When we moved 6 months ago, my 12 yr old son insisted he wanted his bedroom in the finished basement. The room he chose had been used as a storage room in the past, and there were built-in shelves along both walls. My son decided those built-in shelves would make the perfect bunk bed and desk combo, and he practically begged us to let him have that room. To my husband and I, the room looked like, well.. the storage room that it was, but to my son, it was his dream room. So, we gave in and let him have that room with the understanding that it would take us a few months to turn it into the cool bedroom he wanted.
About a month after we moved, I started figuring out how to turn those wooden shelves into a bed for my son. We looked at several options including a futon mattress, extending the shelves so a twin sized mattress would fit, and making a custom mattress ourselves. Finally, I decided to make the mattress myself. It seemed to be the most simple option. So, we started price checking memory foam, foam batting and various forms of egg crate materials. We decided on condensed foam batting with a fabric cover as being the most comfortable option, and started to price check. The batting we wanted was expensive, so we put the project off for a while.
Fast forward to this morning, my husband and I were out yard sale shopping and decided to check out the half price sale at Hancock Fabric. I found 4 inch thick densified foam batting for less than $15.00 a square. I laid two squares on the floor of the store and lay down on it. I figured if it’s comfortable for me, it should be comfortable for my son. I probably looked ridiculous on the floor of the fabric store, but if the material isn’t right, my son won’t sleep well. After a few minutes, I declared the foam perfect and we bought 2 squares. Next, it was time to go hunting for fabric in which to enclose the foam batting.
The same Hancock Fabric had muslin on sale, also at half price. I bought 6 yards.
When we got home,
I spread the piece of muslin open on the floor and then placed the batting on top. Then, I folded the fabric over the batting to measure how much I needed. I cut the muslin to around the batting, allowing about 1/2 inch for seams.
Next, I used fabric glue to glue the two pieces of batting together so they wouldn’t separate and leave a gap while he slept.
After much discussion with my son, I decided to sew the mattress cover so that one of the long sides was the open side. It would be easier for him to remove the cover for washing by himself. So, I sewed both ends and created something that looked like an envelope for the batting.
He loves his new bed!
