My twins just turned four and were still sleeping in their toddler beds, so it was time for an upgrade. They still want to share a room so we knew we needed to maximize space and open up some room for them to play. We chose the Camp Loft Bed but raised the height to 72" (with 53" of headspace) so we might be able to add a desk underneath when they get older.
Essentially, we made two loft beds with the platforms but omitted the stairs. Then we built a slightly lower platform to put between the two beds, which acts as a step down. Then instead of making stairs that jut out into the room, we added two 2x4s as ladder rungs to the lower platform. This also acts as a tunnel for the twins to crawl under to go between each other's play spaces. This also makes it so the beds can be easily separated if we ever need to put them in separate rooms.
When it was complete we noticed one of the beds was a little wobbly, so we added diagonal braces in the corners and another 2x4 across the length of the bottom to help stabilize it. We also chose to use 1x4 pieces of pine as the slats for the mattress to lay across, but they didn't feel like they would support our weight if we wanted to read to them in bed. So we added two more 2x4s underneath the slats the entire length of the bed, which has added a ton of support.
We stopped keeping track of exactly how much it cost, but it was close to $400 for both beds combined. And it took most of my husband's free time for two weeks, but most of that was painting two coats of paint on every piece before assembling. First he cut all the pieces to size, drilled the holes with a Kreg Jig, and then painted. To make the painting more efficient, he put a bunch of screws into boards so he could paint all the exposed sides of the lumber, flip, and leave them to dry. Then we assembled the beds in their room.
The twins love their new beds, and we love how much more space they have to play in their room! We were worried the room would feel too crowded but with the openness of the plan and the space that was opened up underneath, we think it turned out great! Now we can move in a bunch of their toys and reclaim some of our house! Thanks for the great plans!
Comments
niecey
Mon, 06/20/2011 - 15:06
This is stunning! I'm working
This is stunning! I'm working on this table right now, but it's no where near as good as yours. I'm jealous. I love your extensions. I'd love to see a tutorial on adding extensions..
ispeakwhale
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 05:16
Great Job!
It looks beautiful. Did you attatch the 2x2 to the underside of the extensions and then notch out a place on the support for them to slide into? Can you please take a photo of the underside with the extensions on?
Tommy (not verified)
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 14:42
Extensions
That's exactly right. Here's a link to the picture you asked for; http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/6/10_Farmhouse_Tabl…
There's some more details and info specifically about the extensions on my blog at; http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/6/10_Farmhouse_Tabl…
It's a super simple addition to the design and can take my table from 96" to 126"!!! Or take it from a 8-10 seat table to potentially 16 seats available for those Big thanksgiving meals.
Guest1 (not verified)
Wed, 06/29/2011 - 15:41
Length of End Supports for Stretcher
Hello,
I was just wondering that since your table is a bit wider than Ana's table, did you make the support for the stretcher wider? As in, did you increase the length at all (in addition to making it stick out a bit at the ends? If so, what did you extend it to? Thanks and gorgeous job!
tsibiga
Wed, 06/29/2011 - 18:49
End Supports
Hello,
I followed Ana's example and allowed for a 1" overhang on both sides. So the tabletop is actually 44" wide and the stretchers are approximately 42". The long 2x4" stretcher is approximately 88".
Hope that helps. Thanks for the positive comments.
Guest (not verified)
Wed, 06/29/2011 - 20:28
Gorgeous
I cant believe how good that looks. Great job! Out of curiosity, how did you make the notches (dados) for the 4x4 legs where they meet the table top? Really impressive table!
tsibiga
Thu, 06/30/2011 - 04:43
Notches
For the table legs, I set my table saw blade to a height of approximately 1.5". I then made a first cut at 3.5" from the bottom, then made a cut at 7", and then made several subsequent cuts in between those two cuts. After it was all slivered, I used a hammer to knock it all out, and then swirled the opening all around on the table saw (blade still at 1.5" tall) to smooth out all the cuts. I used the same technique for the stretcher as well.
Guest (not verified)
Sat, 08/06/2011 - 21:36
Love it but can't find site
Hi Tommy, I tried clicking on your site and was told the site could not be found. Last week, I saw it fine and showed my hubby our next project, but now it's gone. Help!
tsibiga
Mon, 08/08/2011 - 13:25
Site
It may have been bad timing when was updating the site or I may have changed something.
Try this out and let me know if it works;
http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/8/4_Farmhouse_Table…
Or go to our main site www.tommyandellie.com
Cbone7 (not verified)
Sat, 11/05/2011 - 09:19
website for farmhouse table plans
Hey,
The website is not opening
tsibiga
Mon, 11/14/2011 - 12:31
Website
We've switched over our entire website and have had some issues.
Here's the new updated version; http://tommyandellie.com/?p=14
Here's the old one in case that doesn't work; http://web.me.com/tomsibiga/Site/Home/Entries/2011/8/4_Farmhouse_Table_…
LifeofChaos
Sat, 12/31/2011 - 19:14
love it love it love it
Absolutly stunning
buy edu backlinks (not verified)
Tue, 01/24/2012 - 03:37
buy edu backlinks
Good job publishing this post. I would like to learn more about this subject.
Keri Beth (not verified)
Thu, 03/01/2012 - 07:17
What inspiring pictures!
What inspiring pictures! Apparently everyone agrees, because I just "pinned" one of these pictures to Pinterest and it was immediately repinned 27 times and counting. So nice work! I hope to make mine this weekend.
DES.II (not verified)
Sun, 04/29/2012 - 06:29
My daughter loves your table.
She and her boyfriend would like to build it using lumber i cut from my mill. They are thinking walnut, hickory or maybe ash but im not sure how that will work out with being distressed. And your extentions, do you have a 2x4 or two that slides out from under the table to help support them on each end ? Are there pics of the under side of the table as well? This is a great table and i think they will have fun as a family assemblimng and finishing it.
Thank you. DesII
tsibiga
Sun, 04/29/2012 - 07:38
Extensions
Here's a link to how I make the extensions; http://tommyandellie.com/index.php/2012/01/17/farmhouse-table-extension…
And this post has a ton of pictures to see how it all works.
With the harder wood like walnut, hickory, or ash......it'll definitely be harder to distress but I think it makes for a really neat/unique piece.
Hope that helps!
Marci (not verified)
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 12:12
Bench plan
Where can I find the bench instructions??
tsibiga
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 12:52
Bench Plans
Bench Plans can be found here; http://tommyandellie.com/index.php/2012/03/17/farmhouse-bench-plans/
A spreadsheet for the bench plans can be found here; http://tommyandellie.com/index.php/2012/06/28/cut-list-and-shopping-lis…
James Groover
Tue, 04/14/2015 - 13:31
No Excel Please help
Hey Tommy, I saw the Farmhouse table design with extensions, I don't have Excel to open the cut list and need the buy list and cut list to complete the project, I am really short on time and need to start this project tomorrow. Please if you can, do you have a word document or a PDF that shows the page for those?
In reply to No Excel Please help by James Groover
James Groover
Tue, 04/14/2015 - 16:47
Sorry
Oh my God! I found the cut list I had misplaced it in my folders, dude, sorry about that. Never mind.