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Baby number two is only a couple of months away, so their big sister needed to relinquish the cot and move up in the world. Perhaps it was the tugging of my inner heartstrings that inspired this project, but I felt somewhat cruel asking her to give up the security of her former crib. Some things she wanted to include on her big girl bed were: Rainbows, unicorns, curtains, stars and the moon. She doesn't ask for much... 😃 When my parents asked me as a five-year-old what I would like in our new house, I said a giant Christmas tree and a pool. They did that for me, so I tried my best here too.
I started by requesting my father-in-law to keep an eye out for a solid timber bed frame on council clean-up. I'm all for Upcycling, and this seemed like a project where new wasn't necessarily better. A couple of days later, he came up with the goods, and I had a perfect solid timber bed to begin the project on. I began by removing the years worth of stickers, sanding the frame down and giving it a solid clean-up.
I knew I needed to build a canopy, and that would require support. I drilled holes in the headboard and base to glue in dowels. The dowels would allow me to connect 42 x 42mm uprights with corresponding holes to them.
I used Dulux Precision primer over the existing gloss paint as it has the best adhesion on stubborn surfaces. I then top coated with Dulux Aquanamel.
I built the canopy frame out of 42 x 19mm 2.4m Premium Grade Dressed Pine and temporarily fixed it in place to make sure everything would fit when re-assembled inside.
I glued and screwed a CustomWood MDF 2440 x 1220 x 6mm Standard MDF Panel onto the bottom of the canopy frame. I then cut out some star shapes with my jigsaw. A plastic milk container was cut up and the pieces glued on top of the cutouts. This would allow light to transfer through them later.
I decided just the cut out shapes weren't doing it for me, and it needed a bit more wow factor, so I drilled 150 4mm holes and glued in LED lights. A rope light would provide the colours for the star cutouts and moon. A second 6mm MDF skin was added to enclose the lighting. The top also looked a bit boring, so I created a bit of a roof and added trim pieces around the sides to finish it. A curtain rail and curtains were added as requested.
A final coat of paint and bedding was added to complete the look, and my job was done. As expected, a little girl was loving her new big girl bed to bits. I'm one happy dad!
Stars twinkle and have function settings similar to Christmas lights. Although all these lights are low-voltage and LED, they'll only be left on for bedtime stories and then switched immediately off.
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Absolutely stunning work @MitchellM. Your daughter must be thrilled with the twinkling stars.
It’s lovely to see how much care and creativity you’ve put into this build, from upcycling a pre-loved frame to finding ways to incorporate all of your daughter’s wishes.
Thanks for sharing the story behind this project and the pictures of your progress. I'm sure many parents in our community will be looking to this project for inspiration.
Stevie
Hello @MitchellM
Wow! This is truly a labor of love! A canopy bed and the stars underneath! I am sure she will be thrilled to have this as well as becoming a big sister. It's a beautiful piece of Up-cycling, plus a clever use of the LED lights! Those curtains give it that final touch and I'm sure got a tick of approval from both mom and daughter. Great work overall Mitch. Looking forward to the arrival of baby no. 2!
Cheers,
Red
I am a Bunnings team member. Any opinions or recommendations shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Bunnings. Visit the Bunnings website for assistance from the customer service team.
Many thanks for your kind words @StevieB and @redracer01. Someone recently asked me if I D.I.Y.'d more for my own enjoyment or my daughters. I had to have a good think about that. I realised that I never actually constructed any projects around the home until she came along. I believe I am enthused mainly because through D.I.Y. I can construct projects I could never afford to buy. Even without the lights, I was looking at beds like this but they were priced well over $500. I couldn't afford something like that. Total spend on this came to around $200 and a few weekends of my time. I guess that is what makes D.I.Y. truely wonderful, being able to achieve things which would otherwise be out of reach.
Mitchell
I am a Bunnings team member. Any opinions or recommendations shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Bunnings. Visit the Bunnings website for assistance from the customer service team.
Hey @MitchellM
As others have said, really great work! For me nothing feels better than spoiling someone we love, whether young or old altho the younger ones can be a little more mushy with their expressions 
Keep up the great DIY.
Cheers, Peter
Thanks @diy_hausdesigns, @mich1972 and @pete_brig.
It was a great project that I really enjoyed building. Surprisingly, the biggest time sink was prepping the old frame and coating it. I wanted to make sure it would last for many years, so I used quality products and spent the time on it. My daughter is actually fast asleep in it at the moment having her morning nap.
Mitchell
I am a Bunnings team member. Any opinions or recommendations shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Bunnings. Visit the Bunnings website for assistance from the customer service team.
