This will be a long review / but if you buy this product I hope this is helpful.
I am a somewhat crafty but otherwise unskilled mom in terms of handyman stuff. I put this bed together in a couple hours with some help from my 8 year old son, who is awesome at lego instructions, so he was super helpful.
Mine came with instructions / some people found better ones online but I couldnt so I made do. Here are some tips:
1. Pull out everything in the box and inventory the contents. You will likely find that some things are funky, like: some wooden parts have no label. If you pair everything up (all the bed legs, all the slats, etc) you will quickly see what is what. Some of the hardware is mislabeled / the 10 screws are not marked but are in the package with the ladder brackets. The 17 screws are actually 16 and are referred to interchangeably in the instructions.
2. If you use a drill, you will prob strip the cheap hardware and youll be screwed. No pun intended. Chuck the crappy Allen wrench provided / it is the little tool in the pic / and use the tool I have pictured here. MUCH easier for all those hex bolts and you will not strip them. Sorry / I think its called a socket wrench. But not sure.
3. For each page of instructions, line everything up first and put the wooden dowels in. Put the screws in last, and to be super safe, leave them all a little loose, tightening once they are all in place. This is especially important when you get to page 6, when the picture shows everything coming together at once, and if you do it one piece at a time, you will not be able to pull the bed legs apart enough to get the supporting crossbars in. I hope that makes sense. Also / on that page, it doesnt tell you to put the short cross bars (labeled D) in at head and foot / but be sure to do that with dowels first, as I said, or you wont be able to squeeze them in. I had to saw the ends off a couple dowels to make this work and that will compromise the stability and the weight/bearing of the structure.
4. On that same page (page 6), the screw labeled 5 is actually screw 2. At the bottom, the pieces labeled P and O should be switched, since the pilot holes for the dowels (the pre/drilled holes) are supposed to face in.
5. In my opinion, there should be two more slats where the mattress lies. They only give you 8 (part 15) but this leaves gaps at head and foot, and a soft mattress will dip down at those places. You could buy two more pieces of wood, but we elected to get plywood and place it on the slats so the mattress will lie flat and the weight will be distributed evenly.
Overall, this bed is really pretty and I think it is a great deal for the price. Once I got going, it was fun to assemble. There is plenty of room underneath for a dresser or desk, or play area. I did not attach the ladder so I will be able to switch it from side to side. It comes with soft felt for the inside of the brackets, but it makes small marks when you use it anyway / no big deal.
I hope this was helpful to someone out there! Happy constructing!! LOVE LOVE LOVE
You can do this! Just be patient.
This will be a long review / but if you buy this product I hope this is helpful. I am a somewhat crafty but otherwise unskilled mom in terms of handyman stuff. I put this bed together in a couple hours with some help from my 8 year old son, who is awesome at lego instructions, so he was super helpful. Mine came with instructions / some people found better ones online but I couldnt so I made do. Here are some tips: 1. Pull out everything in the box and inventory the contents. You will likely find that some things are funky, like: some wooden parts have no label. If you pair everything up (all the bed legs, all the slats, etc) you will quickly see what is what. Some of the hardware is mislabeled / the 10 screws are not marked but are in the package with the ladder brackets. The 17 screws are actually 16 and are referred to interchangeably in the instructions. 2. If you use a drill, you will prob strip the cheap hardware and youll be screwed. No pun intended. Chuck the crappy Allen wrench provided / it is the little tool in the pic / and use the tool I have pictured here. MUCH easier for all those hex bolts and you will not strip them. Sorry / I think its called a socket wrench. But not sure. 3. For each page of instructions, line everything up first and put the wooden dowels in. Put the screws in last, and to be super safe, leave them all a little loose, tightening once they are all in place. This is especially important when you get to page 6, when the picture shows everything coming together at once, and if you do it one piece at a time, you will not be able to pull the bed legs apart enough to get the supporting crossbars in. I hope that makes sense. Also / on that page, it doesnt tell you to put the short cross bars (labeled D) in at head and foot / but be sure to do that with dowels first, as I said, or you wont be able to squeeze them in. I had to saw the ends off a couple dowels to make this work and that will compromise the stability and the weight/bearing of the structure. 4. On that same page (page 6), the screw labeled 5 is actually screw 2. At the bottom, the pieces labeled P and O should be switched, since the pilot holes for the dowels (the pre/drilled holes) are supposed to face in. 5. In my opinion, there should be two more slats where the mattress lies. They only give you 8 (part 15) but this leaves gaps at head and foot, and a soft mattress will dip down at those places. You could buy two more pieces of wood, but we elected to get plywood and place it on the slats so the mattress will lie flat and the weight will be distributed evenly. Overall, this bed is really pretty and I think it is a great deal for the price. Once I got going, it was fun to assemble. There is plenty of room underneath for a dresser or desk, or play area. I did not attach the ladder so I will be able to switch it from side to side. It comes with soft felt for the inside of the brackets, but it makes small marks when you use it anyway / no big deal. I hope this was helpful to someone out there! Happy constructing!! LOVE LOVE LOVE