The 3-year-old admiring his special den under his ‘new’ big-boy bed.
I’m a big fan of buying second-hand – there’s not a single piece of new furniture in my 3-year-old’s bedroom. I’m also a big fan of IKEA, so when I spotted a chance to combine the two I was pretty chuffed. I found this IKEA mid-sleeper Kura bed for sale via one of those selling groups on Facebook, just a few streets away from us. It had some stickers on and needed a new mattress (we got this one for £60), but for just £15 for the frame we couldn’t resist.
I’d been looking at cabin beds and mid-sleepers for a while, as my youngest will soon be ready to move out of her cot and into the toddler bed my son has been sleeping in (another second-hand gem). Our bedrooms aren’t huge, so a mid-sleeper seemed the best option as it opens up extra space beneath the bed. Plus, my kids are big fans of building dens, so I’ve been wanting to create some sort of special space for a while.
The ‘before’ shot – half-way through the fun task of removing the stickers.
We got the bed home, gave the mattress a couple of days to air (they stink for a good few days) and last weekend I set to work scrubbing off all the sticker residue with washing up liquid and water. I bought some net curtain wire, which my husband attached beneath the frame with hooks, then I dug out the sewing machine and ran up three curtain panels with some fabric I’d bought in a John Lewis bargain bucket years ago. It’s not necessarily what I would have chosen now, but we’re on a budget so buying something new wasn’t an option. Plus, at 3, my son doesn’t really care what it looks like – he just thinks it’s cool that his mum can make curtains ‘by magic’.
I like stars. Can you tell? (The glow-in-the-dark star curtains are from John Lewis, star light is IKEA and quilt is Aspace via eBay)
I’m pleased with the result – for about an hour’s work, some very basic sewing in straight lines, and £75 in total – a saving of £115 – he’s got a cool space where he can shut himself away (from his sister, mainly) when he wants to. Although, he seems far more enamoured with the bed itself on top – possibly because she hasn’t yet mastered the ladder and can’t get up there.
The toddler bed that’s now awaiting its new owner.
In fact, I had wondered if he’d be old enough at 3 (almost 4) to sleep in a mid-sleeper without falling out, but I needn’t have worried. He loves it, has no issues using the ladder, and the sides are higher than his toddler bed so falling out isn’t an option. Plus, there’s a lot more space for him to grow. Now I just need to decide when to tackle the job of moving my littlest out of her cot. I think we may wait a few more months for that…
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