Fun with Bunk Beds

The slow but steady drive to get MC and DC into the same room continues. Denisa and I had been looking for bunk beds for quite some time. The original plan had been to buy a set that had stairs with them–make it easy for whoever got the top bunk. But as we looked into the matter further, it became clear that those stairs came with a price, and were we really willing to put down $800-$1200 for the bunk beds?

In the end, we decided that no, we were not.

So we put down $180, instead, on a set from (yup) Walmart. The price was right, and these aren’t beds we’re planning on leaving as part of the inheritance or anything, so why not? (Note: I might come to realize why not in a few years. That’s certainly a risk I’m taking with buying cheaper furniture. But with the amount I’m saving, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.) That’s a picture of them at the top of this entry, except ours is dark brown. Espresso, I believe.

Tuesday, the beds arrived, compactly packed in a small box. I cracked my knuckles and my neck, opened the box, and got to work.

Three and a half hours later, the beds were complete. Somehow, I managed to follow all the directions well enough that I only needed to break out the power drill once. (When you discover you’ve put something together backwards, you can either take it all apart and put it together the right way, or start drilling new holes. It turns out I’m a “start drilling new holes” kind of a guy now. Especially after 3.5 hours of working on the blasted thing.)

TRC and DC helped me throughout the process. (Well, TRC did manage to get distracted by a book about 4/5ths of the way through. You put anything with words in front of that boy, and he’s gone. I’m telling you.) But they were excited to see it come together, and it was (more or less) a fun project. A few observations about the process:

  • Having to assemble everything with an allen wrench is its own form of torture. Can we not just assume all people have access to screwdrivers? My hands are still recovering.
  • Sometimes when you think you’ve put something on backwards and decide to drill new holes, maybe you should look at the diagram again and think it over. It might be easier to switch things around than you thought it would be.
  • Whenever you decide to assemble the bunk beds, mother nature will make sure it’s the hottest day in a while. Because hot. Bring a fan.

Of course, it was only after the bed arrived that I started measuring the existing furniture to figure out where it all needs to go. And that’s when I discovered that the futon I’d planned to put in DC’s old room literally doesn’t fit into that room. Pro-tip: don’t assume you know the size of your rooms. Always measure first.

So now we have to decide if TRC is going to sleep on the futon in his room, or if his room needs to move as well. Either which way, we need to move a chest of drawers, a bed, and the futon to make sure everything fits, as well as sell off a few other pieces of furniture. Because nothing is ever easy.

And now I’ve just managed to take up a whole post by describing assembling bunk beds. Maybe next time I can talk about the joy of watching paint dry.

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