I Built A Futuristic Loft Bed For My Kids

All right, come on in. >> Yo! Yo, what? That's actually so cool. >> This is my 10-year-old son, Beckham. And Beckham loves two things: rocket ships and gaming. Well, today we're going to build him the most futuristic bed that's out of this world. Let's get started. So, this is not a whole lot of space. The first thing we need to do is get ourselves a blank canvas. Let's get rid of this bunk bed. Well, we got ourselves a blank canvas, which is great when it comes to building something new. However, we came up with a slow start with that stupid bed, and all the nuts and bolts had to be taken off in order to take it apart. Well, that's a Wayfair bunk bed for you. >> You're looking to sell this thing, right? >> I Yeah, but now it's like, how do you convince somebody to buy it when there's so many damn pieces? >> W- lightly used? >> Slightly used, yeah. Um >> [music] >> hopes and dreams. Good luck. Well, you can trust one thing for sure, your kids will try to sneak snacks into their beds when they shouldn't be. >> [music] >> I mean, to be honest with you, you can't get mad cuz I'd be probably doing the same thing if I was 10 years old >> [snorts and music] >> and mom and dad said, "No candy in bed." That's a part of my life I'll never get back. All right, so here's what I'm thinking. We're going to have a loft bed on top here, get some cool little intricate patterns and designs. Uh this part was going to be floating, and then down below we're going to use this wall there. We're going to have like a TV there, a nice wrap-around desk right there. I want to keep this part open so you can walk in from here, but we're going to need to suspend like a post there connected to our rafters to keep it flowing. This part was going to be reinforced there. And [snorts] then what I want to do is I want to have to kind of create that spacecraft kind of look. I want some backlighting, right? So, I want some stuff to stick out more. I want LED strips inside these contours. So, they're kind of putting out light. Basically, anything that has these weird patterns and shapes of like cabinets, they're all going to have backlighting on it. Essentially, it's like the inspiration I'm getting is the movie Tron where everything has all these like white etchings. I think that's going to create a such a cool space for a 10-year-old kid that, let's be honest, even a 37-year-old kid like me would probably enjoy being in. I'll put a war cry on our private community called the Builders Lodge for ideas, things I need to incorporate in this bed and I got some really good ideas from all of you there and I can't wait to start executing them. First things we're going to do is start working on the top sleeping platform, get all that reinforced, and uh it'll at least at that point give us a good structural bones to work off of. Of course the battery's dead. Why wouldn't it be dead? We'll do it old school. Find the stud, measure 16 out, and hopefully that'll be a good place. Here's the game plan. This is just a little brace. I'm going to pick this up on my own, sit it on top, carefully come in, put some screws in, and then use this extra 2 by 4 as a brace, which will allow for me to figure out how I'm going to construct the sides of it. I have some ideas. They're pretty good. >> Let's make sure we still have plenty of room for door access. Good. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Uh it's a lot higher than I thought it would be actually. 35 >> What are you doing down there? >> Well, I'm looking at the top bunk, the loft part, and it looks a little small to be honest with you, but it's deceiving. So, I'm 6-ft-2, so if I was to sit up in bed, I want to see how much head space there is. So, for a 10-year-old kid, it'll be perfectly fine. So, yeah. I mean, part of me kind of wants to lower it maybe an extra inch or two cuz this is this is sufficient. That, not so much so far. >> [snorts] >> You might be wondering what the hell am I doing? So, that side is going to have a wall. This is not Obviously, the brace is not going to be there. This is going to be a weak spot in the bed. It's going to sag. It's not safe at all. So, what I'm going to do is secure this part not with a post below. I want this open. Put two of our rafters. So, I found my rafter going this way. I have to move this over by, I don't know, looks like about 5 6 in, and then I'll be able to cut into it, slide my 2 by 4 in, and secure it from here. So, this will be supported on that, and that will be supported on a wall, and nobody's going to get hurt. Not on my clock. >> It's crazy how building a bed is quickly turning into like framing a house. We got a wall right here. Not quite 16 on center, but we don't need it to be that over built. Going to cut into the trim baseboard, and