Playhouse Loft Bed

Build two rail frames — one for the front wall, one for the back. Drill two pocket holes on both ends of every rail and end piece, then mark the top and bottom frame boards with 3" spacing between rails.

Use the ACTUAL board widths for this layout, not the nominal ones — a 1x3 is really 2-1/2" wide and a 1x2 is really 1-1/2" wide. Marking off the nominal sizes is the single most common way this lattice comes out uneven. Attach with glue and 1-1/4" pocket hole screws and set both frames aside.

Mark out the window and door locations on the front plywood panel, then use a jigsaw to carefully cut them out. Cut openings before any trim goes on — the trim is what finishes the raw plywood edge, so the order matters.

Attach the plywood and the rail frame to the front legs with 1-1/4" screws and glue, keeping the bottom and outside edges flush. Then attach the top front trim over the joint between the rail lattice and the plywood, overlapping it by about 1" — this hides the seam and is what makes the finished wall read as one panel instead of two parts screwed together.

Add the remaining front trim, door trim, and window trim the same way — 1-1/4" nails or screws and glue throughout. Fill the small gaps left at the tops of the legs with the top leg filler pieces.

Attach two legs to the back rail frame (one on each side), leaving 2" clear at the top of the legs and adjusting for square as you go. Attach the back base trim, then fill the remaining exposed gaps with the back leg filler trim pieces — glue and 1-1/4" fasteners throughout.

Build the side rail frame the same pocket-hole way as the front and back frames. Center the side plywood and the rail frame on the two end-wall legs and attach — pocket holes drilled from the plywood into the legs, and from the railing into the legs, work well here.

Add the end trim, overlapping the railing by 1" as you did on the front wall, then trim out the window. Building the window frame separately with a pocket-hole jig and tapping it on with finish nails and glue gives a cleaner result than fastening each piece in place one at a time.

Build this end wall the same way as the other end — rail frame, plywood (with its window opening cut first), legs, and trim.

Then add the one extra structural piece this wall needs and the others don't: run the 1x2 ladder rail support along the FULL inside length of the top rail, flush with the rail's end, and attach with 1-1/4" screws and glue. A ladder's top rail takes years of a kid's whole body weight pulling on it, and without this backing it eventually works loose.

Add the trim, overlapping the railing by 1" to hold it in place, then add the ladder spacer — the spot the ladder will secure to next.

Build the ladder from the 2x2 sides and 1x2 rungs, using 2" screws and glue. Space the rungs about 7" apart, leaving a bit less room near the top. Ease every rung's edges with the sander before it ever meets bare feet.

Attach the ladder to the ladder-end wall from the back side, then stand and join all four wall panels together. This bed is designed so the four legs meeting at each corner read as one solid post once assembled.

Use 2" screws from the inside at every wall-to-wall joint and leave the glue OFF here — that's what lets the whole bed come apart again if it ever needs to move through a door it wasn't built in. Check and adjust the whole assembly for square before moving on. Climb the finished ladder yourself before any kid does.

Screw the two 2x2 cleats to the inside faces of the long rails, low enough that the mattress will sit at the height you want. Lay the slats on top of the cleats and screw down — leave the glue off here too, so the slats lift out if you ever need to.

Space and count the slats per your mattress manufacturer's recommendation. Fill any visible fastener holes, sand the whole structure, and finish before a mattress goes anywhere near it.