This Dad Made the Coolest Built-In Bunk Beds For His Daughters

If you want to save space, buying bunk beds for your kids is a smart bet. But if you want to save a lot of space, do as this father did and build them yourself.

We're beyond impressed with the craftsmanship of one handy dad, who constructed a gorgeous bunk bed, complete with a staircase, crown molding, and built-in bookshelves, for his two young daughters. Even more impressive, the construction project cost just $800 in supplies and only took up roughly 20 inches — less than two feet — of floor space because he fit it into the wall of the spare bedroom.

"It makes the room much larger than it would be with regular furniture," he said of his finished product, which featured a full mattress on top and a twin-sized mattress on bottom.

See the DIY project from start to finish (it only took three weeks!), plus a to-scale snap featuring his very lucky daughters! And for a complete look at every step, see all the photos on Imgur.

01
The Empty Room
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The Empty Room

02
The Demolition
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The Demolition

03
The Minor Setback
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The Minor Setback

He was able to remove a few vertical beams, but although his original plan was to remove all the roof framing, he had to work around the duct. This meant putting the full-sized mattress on top and putting the twin mattress on bottom, like a day bed.

04
The Insulation
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The Insulation

"This was the toughest part of the project," he said.

05
The Staircase
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The Staircase

He had extra room on the right side of the frame so he opted to build stairs rather than a ladder. "I thought that might be important with the double on top and the knowledge that somehow, some way, I'm going to end up sleeping up there at least once," he said.

06
The Progress
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The Progress

07
The Paint Job
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The Paint Job

He had originally planned to close in the stairs, but after painting them, he liked the way it looked when left open.

08
The Home Stretch
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The Home Stretch

"This was the first time my wife really understood what the heck I was doing," he said.

09
The Trim Work
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The Trim Work

10
The Test Drive
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The Test Drive

"Happy girls for scale," he said of this shot.

11
The Final Product
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The Final Product

With the built-in bookshelves filled to capacity and the bunk beds looking well lived-in, we'd venture to say this project was a success. Plus, look at all that floor space!