this should fit snug as a bug on a rug. 67 and 1/2. I built this at 68. [music] I'm half an inch too big, and I don't have a whole lot of wiggle room. And these are nails. They're not screws. It's not like I can just [music] pop it off without wasting the material. I hate this. Well, there's attic access and there's no freaking way I'm going to get my butt all the way through this. This looks like it's 10 no more than 10 in wide with this cabinet. Uh Good thing I've been not eating like an absolute pig. Maybe I could do like a snake action, but with my [snorts] luck I'm going to get stuck. But I need to get up there to secure that hangover to that rafter that we just cut into. I mean, I could just cut the drywall out here, but I don't want to repair drywall after this. Yeah, there's no way. There's absolutely no way. I'm getting stuck up there. The good news is I have another access just a little bit longer. But let me go jump up there. Get it secured. And uh go from there. Well, I found a safe passage. Well, I wouldn't call it that safe. Uh my uh flashlight fell down the stairs and the whole thing. >> [snorts] >> But we made it up here. Really sketchy. A lot of climbing. I had to grab all these rafters and go up. But I think from here on we'll be able to find where we need to secure that rafter. Here, I'll switch cameras so you can come up here. All right, so let me show where we came from. Down there, way down there, you can see the light flickering. Or up. >> [snorts] >> That's where my ladder is. And then I had to climb that section below to get up here. And now we got to go way down there. Hopefully we can find our 2x uh rafter and secure uh floating bed to it. Check in here in a second. Wish me luck. Good news, folks. We found our stud sticking out right over here. Going to put two solid lags in there. >> [snorts] >> And I try to safely get out of here before the ghost get me. Everything always looks so much creepier just with the light like this and then the attic. Are you afraid of the dark? It worked. I couldn't be more excited. I will be honest with you. As I was up there, first of all, this whole project, I was not really focused. I didn't know how to solve certain parts of the equation. Really, I started understanding that sometimes you have to start working on a project before you kind of get all the answers. Like, you can't just prep everything ahead of time and and expect everything. Just get started and solutions come. That's one. And second thing is one of the things that I found that really kind of keeps my motivation up is if there's parts of the project you dread and you kind of set aside time to figure out that problem and then solve it, that day, I won. I won mentally. It could be a prize, it could be whatever. I'm just happy. I solved that problem for myself. That took a little bit of anxiety off of me. And this right here is a testament to that. Couldn't be happier. Let's start putting some joist right here across here, putting some subflooring on top, so this part could be ready for the bedding. For the mattress, the original plan was to run 2 by 6s across, then put subflooring on top, and that sucker is basically a stage. It's so strong. However, by the time we put subflooring and then a mattress, there's just not a whole lot of room for the kid to sit up in bed. So, what we're going to do is just put these 2 by 2s around the perimeter, maybe a of reinforcing pieces, and then subflooring in here. So, we'll have enough of uh I don't know, a drop-down if you will. And then we're going to cover from the bottom. So, I I'm pretty sure it's going to be pretty strong, especially for a kid who's 10 years old. And I'm sure he'll be 16. And we'll still use that bed. But, that's the plan so far. I'm reminded of that song. You know that song where it goes, "You can't always get what you want." And the reason I'm reminded of the song is I have this vision here. There's so many elements that I want to put in, but I can't base off the space. So, I have to consider the closet door opening, so there's enough space. I have to consider this walkway space. But, here's the problem I'm trying to figure out is I need, again, like a nice transition here to kind of create a little bit of abstract look to give it that spacecrafty vibe. So, ideally what I'd like to do is run like a a thing that bumps out like this, and then an angle, and then another angle, and then slant down, and then run LEDs right in the middle of it, right? Like Tron kind of idea. Which will make a great transition for the desk. But, I can't do that because the board would run this way. That's easy to move, that's not a problem. But, then I have these light switches here, which they don't have a lot of slack to move them. So, here's what I've come up with, a nice compromise, cuz I can't get what I want always. I think what I'm going to do is just bump it out to the side here. I don't have any trim here, which is perfect. And I'll just run it off the butt end of this. It'll bump out maybe 4 in. It'll slant down to the length of the desk, and then do another slant and a little kind of configuration that I needs to do. I think that'll look really freaking cool. It's a good compromise. And [music] if we know anything about a relationship is you got to compromise. This is This is the kind of planning I do. I just visualize it. You heard of redneck ingenuity. This is idiot ingenuity. 