CABIN BUNK ROOM – BEFORE & AFTER
** This post contains affiliate links.
When we first bought this cabin, it only had one bedroom. Obviously with a family of 6, one bedroom wasn’t gonna quite sleep everyone. We threw around the idea of adding on an addition off the back where we could add one to two bedrooms, but knew that 1.) That would blow the budget we had, and 2.) Take valuable time that we wanted to have playing on the lake. So instead we came up with a solution that will work for now, and can be changed later. We actually built this room thinking it could turn into a hallway and electrical closet which could lead to an addition with some bedroom if we choose to do that one day. We took the old kitchen, and once we had gutted it we used it as a bunk room.
We actually made the room smaller yet, just wide enough to fit a twin mattress, and gained a couple of extra feet for the bathroom that desperately needed some more room. Our goal was to add two bunks in the room using the least space possible.
This room was probably the easiest on our budget. Ryan built the bunk beds and sadly we didn’t make a tutorial on it because it was one of those projects that we kind of made up as we went, and we only spent about $100 worth of lumber to make them. We put in a new little smaller window to fit the bunk better that cost around $75, and other than decor, this room was done!
BEFORE…
AFTER….
If you look closely, you can see that in the before picture Ryan is walking out the door. This was the only door into the cabin. You can see we now have a tv there. We closed up that door and added french doors to the left of the fireplace which is the new entrance. It worked with the flow better and gave us better storage in the porch. I will be sharing the full living room before and after next…so you can see more of the layout change. But first, lets look at more pics of the tiny little bunk room.
After Ryan built the frame, I trimmed it out and made it pretty:) We make a good team like that. It is amazing how easy trim work is, and you can find all of my tutorials on my instagram @prvbsthirtyonegirl on how to use the power tools needed to do it! I also knew that we needed major storage, so I came up with this idea to make these wooden storage boxes on wheels for under the bunks. They are as deep as the bunks and we can keep all of the kids clothes in one, and toys and activities in the other. We have learned it’s easiest to keep extras of everything at the cabin and not transfer clothes back and forth. I have a tutorial that shows the process of how to make the boxes, It’s labeled under windows boxes but the process is the same! You just need to figure out the width and depth you want your boxes to be and change the measurements accordingly. I then just added this 15″ handle and these caster wheels.
I used 1/4″ plywood to make the chevron design and am so happy with how they turned out! We made this wood ladder for the kids to get up and Ryan added the pipe on the top bunk that I sprayed flat black to keep the kids safe. Sadly the wicker light shade that I got from Pottery Barn Teen is no longer available.
I also added these fun lights above the bunks for reading. I did the magic light trick with them, so there is just a puck light in there and they are not hard wired. You can find that tutorial here. Also, the light was such a great deal here, and these are my favorite puck lights to use!
Unfortunately all of the bedding I purchased is no longer available, but I did order these 6″ mattresses that were super affordable and also saved space for overhead clearance. I’ve slept on them and can attest that they are thick enough so your butt doesn’t hit the bottom:) I hope this tiny little room has inspired you to create extra space without taking up much room!
SHOP THE POST
