Not everyone can make children's beds with their own hands, because for this it is necessary to be able to use tools. Of course, knowledge in the field of furniture is minimal - you will need to make a design diagram, make some simple calculations to make the bed geometry perfect. Otherwise, the child will be uncomfortable to sleep - and these are only the smallest troubles that may arise.
Do I need to make a bed on my own?
Perhaps this is the first question that comes to mind. Indeed, on sale there is a large number of furniture of various models. But the cost is sometimes too high, and the functionality is not very - I want something more from the furniture.
What you will get when making a children's bed with your own hands (with or without drawers, is not so important) or any other furniture:
- Significant cost savings - you yourself make furniture, you will not have to pay for assembly and decoration. But you need to buy high-quality materials so that the bed's resource is large.
- You will have complete freedom in the layout of the room and furniture - you make all the drawings yourself, the arrangement too.
- You will make a bed that will fully meet your needs. In principle, you can even make a whole complex that will meet your requirements for functionality and comfort.
- And you will enjoy the fact that you plan and do your living space on your own.
Design and concept
These are the first points that you need to consider at the initial stage of creating a children's bed with your own hands from wood. You need to answer these questions:
- What age child will use the furniture?
- Is it necessary to have the possibility of transforming the bed for use by children of different ages?
- Number of sleeping places.
- Construction requirements: folding or stationary?
- Are you planning to create only a bed or the whole complex?
Only after you answer all these questions can you decide on the size of the bed, materials and various other nuances.
Crib for babies
Now let's talk a little about the types and sizes of cots. You can make various models with your own hands. As for beds for babies, they must have a design that can provide maximum safety to the baby.
And mothers, of course, should be comfortable using it. When manufacturing, it is best to pay attention to such options:
- The attached structure, in it the bed at the same height is located as at the bed of the parents. On three sides are installed sides that do not allow the baby to fall out.
- Separate with sides and bed at a height of 50-60 cm from the floor surface.
Such a crib can be used up to the age of three. As for the dimensions, the extension should have a length of 80-100 cm, and a separate one - 120-140 cm with one removable side.
"For growth"
Having a ready-made project in front of you, making a baby bed with your own hands is much easier. And it will be ideal if you decide to make furniture, as they say, “for growth”. Such a design of a transforming bed will come in handy if you have a desire to save a little on furniture. By the way, such furniture is universal - it can be sharpened to any needs. The design is modular, the purpose can be changed by simply rearranging the various parts. The initial state is for a newborn to sleep. In addition to the crib itself, on this design you can make a changing table, as well as many drawers for storing diapers, diapers, clothes.
Of course, over time, the baby will be cramped, since the bed is 80 cm long. You can rent a table and increase the space of the bed. Such a design will faithfully serve until the moment when your baby goes to school - until about 5-7 years.
Toy bed
The article provides several photos of baby beds. With their own hands, anyone who knows how to use tools can make them. A children's bed is not just a piece of furniture that performs a single function. It is recommended at the design stage to come up with several more ways to use it. It is allowed to make structures of various shapes, the main thing is to ensure safety and leave an even plane as a bed. A good example - for boys, you can make a bed-car. Or you can do it yourself with a bunk baby bed made of wood or chipboard.
The basis for the mattress can be plywood lamellas. You can buy them in furniture stores. To make vivid drawings on the panels, you need:
- Find images to implement.
- Send the pictures to the printing industry so that they fit to size and print on a vinyl film and cut out the contours.
- Now you can impose ready-made templates on workpieces, draw contours and cut elements. Edges must be processed.
- The film is glued to the finished components.
In the same way, you can make any other furniture items and not just beds.
The bed is part of the game complex
Attractive and interesting shapes are what any child will love. But who did not dream of a beautiful bed like the heroes of some favorite films? At the time of design, you can choose any design. The ideal option would be the manufacture of a transformer - the functions of a bed, a chest of drawers, and a wardrobe are combined in one subject. Indeed, children's bedrooms are often small in size, so it is recommended to use functional furniture in them. It is allowed to make combinations of beds and shelves for books, a computer desk or training, boxes with toys.
Cartoon and bunk structures
If you have two children or more, you can make one bed with two beds. And the best solution is to make a bunk bed. The main thing in the manufacture of such furniture is to provide convenient access to the second floor. For this, stairs are most often used. Of course, beds made for this technology will not be suitable for children from one year old. With your own hands, children's beds of this type can be made for older children.
In the design, all components are connected in such a way that rigid elements are formed. Using the side posts and the rear wall, a normal level of stiffness is ensured. It is easiest to make furniture from sheet wood materials, for example, chipboard or fiberboard.
The best option for the foundation - Particleboard
For the manufacture of the base it is best to use a laminated chipboard (abbr. LDSP). In the manufacture of elements from this material, no additional processing is necessary. And during operation, furniture care is minimal. Surface decoration is carried out in the manufacture of slabs, there are many options for sale.
Chipboard is made of wood chips with the addition of urea-formaldehyde resin. For some, this can cause a wary attitude, but it is in vain. To date, stoves that are manufactured by industry are approved for use in residential buildings and child care facilities. The emission class for most E1, for some E0. This means that the material is completely harmless.
