particular spray paint was a paint and primer in one, and looked beautiful and smooth!
AFTER that, he went ahead and cut his 2x2. He then placed it around the plywood so that it formed a lip around the underside, and screwed them down. After that, he sprayed the backside of the plywood (the one with new lip) with the black spray paint. This will be the backdrop for our glow in the dark stars.
THEN, once everything was good and dry, my husband determined where to drill holes in the plywood corners so that they would line up with removable post-tops. He drilled the holes, and then we brought all of the bed pieces back inside to our daughters room. (Tip: Be sure to open those windows, because the bed will still be fumy even when its dry!)
NEXT, the bed was put back together the way it went before, only this time, before putting the post-tops back on, my husband put the plywood on top first (Black side facing down), and THEN screwed on the post-tops.
FINALLY, the hooks were screwed into the lip on the inside of the plywood 'Canopy' (One on each end and one in the middle for support), and the tension rods were placed in the hooks to act as curtain rods. We only put the curtains on the two long sides and the end, since her headboard would be up against the wall.
LAST of all, we hung the curtains and pasted the glow in the dark stars on the black, underside of the new, solid canopy. Done! Our girl now has her own 'clubhouse bed' as she likes to call it, since she can close the curtains.
TIP: If you have a wild child or a dumb dog who likes to sit his big ole' butt on the curtains, go for something stronger than tension rods! Also, if you're handy with a needle and thread (or safety pins, like me), hem those curtains so they don't drag the floor and trip up your babes!
That was when I took a good look at it and thought, "Ew. This thing has really seen things.". I mean, there were chips, scratches, peeling old stickers, a few doodles and some sort of black, unidentified drippy substance that had turned to concrete. Also, all the pieces for the canopy had been missing for years.
It needed a major makeover for my princess.
So, I presented the idea to my husband. He agreed, and we went to Lowes.
Shopping list:
- Plywood, pre-sanded and cut to our specific bed's dimensions.
- 2x2 (long enough to wrap around the edges of your plywood)
- Black spray paint
- Purple spray paint (color picked out by my daughter)
Then we went to Wal-Mart.
Shopping list:
- Tension Rods (Looking back, bad idea if you have a wild child)
- Super cute curtains
- Screw in hooks (hooks need to be big enough to hold your tension rod)
- Glow in the dark stars.
All together we spent less than $100, but that was probably because we already had plastic tarps and all of the tools we needed.
So what did we do to make this bed newly refurbished and super cute and fun for our girl? Well, I didn't do anything but supervise, since I was pregnant with our son. My husband did all the work. XD
FIRST, my husband took apart the bed and brought it outside in pieces. He sanded all of the crap off of it (it didn't take long because he only focused on certain areas) and then wiped the dust off.
NEXT, he sprayed all of the bed pieces purple. He also sprayed one side of the plywood that we got. It took a few coats to get it covered really nicely. This particular spray paint was a paint and primer in one, and looked beautiful and smooth!
AFTER that, he went ahead and cut his 2x2. He then placed it around the plywood so that it formed a lip around the underside, and screwed them down. After that, he sprayed the backside of the plywood (the one with new lip) with the black spray paint. This will be the backdrop for our glow in the dark stars.
THEN, once everything was good and dry, my husband determined where to drill holes in the plywood corners so that they would line up with removable post-tops. He drilled the holes, and then we brought all of the bed pieces back inside to our daughters room. (Tip: Be sure to open those windows, because the bed will still be fumy even when its dry!)
NEXT, the bed was put back together the way it went before, only this time, before putting the post-tops back on, my husband put the plywood on top first (Black side facing down), and THEN screwed on the post-tops.
FINALLY, the hooks were screwed into the lip on the inside of the plywood 'Canopy' (One on each end and one in the middle for support), and the tension rods were placed in the hooks to act as curtain rods. We only put the curtains on the two long sides and the end, since her headboard would be up against the wall.
LAST of all, we hung the curtains and pasted the glow in the dark stars on the black, underside of the new, solid canopy. Done! Our girl now has her own 'clubhouse bed' as she likes to call it, since she can close the curtains.
TIP: If you have a wild child or a dumb dog who likes to sit his big ole' butt on the curtains, go for something stronger than tension rods! Also, if you're handy with a needle and thread (or safety pins, like me), hem those curtains so they don't drag the floor and trip up your babes!
