Finally completed a bed for my 3 year old daughter. This was my first project in 20 years, so it’s taken me about 9 months of relearning techniques, practicing, finding the right tools, and just finding time really.
Originally was just M&T and half lap joins, but when setting up I decided it was a little too wiggly so I put 38mm and 17mm angle brackets to reinforce it.
Mostly construction lumber from local hardware shop. A few pieces “feature pieces”, Blackbutt and Macrocarpa. Finished with walrus furniture oil. The slats were cut down from someone selling off pieces of their bed on marketplace. (?)
Great work. She’ll always remember that bed.
Maybe try a darker stain? You said you used construction wood and well… It shows. And when in contrast with the nicer boards you used, it makes the “feature” wood look like rotten planks found on the side of the road. A darker stain on the construction wood might help it blend more.
Absolutely I knew the aesthetics wouldn’t be good, Those “nicer” boards were just someone’s offcuts I got, so you’re not far off with that assessment. I’ve never used a stain before, so don’t have anything on hand. For finishing, I just have walrus oil (free sample from the hardware shop) and shellac available, but If I had some money I would have gone uniform timber all over.
You can ebonize wood by applying Iron Acetate. Take steel wool and dissolves it in vinegar for a few days. (use a mason jar or whatnot) then apply to the wood with a rag. It “burn” the wood to a much darker color. I like to let rust form and use the rust as part of the stain. It gives it a deep red color.
Transtint dye works better on softwood like pine. Traditional stains tend to blotch pretty badly unless you use a seal coat like shellac underneath. Prestain conditioners help some by saturating the pores, but still don’t work great in my experience
Nice work OP! Awesome that you’re making custom stuff for your kids.
My partner had bought some flat packed stuff for her before, like a toy kitchen and a little shop front. And it just seemed so bad and most of it I had to recut to fit together or drill new holes that had never lined up.
Thought we could all be happier with some handmade stuff instead.
This is a great job!
Looks great. You planning on doing anything with the top part? Like maybe one of those canopies so she feels like a princess haha
Maybe. I designed it this way so my partner could easily come up with something to go over the top/on the posts. She’s into the crafting and cricut stuff, so she might get an idea to make this look nicer.
Seconding a princess canopy!
This is beautiful, really well done.
Very nice work! Thanks for sharing!
Those pieces give it lots of character.
Leave it as it is if you and your family love it.
Maybe when she is older she will ask you to paint it, or she will love it as it is for her whole childhood.
Great job.
She does love it for now. But I made it easy to disassemble so we can change bits, replace with nicer timber, or fix up anything that cracks from my amateur work.
And she just stayed in her bed for the entire night without crying out for us, the first time in about a year. I think she must be really happy about it.
