April 22, 2012

bunk





Part of the two days off we had last week involved a trip to IKEA.  Yes, we do like to punish ourselves sometimes.  But it was surprisingly pleasant walking around IKEA, childless, with an aim and a little extra time to wonder whether we needed more kitchen ware or tea lights.  And what was the aim?  To purchase the the MYDAL bunk bed for the boys.  I've had my eye on it for a while, nothing else has really compared either for style or price, and since this purchase would also mean new mattresses, duvets and sheets, we needed to be sensible about how much we had to spend.

So we bought the boys their first bunk bed.  We got it home in our Corolla wagon (just - it was comical how scrunched up we were in the front of the car with the bed, mattresses etc in the back), and then we painted it.

This is the colour - Gunnard (Taubmans).  I love it.  I love grey, actually, and I'm increasingly finding it's my go-to colour. The reason for the grey on the bunk bed was so that it would match most of what's in the room.  White was the other obvious choice but our house is fairly white as it is and I liked the idea of the grey against the quilts I made for the boys and the rest of the colour in their room.  As a result, it looks great!  I'm so pleased with it.  And as a bonus, it feels and smells a bit less IKEA-y than it would have if we'd left it with that ghastly natural pine look.

But most importantly, the bunk seems to be a success with the boys, though that I think is due in part to the talking up we've done of it over the last couple of months.  We've taken Max out of his cot and he's now in the bottom bed, and the biggest problems for him are (a) he wants the top bunk and (b) when he does accept he's sleeping in the bottom, he cannot stop himself from getting up and goofing around, much to his brother's delight.  These photos do not even get close to depicting how much joy he's getting out of maximising the cheek involved with bed time now.  Last night (night two - the first night Max did actually decide he wanted to sleep in his new bed), we spent about 90 minutes listening to toys being thrown around, fits of giggles, boys jumping on the top bunk, then a slightly smaller boy jumping on his brother... it went on, but they did it and managed their first night in the bunk bed.  And as I'm writing this, Ollie is squirming around in the top while Max is sound asleep.

It's the start of a level of shenanigans we haven't really had before.  Max is always a little cheeky when we put him to bed, but Ollie is generally a good boy.  Now that they are both out of their cots, it's given them (ie Max) a level of freedom that means Trouble.  But, much as it was annoying that they took until 9pm to go to sleep last night, they went to bed happy (and only really got yelled at a couple of times) and it's reinforced that they really do like sharing their space with each other.

Speaking of spaces, it could be nesting, but it might just be normal-everyday-have-to-organise-it-now!-me, we are starting on the baby's room, which has been a spare room for the last few months and is now beginning to look like a nursery.  Will dismantled Max's cot to go in there this morning and I went through all the many clothes we have to pick out the ones that I will eventually wash and fold neatly in anticipation of that day we bring this new life back from the hospital.  Softly, gently, aching with love and that feeling that the world has just started again for us.  God willing, it will be that way.



4 comments:

Jason and Emily Egan said...

I was wondering how you painted the bunk bed because it looks great, sometimes people paint raw wood and it doesn't look very good. I was wondering if you could give the steps on how you painted. Thank you so much.

Mandy said...

We didn't use a primer/undercoat, but we used two coats of low sheen acrylic paint in Taubman's Gunnard Grey, on the unassembled pieces of the bed before assembling a couple of days later. I wanted as flat a finish as possible but the flatter the finish, the harder it is to keep clean. The paint job has worn reasonably well. The steps are a little grubby but it's not so visible given the colour we chose and the low sheen paint can be wiped clean.
Hope that helps - good luck!

Anonymous said...

I'm currently painting a Mydal pink in the garage but as I was looking at your page for your paint details I couldn't help but laugh as you talked about your boys bedtime shenanigans. My daughters, 5 & 3, spent over an our playing a very rowdy game of "I spy" before they eventually wore out tonight - and they're not even in bunks yet! Oh the joys :) blessings to you and your family; glad to hear you didn't prime, my first coat is down and I didn't either :)

Jennie said...

Hi, I wondered how well your painted Mydal bunk beds have held up, and also, if you would mind giving me some dimensions. I am building a house and planned to use this bunk bed, and need to have some lights mounted on the wall for reading. Might you be able to tell me how far off the ground the first and second bunks are, so that I can figure out where to mount them?? Thanks, so much, Jennie

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