19 in. Ah. Okay, you can get to that light. I don't know, I'm getting carried away with this whole design idea, but you can't access this with this being in the way. I got to chop this down, bring it up to here and then configure something. It'll be fun, but this is This blows, man. I was really excited how all of this come together. I'm just doing some research and development for where to put the electrical. So, up here, I want to put an outlet here just for the kid to charge his cell phone once he gets one or maybe he's on his iPad and we said you could stay up, you know, an extra 30 minutes. I want to put a little sconce light here because he can't reach turn on the light. He'll be able to flip a light here and then have like a reading light if you will, like a a nightstand, right? Now, if we make our way down below, the idea here is I'm going to have a desk here, probably a wrap-around desk. I'm going to put that TV or a TV in here uh so you can game and all that stuff. Flip over here, this could be his like little writing desk, maybe he's trying to build something. But, I will have an outlet here in case he needs to put something or maybe even below. And I'll need a switch here, and the switch is going to operate all the LEDs. Uh so, we're going to borrow power from this outlet and then we're going to run uh electrical wire for all the uh LEDs to come out through all the different spots. >> [snorts] >> That way you can come in here, flip, all the accent lights turn on, turn it off when you're done gaming, go up to your bed, turn on the light, stay up a little bit, charge your iPad, your phone. That was weird. And uh get to bed. >> Mhm. Of course. >> [snorts] >> through all of these walls in this house. It First of all, it's fantastic home because every wall all interior walls, including this one, are insulated, [music] which is great for efficiency, but really really sucks when it comes to feeding wire just cuz this insulation makes it a lot more difficult than having a hollow wall. But, it also helps with soundproofing, right? So, it's [snorts] if you're loud in here, it's not loud [music] downstairs. It's a trade-off, I guess. If you're brand new to like building stuff, and you're putting the electrical, this is called uh an old work electrical box. And so is this. And the way they work is when the drywall's already been finished, meaning like you didn't buy a brand new home, uh you create a hole, you puncture that in, and then you use a screwdriver or drill, screw those in, and these flaps open up. They do the same thing here. On a new work box, that's a brand new construction, studs are exposed, you nail the box in, and then you cover with drywall. So, in case you're like, "What the heck are you doing? I'm new to this. I just bought my home. What What should I do?" That's what it means. >> What are you doing? >> [laughter] >> I am building a house within a house. >> Uh Was the first house not enough? >> Well, you know how uh we need some extra time alone? I decided if I build our kids their own houses, we can get that special time together again. >> You think they're going to stay in their houses? >> I hope. >> [laughter] >> That way they don't have to move out. They can just, you know, we can say, "Go to your your own home." >> Go to your own house. Goodbye. >> So, what are you thinking? >> This is cool. What do you What's the plan? >> Well, it's a bunk bed like I told you earlier. Uh that's not a huge surprise. But, you know how Beckham loves like spaceships and science and all gaming also, like any kid does, though. I figured I can I combine everything together to build them a bunk bed that's a loft bed. >> What are you doing at the bottom? Desk? >> the desk part. So, I figured we put I built like [snorts] a wrap-around desk here, cabinet underneath there, mount the TV underneath here so he can game and do his thing. >> Um but I figured like to make it really cool and unique to him where Imagine like Tron. You know how Tron everything is like lit up white? I want to do the same thing here. So, it's kind of a little bit abstract here, right? So, we'd have LEDs running this way. We would have this like abstract little design there that everything