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You are here: Home / Home Decor / Toddler Bed –> Awesome Basement Toy

Toddler Bed –> Awesome Basement Toy

October 3, 2013 by SmartGirl 7 Comments

sparkly red vinyl step 2 yellow

It’s been a long time coming.  Most 4.5 year olds have moved on from their toddler beds long ago.  But my little guy L-O-V-E-S his car bed.  This is a picture of him when he was 3.

Smart Girls DIY: Toddler Car Bed Makeover
And this was him last week.

Oh, I didn’t mention that I bought the bed before he was even born.  I saw it on craigslist for $30 or $40 and knew that one day my little boy would love that bed.  Lol.  No, seriously, it moved with us to this house and was dumped in the basement with all the other toys.  Hahaha!  Look at that picture!

Step 2 yellow car toddler bed

I’ve been promising to build my little man a tree house bed, but I’ve been stalling.  With good reason.  The entire upstairs needs new carpet {desperately} and I’m smart enough to hold off on building a monstrous bed until I get the carpet replaced.  The problem is, I am too cheap to hire someone to come replace the carpet.  🙁  And even though my the little guy still loves his car bed, he has climbed out of it the past 2 nights to sleep on the floor.  So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the toddler bed is just too darn small.  So out it goes.  Bye-bye toddler bed.  The giraffe swing will miss you.

Step 2 yellow car toddler bed
But don’t worry, it’s not going far, just back down to the basement where it had lived prior to becoming his bed.  This is what the car looks like in the basement today.  Don’t mind my hand painted signs.  I couldn’t find any that size, so I just bought foam board and made those.hand painted road signs on foam board
hand painted crosswalk sign on foam board
This is what it looked like before we re-finished our basement.  It was a huge favorite with all the kids in the neighborhood.
basement renovation
Here is where the DIY comes in…  I needed to make the car look less like a bed and more like a play set AND make sure it could hold up to 5 little kids in there at a time.  So I removed the crib mattress made a super sturdy replacement.  The vinyl is from Joann Fabric, but I don’t see anything online exactly like it.
diy makeover
 vinyl covered plywood floor base
Cause how often do you get to use shiny glittery vinyl like this?  Right??
 diy makeover
 My happy customers!
Smart Girls DIY: happy kids playing in basement
 
What do you think?  Stay tuned for the arrival of the new carpet and the tree house bed.  Coming soon to a little boy’s room near you.  Well, maybe not near you.  Unless you live near me.
If you want to see how his room progressed, check out these posts:
New Carpet — Did the Demo Myself
New Carpet — I installed it myself!
Designing a Surf Shack Bed
Smart Girl

Filed Under: Home Decor Tagged With: basement, bedroom, kids

Previous Post: « Bird and Birch Stencil Wall Art
Next Post: New Carpet — Did the Demo Myself »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie @ Being Home says

    October 5, 2013 at 5:45 am

    This is cool! My little guys would have a blast playing “car” in the basement! Wow! Lady, are you making a tree house bed? And you want to install carpet. Liz, do you think you have an addiction to all things DIY? lol 😉 Well, if anyone is going to do it, I know YOU can. 🙂 K is getting new carpet in his room, but I am have the carpet people install it. I have too much on my plate to learn how to do that and have the tools.

    By the way, your little ones are too cute! 😀

    Reply
    • Smart Girl says

      October 15, 2013 at 7:31 pm

      I definitely have an addiction 😉

      Reply
  2. Cheryl says

    April 20, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    I have been looking for a bed like this. Do you know where I can find some. It’s for my Preschool. Please email me. Cherjam11505@aol.com
    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  3. Rach says

    December 5, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    Can you tell me what size you cut the plywood? Thanks!

    Reply
    • SmartGirl says

      December 6, 2018 at 3:13 pm

      To the size of the mattress. Or the opening. You should measure it because maybe it’s not the same as mine. Good luck.

      Reply
  4. Debbie Garrison says

    April 11, 2022 at 12:04 am

    Hello Smart Girl,
    I realize I am VERY LATE To this party, however, I recently snagged one of these fab beds for $20 on OfferUp YES! It was a diamond in the rough- but so Cute! It came with a Camo paint job that had definitely seen better times, but was still cool. After pressure washing, sanding some loose paint etc. I gave it a funky LoveBug Vibe and added flower decals. FYI, replacement decals for headlights, taillights, nose and license plates are available at Etsy at the Toy Restore for $20 for all. To the point. While I was looking up info on this bed (I’d never seen one before, and had to have it for my granddaughter). I came across this post and decided to copy your idea. However, you don’t really give any details as to how you actually did it. I zoomed in and see that your corners are really snug fitting, which I also want- so how did you get the board in? What thickness of foam did you use? Do you take the bed apart? Did you make a template with paper? I know you replied to someone that you just measured your mattress, but they can be different by inches and I want that clean, neat fit you achieved. People who may not be as adept as you probably could benefit from a step by step guide. I have my plywood, some Gorgeous Glittery Galaxy Purple vinyl and now I need a bit more details as to what kind and thickness of padding- closed cell foam? 1/2”? How to get the plywood into the bed, and how much allowance did you leave for the wrapping of the foam with the vinyl- I’m sorry this has turned into a novel, LOL. I’ve been working on this bed for over a month (First it took almost a month to get it from the seller, who was in some sort of life turmoil and not very communicative) and since it’s painted and de’caled (is that even a word?) I don’t want to ruin my paint job trying to shove it through the window did I mention I used about 25 cans of primer, paint, topcoat?!‍
    Thank-you, in advance for your help, and I hope you held onto the bed in the basement for your grandkids to enjoy one day☺️

    Thank-you,

    Debbie

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. New Carpet — I installed it myself! says:
    November 19, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    […] I already told you that I got rid of my son’s toddler bed (read post) and I want to build him a loft bed, but won’t do it until I get the carpet in his room […]

    Reply

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