How to make kid’s bunk beds

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About measurements, bunk size, mattress

Bunk size

Each bed is 64 1/2″ (1641mm) long overall and 30″ (750mm) wide, and is the perfect size for kids up to the age of 10 or so.
The overall bunk unit is 64 1/2″ (1641mm) long, 31 1/2″ (787mm) wide and 57 1/2″ (1437mm) high.
The mattress area is 63″(1575mm) by 27″ (675mm).
If you already have a mattress that is a slightly different size, with a little bit of thought it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to alter the plans to suit.

About the mattresses

Use 4″(100mm) thick foam rubber mattresses.
Sometimes it is cheaper to buy standard size single mattresses and cut them to size.
There always seems to be special or sale somewhere for such items. It is not too hard to cut a standard size single foam rubber mattress. Just take off the cover, cut the foam rubber to size with a long bladed craft knife and re-sew the cover to suit.

About the measurements

The measurements throughout this project are given in both Standard (inches) and Metric (mm).

The standard measurements are given first followed by the metric measurements in brackets ( ).
For example: 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ (90mm x 19mm).

For rounding-off purposes, the metric sizes in this project are not an exact match to the equivalent imperial sizes.
A structure built using the metric measurements will be approximately 1.6% smaller than the same structure using the imperial (ft and in) measurements. Not really worth worrying about.
The imperial measurements are more suited to North America. The metric measurements are more suited to Australasia and other countries.

The size (width and thickness) of the wood used in this project is the ‘actual’ (true) size.
That is the size of the wood after it has been dressed (surfaced, planed and/or seasoned).
The ‘nominal’ size of the wood is in reference to its size before being dressed.
The ‘actual’ size of the wood is smaller than the ‘nominal’ size.

Below is a ‘nominal’ versus ‘actual’ chart, listing the wood sizes that are used in this project.