After yet another move (this time to Monterey, CA) and with a baby on the way, it was time to build the girls some big-girl beds of their very own. I was going to need to re-convert their double bed back into its original crib form by September, so in June, I started looking for plans. When I stumbled on Jenny's "Sweet Pea" bunk beds, I knew I'd found a winner! She also made it sound so easy, and I'd only assisted my dad on remodeling projects, never built anything from scratch. But I was familiar with the tools and terminology, so six months pregnant and in a serious nesting phase, I got to work. My hubs helped with the heavy lifting and I had some friends assist with sanding and priming -- many hands do indeed make light work! It took just under a month working four to six hours a day (on average), five to six days a week. I used screws for EVERYTHING, as this baby has to come apart easily for future moves (and does it ever -- Jenny's not kidding when she says you can have it up and down in ten minutes!). I'm most proud of the roof -- I had originally planned on finding real cedar shingles, but those babies are expensive! So I came up with idea of using door shims. A pack of 12-15 is only a couple bucks, and it took about 24 packs to cover the entire roof. I found some light wood trim and glued/screwed it to the edges, slathered on some pink paint, and voila! A wood shingle roof! The whole project ended up costing nearly double what I'd originally budgeted, but I'm so happy with it and my girls love it so much that I don't really care. Plus, if I'd had this baby custom made, it would probably have cost quadruple (at least!) what I paid in building materials. Let me know if you have any questions -- I'm happy to share what (little) I know :)!
