I like the idea of loft beds. A loft bed is like a bunk bed except the lower
portion of a loft bed is not a bed, it is something else. It can be a desk,
storage, a sofa or anything else. It can be an efficient use of space, since for
many things we do not use about half the vertical space of a room. When we sit at a desk
we use less than 6 feet of vertical space and the desk and related furniture
often also do not.
See Mattress Sizes - Better
Sleep Council | Start every day with a good night’s sleep; a standard Twin
mattress is 38" x 75".
I also like the idea of metal. Many say that metal is much more expensive than
wood but the following are economical loft beds made of metal. They are just
examples, I am not interested in something that economical.
I am interested in building a loft bed myself but I am not sure how to build
such a thing myself. I considered use of many existing items, such as using two
shelving units with a bed frame between them somehow. Then I found:
And I thought, yes! That sounds good.
The Make: magazine article looks good. The main 4 components are:
Note that the frames are available (made by Metaltech) galvanized.
The following are the Home Depot items.
Since the platform is relatively expensive and requires customization I think it
is better to create something else. So we might need to provide additional
horizontal stabilization. I think we can create a platform for a
commonly-available bed frame and it can be done more easilly and economically
than the customization in the video. So I was thinking maybe two I-Beams, as in
I-Beam, on their side
would work, with a hook at each end to hold onto the scaffolding frame much like
the scaffold platform. But a U-Beam would be better if there is such a thing and
apparently they are called channels, as in
Channel. The main
thing I do not know how to design is the materrial required to satisfy the
required strength; in other words, what thickness to use.
Also MetalTech makes Guard Rails but they
seem unreasonably expensive so that is something else that would be better to
create from scratch.
One feature I do not see anywhere in pre-built loft beds is the ability to move the guard panel(s)
/ guard rail(s) out of the way to make it easier to make the bed.
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