Floating children's bed in the shape of a boat, by Nico

In this DIY project, Nico shows how he made a beautiful, floating children's bed in the shape of a boat, for his 4-year-old grandson Bronne. It's a super original and creative project! Read below how he made the bed using custom-sawn Underlayment Finnish Spruce.

Description by Nico

This is a free-hanging loft bed in the shape of a boat for grandson Bronne. The bed floats above the sofa and turns it into a cozy sheltered seating area. The existing window necessitated a narrowing of the shape, which ultimately resulted in a boat shape with the 'cabin' enough space for cuddly toys and cars. The basis is Finnish underlayment. The curved boat shape and cabinet doors are made of plywood. In the boat shape these are two layers of 4 mm that are glued in a bent position. The ladder is an existing ladder suspended from a round tube.

How I made this project

The project was built in The Hague and installed in Amsterdam. For transport it was necessary to build the loft bed in parts: a base plate, the curved side wall, the supporting cupboard (in two parts) and a cupboard for the 'cabin'. The existing bench became the starting point for the height and length of the project. The location of the window determined the bend of the base plate. Taking the rectangular shape of the mattress and bed base into account as much as possible. The cut-out shape of the base plate was then used as a mold to bend and glue the plywood side wall. The 'back row' makes the base plate extra stiff to accommodate the large span.

Dimensions of my DIY project

250.0 x 80.0 x 145.0 cm