If you’re looking for an easy way to create an extra bed in a child’s room, today’s post is exactly what you’re looking for! This DIY Trundle Bed is an easy way to add a roll-away bed in a snap!
A couple of months ago I switched my son into my daughter’s room and my daughter into my son’s room. Although I am no where near finished with either room, I am making some progress on both! Today I am sharing a project that I have been thinking about for quite a while and am SO glad that it actually worked! Sometimes when you’re kind of inventing things you never know if it will turn out but this one did! It really was just a solution to a problem. The problem was my son no longer wanted bunk beds yet we really needed the extra sleeping space for when we had cousins come to visit or a friend sleeping over. The solution was to figure out how to change those bunk beds into a DIY Trundle Bed!
Once I gathered all of my supplies it only took me an hour or so to put it all together. Super easy!
Here is what you’ll need:
- Bunky board (ours was from our top bunk we were no longer using but you can get them for about $50-$100 at various mattress places or even Crate & Barrel)
- 6 caster wheels (mine were 2″ steel wheels)
- 2 handles, available in the hardware section of your local home improvement store
- 2.5 yards of fabric (optional but my favorite part!)
- staple gun
- electric drill
DIY TRUNDLE BED
Shown is the underside of the bunky board. I removed that fabric before beginning. It ripped off very easily. The top is covered with a cheap, thin material of some sort. Very boring and not very durable. I got some cute navy ticking striped fabric from Joann to cover it. I just folded the fabric around the bunky board like a present and stapled it with my staple gun as I went. Suprisingly satisfying. 🙂
I then trimmed off the excess ticking fabric and added the handles to one side of the bunky board (in hindsight, I would have gotten handles that just needed to be screwed on from the front rather than attached from the back…. that was a big pain) and then reattached the bottom fabric.
I then attached the steel caster wheels using short screws and spacing them out evenly on either side of board.
I then flipped it over and squealed with delight! 🙂 Then the moment of truth… would all of this fit under the bed? I had checked that I did have some room to work with when I just had the bunky board and mattress under the bed but I still wasn’t entirely sure it would fit. Luckily it fit like a glove! My alternate plan, had it not fit, was to remove the casters and use those furniture sliders on each corner. So if you don’t think you have enough room for wheels give those a try!
It glides in and out like BUTTER. Butter, I say!
Now when cousins or friends come to visit…. voila! I keep the coordinating duvet and pillow in the top of his closet for easy access.
What do you think? I am in LOVE with how it turned out! And as a bonus, he can’t just stuff a bunch of junk under his bed (his usual go-to move). If you’re short on space but want some extra sleeping accommodations, give this a try! And let me know if you do, I’d love to hear about it!
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**PIN IMAGE BELOW TO SAVE THIS DIY TRUNDLE BED HACK PROJECT FOR LATER! **
Fantastic!!
Thank Mignon! 🙂 I want Zach to come sleep in it!
Nicely done!!! 🙂
Thanks Jen! Wanna come sleep on it? I’ll sleep in the other bed. Ha!
Check you out, Landeelu! That is soo brilliant! Love the silver accessories!
Thanks girls!! Just channeling my inner LollyJane! 🙂
Love it! totally gonna do when I get a minute! For budgeting sake….how much was bunky board?
So I had the bunky board from the top bunk of the bunk beds that we took down but I think you can get them anywhere from $50-$120. Google “bunky board” and see what comes up!
IF you don’t have a bunky board, a good piece of plywood can be used, just cut to size, round the corners and sand real well. You could use some thin batting and fabric to cover and staple:)
Great idea Debbie!
It’s useful, when someone is visiting our home :)) perectly made. Eliza
Love this, girlie!!! Look at you with your tools and such…
Is this a regular size twin head and footboard? It seems to stand higher than a normal twin frame.
It is the bottom of a bunk bed set. It has an option to be put together lower (if it is set up as a bottom bunk) or a little higher if it is just going to be a twin bed. You could raise your twin bed using wooden footings or something like that if you need to. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow…way cool. I was just thinking of doing this in my daughters room. I have two in same room and they need one less bed and more room for a doll house/storage space. I think I will have to show this to my husband!! 😉
Yes! It is a fantastic space saver! Tell your husband to get right on that. 😉
You are a GENIUS! I didn’t want to shell out $100 for a trundle frame and this is absolute perfection!
Right? That’s way too much to spend when you don’t have to! Thanks for stopping by!
This is just what I need for June/July. Great idea and looks easy enough. Thank you!
Can you measure how high your twin bed is please? My current clearance is 11 inches wondering if I have hope
Hi Cory! So that bed has 13″ clearance under it. One thing I might suggest, if it’s close for you, is to use those furniture sliders on the bottom of your bunky board as opposed to wheels. You could try to attach the sliders with a heavy duty glue. That would give you another inch or more to play with! You could also add a little height under the legs of the bed with some wood or pre-made sofa legs or something like that? Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
Great idea! My kids asked for separate twin beds for Christmas. Our bunk bed broke and it was a twin over full so I couldn’t really reuse part of the frame so just purchased the kids their own twin sets with frames and I was wondering if I could reuse the bunky board from my kids bunk bed that broke with the twin mattress that is still in great shape, decided to google that and here you did it. I plan on purchasing risers to make a regular bed frame higher, hope I can still slide a mattress on the bunky board underneath (alternatively I might put the two beds close together, put the trundle underneath both of the beds perpendicularly and put a coffee table over the part of the trundle that would be visible in between them). Reading your posting taught me that I should buy multiple casters instead of just four and get handles, too. I think I will reuse a sheet from a set where we don’t still have both pieces to cover the bunky board. I am wondering if I should invest in a staple gun or maybe hot glue the fabric on. I am so excited to try this! Thanks so much!
Love your idea it is so creative and helpful when I have cousins come over.