One Willis Family: DIY Toddler Bed

DIY Toddler bed. This was a super fun project for me. I was super excited to get it all done. We are building a barn and so have lots of extra lumber. So I made it out of 2x4's. We wanted something thatwould be more space saving so we made it to fit a crib mattress.

Supplies you'll need:

4-5 2x4 pieces of wood.

1 inch pieces of wood

long half inch dowell

flat pieces

Tools

Skilsaw

Drill

Cut pieces:

2x4's

4 14 1/2 inches (these are the inner boards for the head and foot board)
4 19 1/2 inches (These are the four bed posts)
2 27 1/2 inches ( These are the lower horizontal boards on the head and foot boards)
2 32 1/2 inches (These are the upper horizontal boards on the head and foot boards)
2 54 inches ( This is the supporting boards for the sides of the bed)
2 60 inches (These are the side boards)

1 1/2 x 1/2 (these are for the side rails)

2 30 inches (Railing top)
12 12 inches (post for railings)
5-10 27 1/2 inches (for bed supports)

Hole and peg

I wanted to make a bed that could be taken apart. So It's designed to have a headboard and foot board that attaches to two sideboards. Then brace boards that hole the mattress up in the middle.

This is the whole and peg so we can take it apart. Cutting the wholes is the first step.

Step 1: Cutting the notch in the 4 sideboards. Take your two 60 inch boards and cut 3 inches up and half and inch in on both ends of the board and on both sides of it.

Step 2: Cutting the hole. We traced the square from the sideboards that we just cut onto the each of the post boards. (19 1/2 inch boards) Then we used the drill to drill a hole inside the square. Then we used the skilsaw to cut out the rest of the wood in the square. Cut one square in each leg of the head and foot boards.

The Bed Frame

Step 3: Nailing the Side boards together.We took the 54 inch board and screwed it to the bottom of the notched board lining it up flush with the ends of the notch on both sides.

After screwing those boards together set aside.

Step 4: The head and bottom board The head and bottom board are exactly the same. So you'll make two of these. for one you'll need 1 board measuring 32 1/2, 1 measuring 27 1/2, two boards measuring 14 1/2, and the two boards you just cut the square in.

Step 5: The railing. I actually didn't do this in this order because I needed to transport this bed in a tiny car but you could screw these together now or wait until after it is stained. It's pretty simple you space 6 12 inch boards out evenly along the 30 inch board on top. Screw in the tops. Then after you get the bed put together screw it onto the side boards about 4 inches from the headboard and flush with the bottom of the side board.

Step 6: Put the bed together. As a side thought we grabbed a 2x6 and made a little bookshelf on the headboard. When we had this basically put together we needed to mark where our pegs would go. I traced a line on the notch on all four corners, disassembled the bed and drilled 4 holes. I used a half inch drill bit. It fit tight with the 1/2 inch peg but worked well. We re-assembled the bed after we drilled the holes, cut the pegs 4 inches long and hammered them in.