This DIY IKEA bed is a genius solution for small box bedrooms

As someone who spent their childhood in a box room, I know first-hand the difficulties of creating a child-friendly room complete with storage. (I'm still waiting on that bunk bed with a slide that Mum said wouldn't fit in my room.)

I was blown away by this colourful DIY IKEA bed with storage – and hideout!

Related: Find out how a Mum created this stunning feature wall for just £3.50

Crafty parent duo, Kelly Rolls and Daniel Birch created this DIY IKEA bed with storage for their daughter’s small box bedroom, after they struggled to find something similar on a budget.

‘Extra small beds with storage underneath that looked nice were coming in around £400 to £500, some without even a mattress,’ says Kelly Rolls.

The mum from Romford, Essex, posted the bed in the Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK. The post clocked up 7.1K likes and 1K comments including:

‘Well done, it looks superb’

‘I need to do this for my son! His room is too small and they’re too expensive really…never thought of building one. Amazing.’

How to make a DIY IKEA bed with storage

‘I had seen some similar projects like this on Pinterest and my partner thought he would give it a go,’ explains Kelly.

The base of the bed was created using two IKEA Kallax shelves which come in at £25 each and  batten used to fix them to the wall. To finish off the base the pair used an MDF base which they made cuts in for airflow.

DRÖNA boxes in different colours, costing £3 each were slotted into the shelves to create colourful drawers for their daughter to store clothes and toys.

So that there daughter’s little legs could reach the platform bed, Daniel created a ladder out of a steel wardrobe-hanging rail and some spare wood. The ladder was attached to a rail so it can be moved back and forth to access all the storage.

To add a little something special to the bed, the pair created a gorgeous rainbow over it using some tester pots of paint and frog tape they picked up for £12 altogether. ‘Our daughter loves rainbows hence the design,’ Kelly explains.

‘The rainbow wall stickers we had seen were coming in about £60. Daniel is very talented and saved us a lot of money doing it himself,’ she adds.

The bed was finished off with a mattress the pair picked up in a sale and rainbow bedding from Dunelm. The couple also included a bed guard so they wouldn’t have to worry about their daughter tumbling out in the night, and  fairy lights under the bed to create a little hideout.

‘Our daughter is extremely happy. The only downside is our other daughter wants a new bedroom now too,’ Kelly says.

Related: 8 super simple DIY hacks for your child’s bedroom

The whole project came to £160. Will you be giving this IKEA hack a go?

If you do we'd love to see the results.