Don (my sweet little 2.5 year old) got a big boy bed! He still sleeps well in his crib and hasn’t jumped out since he was 9 months old- which gave up both a heart attack. But I still decided to get him a big boy bed so we could start the transition. Plus, we are going to rent our house furnished while we move to Florida, so I wanted more bed options.
I looked over our local online classifieds and found the cutest vintage wood headboard and footboard for $20!!! Pro tip- use the term “wood” when searching online for furniture. It yields better results. My favorite part of the bed are the beautiful lines of the headboard, but not the orange wood color. So I did what any DIY’er would and sanded it and painted it! 
I used the mint paint that’s on Don’s crib- Sea Glass by Martha Stewart from Home Depot. Since Martha Stewart paint is now discontinued, I had it mixed with Glidden paint.
My biggest predicament with this bed is that it doesn’t have side rails. I could have bought bed claws for $30 and made my own side rails, and added a box spring, but that seemed like a lot of work and money. So I looked on Amazon and found a box spring that I could attach right to the headboard with two screws for $50!
It was super easy to do and eliminated the need for side rails! The downside is that it didn’t work perfectly with the foot board and we need to alter it a bit to get it on. The box springs fold and don’t make any noise- I am really happy with this purchase!
For the mattress, I used a Washabelle twin mattress. Its really cool because the top cover and padding comes off so you can completely wash and dry it! Don is still potty training, so its a really nice feature. Honestly, I wish the cover on my mattress came off #slob 😉
I threw on some sheets, a bed skirt, and a quilt we already had and I decided we were good to go! I spent $20 for the bed, $50 for the box spring, and $20 for bedding. It was a very affordable project!
Speaking of affordable, I made this zebra head out of paper mache and it cost me $2 in supplies! I’ll do a full tutorial for how to make it shortly! Update- zebra head tutorial can be found here!
Don LOVES his big boy bed! Right now he still sleeps in his crib, but we use the twin bed for reading stories. Also, when Don needs a break, he’ll go and lay on it and read some stories or watch a show. Its been nice to have a place of his own where he can have his own space.
I am SO happy with how his room came together. I love how the blue paint looks on the vintage headboard.
Anyway, if you are looking for an affordable way to add a bed to your home, hopefully this gave you some good inspiration. Oh, and if you have any tips for transitioning a toddler to a crib, I’m all ears!
Sources- Bed (vintage) / Mattress / Box Springs / Bed Skirt / Sheets / Dog Stuffed Animal / wallpaper- no longer available. This is similar / house bookcase tutorial
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
[…] I was working on Don’s big boy bed, I wanted something fun and whimsical for over his bed. I also had the goal for making it […]