Bunkbed Remake

The boys have had bunkbeds since my middle child moved out of the baby bed.  Now that we are entering tween territory we needed separate beds.  I really didn't want to buy new beds so I plotted a way to reuse the bunk bed.

Here is the original IKEA MYDAL bunk bed

My husband and I had discussed making this bunk into two separate beds when we were disassembling the bed in Dakar.  So we went ahead and measured the height of the cornerposts for a new bed and marked them for each bunk. 
The bed below was designed for my oldest son (my middle child's headboard is not yet finished.)  He wanted that flat, modern headboard which really is the easiest thing in the world to do.  I purchased a nicely veneered piece of plywood at the hardware store and had them cut the bunkbed posts down at our premeasured marks. After, we sanded the whole thing and wiped it down.
By now you probably have guessed my love of the Krylon spray paints and I do love the 2 in 1 paint plus primer paints but this bed was made of untreated wood so I really felt I needed a base coat.  We used a spray on primer followed by the hammered textured spray on paint in black.  I think the reflective properties of the paint make it look like a charcoal grey instead but that works as well.  Following painting we reassembled the bed and attached the headboard in front of the headboard corner posts.
My son is pretty happy with his bed.  See how it compares to the MALM bed on the IKEA site which is the bed he wanted.  I think we spent about $30 total on paint and the plywood, not bad for a 'new' bed.

Stripey Walls and Ornaments

The two for one fat quarter sale at Spoonflower has been extended one day so head on over there because the twelfth is the last day.  While you are on the site, please consider voting in the Ornaments giftwrap contest.  My entry is simple and a little retro with silver tinsel in the background.

Snowflake Ornament Bright

As you know from a previous post we are getting settled in to our Michigan home.  Sadly, though, we still do not have our household effects from Africa.  This means that we are all sleeping on the floor until they arrive.  The best thing about that is that instead of unpacking I can focus on other aspects of decorating, like the nightstand remake from my previous post or painting my eldest son's bedroom.  

A little background...my oldest son was not very happy with the house we selected.  He feels crowded with all of the trees surrounding us but the biggest problem is the lack of basketball hoop. Pretty much every other house we looked at had one, except this one.  All of the flat parts of the yard are right next to big windows and we are up on a hill, so there isn't really a good place to install one. We offered him a budget to decorate his bedroom so at least he feels like he has some space his own.

My son decided he wanted a grey room with a blue feature wall.  At the paint store he selected seven blues but just could not not narrow it down.  He decided he needed little 8oz samples of all of them so he could get a feel for which would look better with the grey.  Still he couldn't decide.  So I suggested we find a way to use all of them.  That is how we ended up painting the subtle hombre stripes seen in the picture below.  He is pretty happy with how it came out.  I used this tutorial to get really clean lines.  And now you also know why his bed is on the floor.  :)