Posts Tagged ‘childrens rooms’

About four years ago I built this loft for my son.  He had the smallest room in the house and it has given him a lot more room.  Its kind of a cross from a giant tree fort and a stilt home built near beaches.

If you have a small bedroom and want to maximize your space, building a loft in your child’s room can be a great project. They are surprisingly easy to do and can be completed in a weekend. You will be amazed at the ton of room that you gain by not having a bed on the floor plan. Didn’t have one in college? Then the key to building one is planning. I am not talking about a glorified bunkbed, I am talking about a room defining space that will change your child’s bedroom

The key to preparation is looking at your room and figuring out what you have to work with. Do you have high ceilings? Is your closet internal or external?

High Ceiling Homes

Obviously, the higher your ceilings are the better your loft possibilities are. Standard 8 foot ceiling rooms are not conducive to building lofts. However in today’s building market 10′ and 12′ ceilings are becoming more and more common.

Closets

 A room with a bumped out or external closet looks like this. It creates a natural ledge on the top of it and has some room from the ceiling. An internal closet is just that, it fits inside the internal dimensions of the room. The closet is a great point to use for stabilizing your loft, we will discuss that later. The example shown here is with an external closet, in my opinion it is just as easy to build one for both examples.

In the last part of the preparation phase you want to note the closet style so that you can plan your posts. In this example two of the main posts actually attach to the wall next to the closet. Internal closets loft styles are free standing.

 

 

Preperation

The first step in building the loft is building the posts. Posts are easy to build and can be very simple in construction. If you have experience in woodworking, it will be even easier. All four posts can be built from two pieces of ply wood. You will want to rip the plywood into four even strips of wood to build a hollow box. The diameter is up to you, but the bigger the posts the more stable the loft will be. I kept my posts fairly big around 8 inches square. Do yourself a favor and buy the cabinet grade plywood at Home Depot or Lowes. This grade costs about $40 per sheet but it is worth it when you go to finish the project. You will use simple butt joints and you can screw them together. Make sure you counter sink the holes and then fill in the screws with either a plug or with wood filler. Take your time here, and sand them up real nice and clean. These posts are multifunctional, they will hold the electrical work that you run inside for the lights that shine up on the ceiling. When you are done with the posts paint them to your desired finish.

Bring the posts into the bedroom and put them in the approximate spots the will go to. You will then need to cut the two long support beams that connect to the posts. You can use any time of wood you like. If you are going for a rustic look, you can use 2″x6″ lumber. Make sure you do not get the pressure treated variety. When you have the supports cut, sand them, and then finish them with paint. Bring the supports into the room and get ready to install them to the posts.

 

 

 

 

Supports

This is really the trickiest part of the assembly since you will need some help holding the support up against the post. Use carriage bolts to bolt the support to the post. You may have to reach down into the post with your arm to attach the nut to the bolt. Once you have the main two supports bolted on, repeat the process with the two cross supports. You are basically building a big box, or something similar to a deck that would be outside your house.

While the unit is still movable move the loft into the desired position. If you are going to attach it to the wall through a closet you would do that next. For mine I went and bought 14″ carriage bolts and ran them through the loft post, through the wall and through a homemade washer. (A piece of wood)

Add the rest of the cross bar supports. As you add the supports the unit will get more stable. (and heavier) If your loft is free standing, use this time in the framing stage to access its stability. The bigger the posts are the more stable the loft. If it is not stable, add whatever bracing you need. (keep in mind the floor will add a lot of stability) The loft I made was 8 feet by 8 feet, so it was very stable because of the materials and the size of the unit.