As for plasticity, then with chipboard it is pretty good. Even thick self-tapping screws (3-4 mm) can be screwed in without first making holes. If you need to install fasteners, door hinges, as well as other fittings, you can slightly adjust the attachment points. But this can only be done in extreme cases.
Please note that even the strongest stiffeners made of 5-6 cm planks can bend over time.
Materials for "minor" elements
But wood-fiber boards are best used for the manufacture of small elements. The material is called a plate, but is more like a sheet of wood, the thickness of which is about 3 mm. For the manufacture of furniture, laminated material is ideal. From it you can make the back walls of cabinets, cabinets, drawer bottoms. With the help of fiberboard, the shape and stiffness of boxed products is given. Without this material, they would not be able to maintain rigidity for a long time.
In the manufacture of facades, it is recommended to use MDF boards. Her density is higher than that of chipboard. Elements installed on the facades can be decorated with curly milling and veneered with vinyl film or simply painted. Often, MDF doors are made of cabinet doors, shields (side and end) of beds, as well as countertops.
The use of natural wood
When making a baby bed for a child from 3 years old, you can use natural wood. It is much nicer than any composite material. But if you compare the physical parameters, you need to consider that the wood must be treated with various antiseptics, varnished. In addition, adhesives that can be hazardous are often used during assembly. Therefore, from the point of view of the technological process, working with wood is much more difficult.
Most often, wood is used where strength is required:
- At production of crossbeams, ladders.
- As load-bearing beams and racks for light structures.
- For the manufacture of front elements - doors, shields, front panels, handrails.
Typically used species such as ash, beech, oak. Alder or pine is much less commonly used. The reason is that only hardwood can withstand grinding, with high-quality processing, the possibility of driving a splinter is excluded. And now let's look at an example of making a children's bed with our own hands. With or without drawers, it's up to you. But it is worth making the furniture as functional as possible.
Choice of project and design
The first step is to determine the design and draw up a drawing. You start with a general view and overall dimensions. After be sure to specify all the details. If you decide to use a ready-made drawing for making a children's bed for a girl with your own hands, you need to carefully consider all the nuances and independently calculate the sizes that are not indicated.
In the manufacture of complex elements, for example, countertops, it is necessary to indicate not only the dimensions, but also the dimensions of all the main components, as well as the radii of curvature (if any). In the project, take into account the maximum dimensions of the parts, which are limited by the chipboard format. Usually the sheets have a size of 2750 x 1830 mm.
Making bed parts
After a detailed drawing is made, it is necessary to make a detail. This is a complete list of all parts, an indication of their sizes and types of processing. Be sure to indicate which sides of the elements need to be pasted with tape. Be sure to consider the thickness of the sheets when sizing. To determine the size of the facade you need to be guided by the following rules:
- If the facades are overhead (at the ends of the cabinet or cabinet parts), then you need to take a size 4 mm smaller than that of the module.
- For the inner facade entering the opening, you need to take 5-6 mm less on each side.
- For the facades of the drawers, a clearance of 3 mm must be taken into account.
- If you plan to paste the ends with tape, the thickness of which is more than half a millimeter, this should also be taken into account when calculating the elements.
A bit about tools
When making furniture at home, you need two tools - an electric jigsaw and a belt-type grinder. With their help, you can easily produce complex structural elements. For a jigsaw, it is recommended to use a carbide saw with a tooth up. The section must be started at a distance of about 4-5 mm from the contour. All excess parts of the material must then be removed using a grinder.
If you decide to grind the ends with a complex shape yourself, you need to ensure that they are perpendicular. Otherwise, the tape will not fit in length, but will begin to go sideways. If you are making curved parts for a PVC edge whose thickness is more than 2 mm, it is necessary to provide for an external rounding, the radius should be from 5 cm. The internal rounding should be such that the tool used allows processing (about 30 cm).
Edge for pasting
Now you know how to make a baby bed with your own hands. It remains to slightly decorate it. Plastic PVC edges (thickness about 0.5 mm) must be glued using contact adhesive such as Nairit or its analogues. All edges that protrude must be cut with a sharp knife. The corners are smoothed out with fine-grained sandpaper and carefully polished with felt.
If you decide to stick a melamine paper edge, then this is much easier. It is enough to smooth it with a hot iron and press it with a flat bar with glued felt or a dense cloth. It is recommended that all edges exposed to high loads be glued with tape whose thickness is 2 mm or more.
Build Features
The main thing when assembling any furniture from particleboard is to fix the parts with the help of confirmations (through screws). This fastener is easy to use, but it is not the only one. In addition, even an inexperienced assembler can assemble furniture with it. You need to make holes for confirmations using a special drill, in which the working part is no more than 5 mm.
And now let's talk about how to make a baby bed with your own hands with the help of confirmations. If you do not have the skills to work with this tool, then do not take risks and do not make a hole in one pass. It is recommended that you first make a small hole in the reservoir, and then, having pressed the end of the second element to it, finish drilling. The fastener is installed immediately.
If it is inconvenient to establish confirmations (or they can ruin the appearance of the product), you can apply corners. All shelves in the cabinets must be removable and installed on holders - pins, whose diameter is 4.8 mm. Nevertheless, it is recommended that one or two shelves be fixed firmly to strengthen the side walls of the structure. This article provides some photos of baby cots. With your own hands, simple models can be made by any home master, but masterpieces are best left to professionals.