Rashad Will DDS
This post shows how I built a DIY loft bed for my son’s room. It utilizes basic framing and structural pipe fittings for support. It’s the smaller of our three bedrooms, so we decided a loft bed would be nice to maximize the space.
I really like the clean look of a suspended or floating loft bed, so I started my search for inspiration with that in mind.
I think if I’d done that, I would’ve distributed the load to several joists for added strength. The only place that a loft bed would fit was the corner of the room in between the windows.
I knew I’d be securing two sides of the bed frame (2x6s) into the wall studs, so I just needed to figure out a support for the corner. Here’s the frame in place being held up with temp 2x4s until the permanent support was added:
They don’t really need to be pre-drilled, but I did anyways just in case I wasn’t exactly in the center of the wall stud. You’ll also notice my magnetic stud finder on the wall there. It even has a little level with an arrow so you can visually find your line for the stud further up/down. Once I had the two ledger boards in place, I added the front and end 2x6s to complete the frame.
I used these Simpson Strong Tie wafer head screws to secure the joist hangers and corner braces. I also faced the outside with a nice stained trim piece, mitered at the joint. I looked into structural pipe fittings called Kee Klamps for another potential project and was very impressed with the product’s versatility.
As I was researching, I discovered that Lowe’s sells the same fittings under the brand name SteelTek for way less than the real-deal Kee Klamps.
That way the structural screws (same ones I used to secure the ledger boards) wouldn’t be sticking out the back. The light this puts out is BRIGHT, so we cut the bottom of yogurt container (Chobani I think) off and shoved it up in there.
🙂 I used some clips I had in my small parts collection to secure the wire to the window trim.
