We’ve been in the middle of this big bedroom shuffle.  Jesse and I are in the upstairs on our mattress on the floor.  Turns out the box spring doesn’t fit, so we will have to deal with that when we come to it.  Funny how what use to be a priority is anything but.  I haven’t given our room much thought.  Instead, it’s all been about getting Lucy into her new room (our old one), so that Zach could have the crib and get used to sleeping in his new room (Lucy’s old one), and not next to use in the bassinet on the floor.

My aunt found this old white toddler bed at a neighbors garage sale.  It’s a perfect size little bed for Lucy, but I really wanted to jazz it up a bit.  I thought something with color, and something different.  I kind of like the look of a tufted bed.  For a toddler it seems a little ridiculous, but I think that’s why I like it…out of the ordinary.  This is the before of the bed frame.

I cut some 1/4in plywood that I had in the garage to cover the bars.  I upholstered each piece.  The head board has 1 inch foam, and the foot board has 1/2 inch foam.  I covered with a heavy white cotton from an old ikea curtain panel. 

I glued a some wood to the back panel that would fit through the bed frame.  I screwed the front and back panels together along those rails.

Once the back panels was in place, I laid down the front panel. Then using some wood screws, I screwed through the top panel, through the fabric, foam, and plywood into the frame and the rails connecting to the back panel.  I found the gold buttons at Joanns Fabric.  They are hollow buttons that I cut the back off of.  The bottom fits perfectly onto the screw.  Once all the screws were in place, I used a hot glue gun to fill the buttons and place them over the screws as little caps.  Then we reassembled!  Lucy likes to help, of course she chipped the paint, but I just have to be ok with that.  Seeing as though it’s a toddler bed, I’m sure it will get much more abuse.

And Voila!

Here is a side shot of how the panels fit against the bed frame.

The foot board is smaller so I gave it a more simplified tuft pattern.  I think Lucy likes it because she can ride it like a horse.  She kept calling out “giddy up!”

You didn’t really think that the bed looks that clean, did you?!  No, of course not.  We put the bed up against the wall with the rail while she is getting used it, then of course she has to have all her little stuffed animals with her in bed.  It’s like a little farm in there.No new update on the upstairs.   We had some contractors come and have gotten bids, but still trying to decide between them, and working on figuring out if we want to tackle the permitting process on our own.  Still excited about the possibilities, but trying to be realistic about the time frame.