would be inlaid with LEDs. And everything would >> That's all he's ever wanted is like 1 million LED lights in his room. >> He's obsessed. He keeps stealing LED lights from everywhere and then installs it in his >> Well, no. He'll tape it. He'll like tape it on his walls. Yeah, did you see that on the bunk bed? >> Oh, my gosh. >> The old one? Yeah. >> He taped LEDs here that are battery packed. I found Oh, look. There's some tape right here. >> Oh, see? Yeah. >> [laughter] >> So, we figured like why does it Why does it make it really cool for him? So, we'll have like a switch here that everything will turn on. And then I don't know what I'm going to do with the staircase, but it's going to be here. He'll climb up. >> Mhm. >> And then I have a little sconce light for him there. So, >> do like a like a rock climbing wall or something cuz you know Beckham. He won't ever just climb the stairs. He's going to jump up the stairs. >> Now, imagine this. You have a 10-year-old kid. It's at midnight. He stayed up too late [music] downstairs, falls asleep on the couch, and you go, "Buddy, go to bed." >> up. >> And you imagine a sleepy kid is trying to like rock [laughter] climb Alex Honnold, the free solo guy, trying to climb into his bed. >> You know, he should do No, make it a challenge. Just no no ladder at all. >> No ladder. >> [laughter] >> He'll just sleep on the floor. >> I know he will. >> But I'm going to put a sconce light right there, so it's like a reading light. >> Yeah. >> And then he's He's going to have a an outlet for his like iPad. In case he's in bed. >> No, he's not allowed to have his iPad in bed. >> Well, but I'm also thinking imagine he gets older and he has like a cell phone, right? If he's like, you know, 16 years old up there and he needs to charge his phone, he's not going to leave it down here. He needs like a nightstand thing. >> Mhm. >> So, I'm just kind of thinking >> going to leave his phone down there. >> throwing it up there. Uh that way he can turn off the lights here, run up there, turn on the lights there, and vice versa. >> I mean, regardless, it's nice to have an outlet, but they're not allowed to have their phones in their room. >> Yeah, but what about a like a nightstand? >> Yeah. Well, this this is his nightstand. >> No, Jack has a nightstand and his phone's reachable. >> True. >> What if you took your phone and put it into the bed into like the bathroom? >> People do that. People have been doing that. With the the EMF >> Uh the lunatics that think that AirPods are killing and rotting their brains. >> They all the >> I mean, probably is. We won't know for like 50 years, but >> Yeah. Yeah. So, all these people charging their phones in the bathrooms. >> Good on you. >> be onto something. >> Yeah. Well, that's the plan. Um I don't know how I'm going to accomplish a lot of these LEDs and stuff, but that's tomorrow's problem. >> I don't even know how I'm going to build this thing. You're asking me about colors? >> Well, I need to know in advance. >> We'll figure out this stuff. >> Well, you need to ask Beckham, cuz this is all you guys's uh >> It's going to be dark and moody, like a spaceship, right? So, whatever darker color >> Yeah. I feel like this is all you guys. There's no You don't need me for anything. >> Let's be honest, 90% of the projects are always always me. Except for the color that I need to glance at you. >> actually help you, but I really don't. >> The way By the way, here's some like full curtain pull behind the scenes stuff. The way we operate is I'll design something and then the moment, the day of I need to paint something, I'll be like, "I need a paint color from you before >> It's very stressful because I'm like, "Ah, I don't know. Like, I need to sit down and like figure out what color." And he's like, "No, I need it by 12:00 p.m. today." [music] I'm like, >> What? You You need to have to pray about it? >> happened with Harper's bed. But, you know what? I did awesome. I know. I work well under pressure, I guess. >> Everything works out at the end of the day. All right. I'm going to get back to it. Today's electrical, tomorrow's cover-up. And if we're going to cover anything up, I need to get >> Didn't you just start this yesterday? >> Yeah, I know. I'm pretty amazing, aren't I? I'm going to die early. Like heart attack, stroke, something like that. >> But you'll die >> the ride while I'm here, folks. >> But you'll die ripped. >> [laughter] >> Maybe I'm fine. Maybe that's the whole thing is I'm billing everybody like a cool thing in memory of me when I >> of dad. >> All right. >> Is Jack next? >> This is going to hurt me one day. I already know it. All right, I got to finish this off. >> Okay. >> [snorts] >> Is that a Zen can in your by your knee? >> It looks like it, doesn't it? No, your boy's been…