Materials: Fjellse full size bed frame
Description: My 3 year old son wanted a race car bed, but we needed at least a full size for his large bedroom. I also did not want a plastic car bed. I purchsed the Ikea Fjellse bed frame then drew a race car side which I scanned to my computer and printed at Kinkos in a blown up size.
This served as the template for the sides of the bed. We then cut 2 pieces of birch plywood to match the template. Bolted everything to each side of the assembled bed frame and then added a couple of boards in the front of the bed to look like a hood. Then came the painting. Lots of red. Details were drawn in black. We later added another piece of plywood painted in black to the headboard. (not shown in pics). Saved a ton of money and he loves his custom full size race car bed!
~ Ely, Florida
i loved it :D its a good idea for my kids room
ReplyDeletethanks
Cute! You could turn the headboard into a rear spoiler as well :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!I agree about not wanting the plastic bed. I am taking this article and going to attempt to build it for my 3 year old son this weekend. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteSo amazing.suited for teens that are so obsessed with cars.
ReplyDelete@evaone: Teens? really?!?
ReplyDeletecan you give a ball park figure as to how much all of these parts cost you?
ReplyDeletei'm trying to see if I'm better off making this like you did or buying one.
thanks
This is much, much nicer looking than those plastic molded beds. And way more customizable -- I can picture a cute little VW bus bed, a helicopter bed, or even a submarine bed. Love it.
ReplyDeletethis lucky kid have cool parents ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! The bed frame with slats was $79. Maybe $80-100 in plywood. Kinkos $15. The paint was expensive because I went with the Disney licensed red. The 2 boards on the front were leftovers from another project. Have fun!
ReplyDelete@Brittany. Another plus is the height where the mattress sits along with the sides make for a perfect built in bed rail.
ReplyDeleteThe real-sized print that served as a guide for the cutting of the bed two sides, this simplifies it all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the step by step picture guide... I am inspired to build the same one for my 5years old son.
I am curious how easy it is for your son to get in and out of this (particularly in the middle of the night). We bought a used plastic car bed and painted it. They are really easy to find on Craigslist for pretty reasonable prices. The kids climb all over ours and they don't show any wear. The mattress on ours also sits low (plywood in lieu of a boxspring) and makes a great side rail. I don't know why everyone is so against the plastic car bed (although they don't come in full size). Here is our modified one:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.statelykitsch.com/sams-room-the-lemans-gulf-livery-car-bed/
Heidi, he loves it and doesn't have any problems getting in and out of it. He's a small 3yr old who gets out of bed a lot a night. He was 2 when we built it, but didn't get to use it until we moved. It's worked out perfectly for us.
ReplyDeletesuper!
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