Loft Beds and Bunk Beds - Buying Ready Made Vs. Building Your Own

There's a lot of reasons that might convince you to build a bunk bed, rather then buying one. The obvious one, of course, being that it is simply cheaper to build one yourself then to buy one new. However, if you get the bed second hand, you could find one for as little as $150. Actually, you might well be able to get one new for that price, but I wouldn't recommend it. As I'm sure you're aware, if something is cheap there's probably a good reason for the low price tag, and it's worth spending the extra money to get a better bed.

Alternatively, if you don't want to buy a bunk bed, you can always build one yourself. While it can be difficult to get a good bunk bed new at a low cost, bunk bed kits are much more readily available and you can usually put them together without much effort. You can even just buy the plans for a bed, and get the materials yourself. So let's have a look at some of the reasons you might want to build your own bunk or loft bed.

First of all, as I've said, kits are not difficult to put together. Not completely without effort, of course, but you really don't need any woodworking experience, or even particular skill with tools. If you've bought a kit complete with materials, then you can just start putting it together, otherwise you'll need to go about and get some wood as well. Still, that shouldn't cause you any difficulty, as you can just use off the shelf lumber. Plus, the plans are always simple to follow.

And of course, constructing it yourself is the best way to ensure it meets your requirements. With something you buy, especially something wooden, you can never be entirely sure of the quality. However if you construct it yourself, you can test each part as you assemble it.

After the cost, the next most often cited reason for building rather then buying is for pleasure. I'm sure you've noticed that building something can be fun, a lot more so then simply ordering it. More then that, you can expand it to a full family project and get your kids involved as well. If you don't want to have your kids involved in building the bed itself (maybe their too young, or just not very good with hammers), you could do it as a surprise gift. Children will love that you put so much effort into building something for you, and will be proud to announce to their friends that their parents built their nice new bunk bed for them.

Another reason, which I've already said something about, is that only when you build something yourself can you be sure it works as you intend it to. Whatever you're looking for in a bed, you know that when you put it together yourself you can make it exactly what you want it to be. When you buy it, you have no such guarantee. Be careful not to change the designs too much, though, as you could end up reducing the structural stability. This is really not something you want to do, especially where your children's safety is potentially concerned. On the other hand, even keeping to the plans for construction exactly, there is a lot more opportunity to alter the designs with the use of pain, stencils, stickers, or whatever else you want to use. This is especially useful if you need to match some other furniture, or just not clash with your carpets. Think about it.

The number of plans available, as well, is extremely large, so you can easily find something that closely matches what you want and then adapt it to your specific designs. You can not only choose different shapes for the bed itself, but also find whatever extra features you want. For example, you might want a bunk bed with storage lockers or drawers underneath it. Or a loft bed with something larger, perhaps a desk, or closet, under it. any of these (and more) are available.

In conclusion, you may want to buy a low cost bunk bed in some situations, particularly if you just need it for a short time, or you need it very quickly. If you're not comfortable using basic tools, then building a bed is not for you, although I'm still not sure I would advise buying one.

However, building a bunk bed has a large number of advantages that go beyond just the money saved. Building a bunk or loft bed can be a fun family project, that serves to bring parents and children closer together. You can customize the bed as much as you wish, changing the color and design to fit whatever you wish it to, and there are a huge variety of kits and plans available for you to get started.

Article Source: http://publisherscloninghouse.com

Patrick Oakley is a professional carpenter who specializes in designing furniture to make efficient use of space. To this end, has recently begun selling bunk beds and loft beds online.

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