My 9 year old was on a roll this week! After designing and completing his DIY for Kids: Laptop Stand, he had another epiphany: a shelf for his top bunk! He decided he wanted to solve his problem of no shelf for his top bunk. He said he was tired of the mess he had on his bed becasue he didn’t have anywhere to put the things he wants to have near him when he goes to sleep…kleenex, book, water, etc. He came up with a way to fix it (see a need, fill a need!)… and what a great fix! It mounts to the rails of the top bunk. Check this out!
This one required a bit more help from his dad. He knew what he wanted to do and what it would look like, but he needed some help with figuring out the actual dimensions and pieces he needed to make it. He drew what he saw in his head so his dad could see what he was explaining. They then set to work together to come up with dimensions. Here’s what they did :
Materials:
Wood (spruce, pine, whatever you have around will work):
- 1″x2″ wood pieces – 2 @ 3-1/4″, 2 @ 5-3/4″
- 1″x3″ wood pieces – 1 @ 15″, 1 @ 21″
- Table top (we used a piece of MDF shelving) – 21″ x 16″
- 1×1-1/2″ – 1 @ 22-1/2″, 2 @ 16-1/2″ (use mitre saw to cut both ends of the 22-1/2″ piece to 45 degrees and one end of each 16-1/2″ piece)
Screws – 1-1/2″ phillips (we used 26…wanted to make sure it was super secure!)
Finishing nails – 3/4″ or 1″
Wood glue
Tools:
Mitre saw
Phillips screw driver
Hammer
Instructions:
- Cut the 1×2 pieces to length and insert screws as shown (please forgive the picture quality…hubby wasn’t paying attention to the lighting/backdrop!)
- Attach 1×2 pieces to 15″ 1×3 support, as shown.
- Attach the 21″ 1×3 piece to the longer 1×2 pieces, as shown.
- Glue and screw shelf piece to 21″ support, as shown. It’s probably sufficient to just screw the top to the support, but the 9 year old wanted to use the wood glue and the hubby seems to like to “over design” a little bit. (Again, sorry for the not-so-clear pics…the 9 year old wanted to do that part, too!)
- Attach the outer edge pieces (1×1-1/2) to the shelf with finishing nails. This is not an absolutely necessary step, but we thought it would help prevent anything being pushed off the shelf, thereby saving our 11 year old from possible bumps on her head from falling objects!
Here’s a picture to show you how to install and remove the shelf…this is so you can take it off to change the sheets and make the bed easily…smart cookie, he is!
The result was a really cool design and one very happy boy!