Introducing the IKEA "Fjelldal " Loft Bed

I wish I had pictures to share of the Eight-Hour Adventure of assembling this bed, but alas, whipping out the camera just never seemed prudent. The whole thing went surprisingly smoothly, but any time you have 1500 pieces of wood, 12, 000 screws, directions in Swedish and two children helping...you can just expect a few tense moments. Will was beyond excited and--as he normally does when he is awake beyond excited-- chattered almost incessantly. "I've never had a bed with a ladder before. Can I put the ladder together? Well, when it's time, can I put the ladder together? This is going to be so cool, it's going to change the whole look of my room. Is it time for the ladder yet? Oh, okay, just let me know." All. Day. Long. Fortunately, Scott finds that level of noise excitement endearing rather than annoying.

One thing he thought was perhaps less than endearing was that I bought the bed without actually measuring anything. In my world, a full-sized bed has the same measurements whether it's on the floor or elevated on a loft dealie. My only concern was that the bed took up 85% of the floor space in the room and elevating the bed would solve that problem. I was technically correct on both points, but I failed to consider the height of the ceiling or the proximity of the ceiling fan. Or the challenge of getting the mattress onto the loft without taking out said ceiling fan.

But it will all work out, and one little man is so happy that he still hasn't stopped talking about the many, many positive aspects of his new loft bed, not the least of which is that the available playspace in his room just doubled.