I Swear I Tried To Make It Star Wars..............

...........................but my daughter wouldn't have it! She just turned 4 and no sooner than the day after her party she was asking me to make her a bed! And she wanted a princess castle; I am quickly learning this is so much more work than a Skiff bed!

I debated sharing this, but maybe it will inspire others. I have seen some real incredible castle beds online, but $3000 plus is not in my budget. I want to come it at under $400 if I can.

I have to agree with her choice; she already loves it and it suits her well. She and my son are both great helpers.

So far this is what $320 in supplies, 3 straight days of work, and a trip to the chiropractor gets you.









The only thing left to buy are some odd and ends and misc. detail pieces. I already have the paint. I'll probably come in at just over $400 on this, but I can live with that.

that is so freakkin cute. i will not be letting my gf's soon-to-be five year old see this thread.

I love what you've done so far here. First your son's desert skiff bed and now your daughter's 'princess Leia' castle (if you pretend this to yourself, you can keep you Star Wars sanity intact). You are one cool dad!

That's actually pretty bad@ss bro. Awesome design, I bet she's super happy lol

Oh wow! You had to know this was coming after the awesome skiff bed. I can't wait to see how this turns out! With a Sarlacc rug in the other room, this may need a moat!

i see no photo. is it just me?

Oh man that's awesome! I'm sure you can work something Star Wars related into that...

Thanks for all the great comments guys!

Got a little sidetracked today so not much was done. A little more primer work and added a bit of trim to the book case (will post some close ups later). I am hoping all the primer work pays off when we put the final color on; not a big fan of painting!

Originally Posted by Fettered

this may need a moat!

I second that! Great idea!

Oh man, that is awesome! My daughter's second birthday is coming up, and we are looking for her a "big girl" bed. I am hoping she does not see this because she loves princesses.

Amazing work! Certainly inspires me to do something for my twin boys.

Been a slow week again, but we managed to get some color on this. It's hard to tell until I get some close up pictures, but the main body is a very light blue and the crown pieces are a pearl white.



For the stairs, I was originally going to put carpet on top. Then I saw these vinyl floor tiles and thought they would look good. They were only about .70 each, so for less than $15 I was able do something different.





I should be done this weekend, thank god! More to follow............

I love the stone stairs. The whole effect is great and I bet she is happy!

Wow..... That is amazing work...

Nice work brother! We do all this cool *** **** for our kids hoping they appreciate it. Will they ever truly understand how little we had "back in the day" lol oh well.

Friggin awesome. Now get that moat in there :P

Originally Posted by redkraytdragon

Friggin awesome. Now get that moat in there :P

Hahahaha! Right on!

Awesome, love it!

Well, I think I can say I am 99% done with this. My wife and mom will be doing some minor touch up painting and detail work (curtains, artwork inside, etc). This one nearly broke me, but I am glad I stuck with it. Seeing my daughter's face makes it all worthwhile.

Here's a few more pics:







For the stair edges, I couldn't find the rubber stuff I swear was at Lowe's, and I didn't want to go with wood, so I used these foam filled weather strips. A little modification and they worked well.



For the inside, I bought one of those LED, wireless, under the cabinet light strips. It works off 6 "AA" batteries and has a remote, worked perfect for the inside. I also bought two lengths of blue LED rope light. These also worked great because the outlet that runs off the light switch was right below.





I took the remaining scrap of vinyl tile from the stairs and cut pieces to trim the entrance.



For the book shelves, I went back to Lowe's and picked up more vinyl tile. These were around .90 per tile (12 x 12, just like the staircase tiles). It cost about $25.00 to use these but I figured it would look much better than paint or wallpaper.





I also bought this wood trim and lined the front lip of each shelf and painted them gold.



The only other thing that had to be changed was the little house on top. My daughter loved playing with her figures in their, so I turned it around so she could play with it from the bed side. I used the negative piece of the door that I cut from the front and put that on the side facing out.

I went over budget a little. By adding the tiles to the bookshelf and stairs, the LED lights, and the light strip, I added another $75.00. So all in all, this castle bed cost me $483.23. I can live with that.

The only thing I can say is I hope she sleeps as soundly in this bed as I will tonight!

That is amazing!

Simply outstanding! That light is a NICE touch bro

Beautiful work!

Is it wrong that I'm a 24 year old female a little bit jealous of a 4 year old right now? Man this is incredible!!

I absolutely cannot let my daughter see this...we have enough projects already!

Thanks guys, really appreciate the great comments!

Well, I've never seen the skiff bed, but I tell you...this is absolutely incredible. My four yr old would LOVE it. She loves SW and princesses. I'm sure my wife won't let me do something like this, worried I'd hurt myself, cut off an arm, etc. Bravo, sir. Major daddy-points.