I have this incredible knack for coveting items that are way out of my league. Now, I’m not talking about Coach bags, Jimmy Choo shoes or a Maserati. No, I’m drawn to seemingly simple everyday items that inexplicably cost a fortune. Let me paint you a picture: [on Pinterest] “Oh! That’s a really cute rug! … wow.it’s.$900…next” *Thud*
So when I came across a beautiful toddler teepee bed with pull out trundle that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days and knowing it would be perfect for my son, I knew what was in store for me. My first clue was the price of this adorable piece wasn’t listed on the site. I know, bad news bear. I later contacted the company for a quote when curiosity got the better of me. The bed is well over $2000 without shipping, tax and duty fees. Yikes!
Something kept luring me in though, niggling at the back of my brain, forcing me to visit and revisit the listing and single-handedly doubling their site’s daily viewership. What was it?
Then in the wee hours of the morning, I all but shot out of bed. I’ll make the damn thing myself. How hard can it be? *Glares* Check out my step by step tutorial!
UPDATE: It’s been 2 years, almost exactly, since I made this bed! It’s still going strong and looks the same as the day I finished it! There isn’t really anything I would change about it except that I have some better tools that would have refined its finish a bit if I were to redo it. In fact, I’ll be making a second for my daughter when she graduates to a toddler bed, that’s how happy I am with it!
If you’re about to read on, it may be because you would like to build one yourself! I encourage you to do so and I’m here to help with any questions you have…however, I’m not an engineer and so, I don’t feel comfortable upscaling the design for you to accommodate a bigger mattress. I went with this particular mattress and size so that I would have solid sides made of a single sheet of wood. Making a bigger version may result in seams or frankensteining pieces together that would threaten the integrity of the structure. Since this is a child’s bed, I don’t want to give advice I’m not qualified to give and so I can only answer questions on my particular build.
With that out of the way, let’s get down to business!
After days of studying the photos from different angles, making my own schematics, soaking up encouraging blanket statements of “No, I don’t think you’re crazy” and “I love that you want to do this” from my fiancée, and several trips to Lowe’s later, I got started.
What began as “How much money can I save?” quickly changed to “How far can I take this?” And with the help of some old favourite tools, brand spanking new tools, and even tools I had to macgyver myself, the answer was pretty clear; ALL the way! (An extremely brave, supportive fiancée and a couple several bottles of wine also helped).
Needless to say, a lot of lessons were learned during the past few weeks: 1. NEVER cut corners. You’ll just be doing that ______ over again tomorrow if you do. 2. ALWAYS test, test, test. Test cutting a circle with your weird, hand-made, mounted jigsaw contraption before cutting that $45 piece of wood. 3. Wood is NEVER the thickness it says it is…nor is it the length or width that it’s advertised either. I’m still pretty annoyed about that last one.
All in all, it turned out great! It’s sturdy, the corners line up, it can be disassembled and reassembled with minimally visible screws, it’s personalised with stain to match his dresser (that we also finished ourselves) and metallic stars to match the decor and it has a second pull out bed for sleepovers! I am very proud of myself!
I think someone else is proud of me too and excited to be in his new bed…a year from now 
Hello BOWSERS! 
Hello,
This is amazing and exactly what we want for our almost 2 yo’s big boy room. We are starting to build this and have some questions. Would you be willing to chat via email and help us out?
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Absolutely! I’ll try my best to answer any questions you may have! Email us at hellobowsers@gmail.com and we’ll get moving along 😁
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Love love love this bed! I’m going to attempt just the top part for our little guys big boy room I’m super excited to get it going!
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Hi! I totally fell in love with this! You did it so well! It turned out beautiful! Would you be willing to share your diagrams and schematics for building it?
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Hey there, I’m not one to DIY. I’m actually wondering what company you found that had a bed like this. Pottery Barn Kids had an awesome tent bed with trundle that didn’t last a couple month before it was discontinued. I’ve been looking for over a year now so any direction would be helpful. Thank you
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This is amazing, I myself would like to have that kind of bed 😉 But also, I can imagine it for my daughter room, too.
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Curious to hear about your ‘better tools’ that you have now. How would that change the process? Came across this on imgur, planning to build one for my daughter next month. Thanks!
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What is name of company that makes bed? Thank you.
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I found the bed on the Domayne website: http://www.domayneonline.com.au/bedroom/kids-bedroom/kids-beds/tee-pee-trundle-kids-bed.html
I can’t be sure if they’re a reseller or the original designers but this is the bed I designed my bed after.
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Hello! Do you have a material list and listed instructions? We want to make this for our son! Thanks
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I love this so much! I have been looking for an easier plan to build a bed for my son.. Can you tell me how long it took you to make this and what you paid in materials? (sorry if I missed that anywhere!)
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Hi i love your diy,
Im unclear on if your plans are for a single bed or a crib bed ?
Jess
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This is a good question. It’s actually built entirely around an IKEA junior mattress. So a standard crib mattress is 52″ x 27.5″, a twin is 74″ x 38″ (roughly) and the toddler mattress is between the two, coming in at 63″ x 27.5″.
When I was measuring and designing the bed, the toddler mattress was ideal because it meant we didn’t have to break up a sheet of plywood or have any seams that would compromise the roof structure. I was also concerned that the bed would be gigantic if we went to a twin mattress. In hindsight, the junior mattress is tricky because IKEA is the only place I know of that sells sheets for this size, so we’re limited to 3 colours of sheets and having to make special duvets and covers for it. You would get more life out of a twin mattress but all the measurements would need to be altered. We make very small kiddos so the junior mattress will give us a few years of life but the sheet thing is a hassle hehe.
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I also want to add though, that a twin size duvet, cut in half length-wise makes the perfect sized duvet for this mattress. And likewise with duvet covers if you don’t mind the pattern going sideways. So you DO get two blankets for the price of one and if you build the trundle, you get matching covers! lol
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Hi there! Just curious on how you change the sheets on this bed? I love the idea! I’m just wondering if the top of the teepee is removable for this or what you had thought of! Thanks!! You’re so creative I’m impressed!
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Thank you for your inspiration!
We followed your guidance, with our own twerks 😉
The biggest problem we had was that it was too big to fit through the bedroom door! So we had to dissemble it then reassemble in the room. 🙄
Wish I could share a picture!
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Can the mattress be put in and removed while the bed is assembled or is it stuck in there once you have finished?
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We used the IKEA toddler mattress which was very bendy! It could be taken in and out no problem for sheet changes and such!
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I have more in depth questions can you give me your email so we can be in touch?
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