Project Bed (or 'How to be a flat-pack queen')

Little Man is growing up. Fast. His lovely cot bed that has served so well for the past three and a half years has become noticeably 'too small' over the past couple of months. So it was time to get 'A New Bed'.
His room is tiny (lets be honest - all the rooms in our house are tiny!) so we needed something that would make the most of the space without being too overpowering. And we had to bear in mind that he is only three so I didn't want to get anything too high off the floor...
We found this brilliant raised bed frame in Argos - lovely antique stained (not shiny varnish, thank goodness) solid pine. No cupboards underneath, just under a meter off the floor so plenty of room underneath for toy storage and play! Simple, basic and not too expensive (for bonus Brownie points!).

It arrived, in a deceptively small box just after lunchtime. I didn't have to put it together myself. I could have waited till the Other Half was here all day on Sunday. But, you know, I get impatient about stuff like this...

And, besides, I am the Queen of Flat-Pack!!

First things first - dismantle the old cot bed...

This lovely cot bed was second hand from the Newent Association for the Disabled charity shop. It was missing a couple of bolts (but a friend in a fabricators sorted that for us) but otherwise fine. It will be going to my brother and his wife for their new tot due in December...

It was a darn sight easier to take apart than it was to put together, I can tell you (sorry R&M but you are going to have fun getting it back together again ;-) )

Won't be needing this anymore either. Little Man says it's for baby beds not big boy beds! Oh, he is growing up so fast *sniff*

Rule no 1 - when tackling flat pack furniture - ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!
This is where most men fail dismally.

Rule no 2 - assemble a decent tool kit... this is where I fail dismally...
Luckily all we needed was a a screwdriver and a hammer.


 Now to put it all together.  I am always happy to accept help when it is offered...

The bed ends are done (that really was the easy bit!) now to join them together. To be honest, I could have done with a helper who was a little less easily distracted by toys at this point!

I think we were about 2 hours in to the build and it was nearly time to break for tea. But not before the ladder was put in place...

After tea it was on to the important bit - adding the bed slats. Properly spaced out. Using a ruler and everything just like the instructions specified (yeah, right...) whilst at the same time getting the Little Man in the bath and having to move everything out of the way to get to the pj drawer...

As you can see it is dark now - and actually Little Man's bedtime. As you can probably imagine, he wasn't complaining too much about staying up a bit later than usual...

Mattress on. Duvet and pillows in place. One happy not-so-Little Man- anymore in his big boy's bed!
It took five and a half hours, gave me very sore hands (who ever thought allen keys were a good idea?) and pushed bedtime back a whole hour (woah) but I did it. All by myself (more or less).
I am the Flat Pack Queen!

Today brings Project Bed Phase 2 - tidying and sorting toys/books/clothes and other furniture in the room and creating a den under the bed. Will let you know how it goes...