If you're tight for space and you want to squeeze more life out of your crib mattress, a toddler bed can be an invaluable transition to a full-sized bed. But it can be hard to rationalize the cost of an item that may not be used for very long. Faced with the need to put two toddlers in a small room, and balking at the price tag of many designer beds, Gabrielle (aka Design Mom, one of our favorite kids' design bloggers) rose gracefully to the challenge, fashioning a pair of adorable upholstered platform beds in just one afternoon. She documented the process in full over at Design*Sponge...
How To: Make an Upholstered Toddler Bed for Under $40
This project requires a trip to Home Depot, a trip to a fabric store, and a free afternoon. The materials are pretty basic: plywood, cotton batting, and the fabric of your choice. You do have to be handy with a drill and a staple gun, but you can have your lumber custom cut for you on site.
And if you still aren't keen on toddler beds, this project can always be adapted to build a twin bed, or even a queen-size for yourself!
See the detailed materials list and instructions at Design*Sponge.
Comments (6)
Top Tours
- Norah's Sweet and Sunny Nursery
- Ava's Colorful, Handmade Haven
- Mini Tour: Dylan's Teeny-Tiny Thunderdome
- Nina's Bright Vintage Room
- Little P
Top Posts
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
So cute! You had me until the foam pad came into play... not only am I worried about off-gassing but how do you put sheets on it? And is it really supportive?
view herz9160's profile
herz9160, you're using the same mattress from the child's crib. That's the whole point of this hack -- you're extending the life of the crib mattress. There's no foam called for in the instructions that I can see -- you're just making a wooden platform to support the crib mattress and then upholstering the outside of the platform with cotton batting and fabric.
view Swordspoint's profile
this is super!
view jackied302's profile
It almost looks like you could wrap your baby bumper around it once it was upholstered. wishful thinking?
view jackied302's profile
This looks great!
My concern is that it still looks like it is high off the ground and doesn't have any stops for rolling around. My 3-year old is all over the place at night! He has yet to fall out of his converted crib (crib > toddler bed > double frame - hand me down gift), but we vacationed with him on a twin mattress on the floor - he fell off multiple times every night for the week.
view CrewJulie's profile
CrewJulie--
The board she used looks like a 2"x8", and it looks like the mattress is about 2" above that. 10" (and padded) seems like a good alternative to a 1.5' race car bed that only gets used for a few years. And! the rug underneath looks super squooshy, so I'm sure junior appreciates that as well, as he's learning to stay in his bed.
view alysaaria's profile