Just about 6 years ago, in preparation for Simon’s arrival later that winter, we renovated one of the upstairs bedrooms for Nora. Of course, as a 2-year-old, she wanted pink, pink, and more pink… but I wanted patriotic colors to fit with the rest of our house.
I found a happy compromise on Craigslist… a comforter I considered to be a “girly version” of patriotic colors, with lots of pink — and the price was right at $25 for the set!
We both LOVED this comforter!
It’s thin enough to be easily washable but thick enough to keep her plenty warm with just a sheet and thin blanket. Plus, it’s reversible, so we can change it up depending on what we want the room to look like — red, light blue, and pink stripes on one side, plain pink stripes on the other.
And yes, the 2 pictures above are of the same comforter!
Just over 2 years ago, we renovated another bedroom upstairs, which Nora moved into right before Clara was born.
Her request was for a “loft bed”, so we sold her double bed frame and purchase a bunkbed frame. We left the bottom bunk off in order to create a loft-like bed with cozy doll nook below.
Since we both REALLY liked her current double-bed-sized comforter, we decided to make it into TWO bunk-bed-sized comforters.
Initially, we didn’t use the second comforter as we only had one of the bunk beds set up, but after our most recent bedroom renovation (just this past summer) we now have both bunk beds set up with matching comforters and pillow shams… it looks so cute (in my opinion)!
How Did I Do It?
I literally just measured the halfway point on the comforter and cut it all the way across.
Then I turned the raw edge over and sewed one straight stitch on each of the 2 new comforters.
It doesn’t look fancy. It doesn’t look professional. It doesn’t even match the other 3 sides (all of which have red piping around them).
BUT, it took me less than 15 minutes, it didn’t cost a dime, and it was the perfect solution for our new bunk beds!
One Tip:
If you want to make a comforter for twin beds that are NOT bunk beds, you’ll want to use a king-size comforter so the twin comforters will hang over the sides a bit.
However, for our bunk bed needs, the full-size bedding was the ideal size as it does NOT hang over the edges so it doesn’t need to be tucked in.
This means it’s extremely easy for Nora to make her bed!
I’d say that after 6 years and countless bedroom “moves”, we’ve definitely gotten our $25 investment back from this Craigslist comforter!
Emilie says
What are the dimensions of the quilts after splitting it?
Andrea says
The dimensions would simply be HALF of whatever you start with.
I used a fairly “traditional double comforter and cut it half they cover a twin size mattress perfectly without draping down over the side.
Barbara says
I am going to do this with a full size comforter I have. This is for bunkbeds used when my grandkids come and stay. Don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars but want it to look nice and be functional.
Thank you!
Andrea says
yup — it works wonderful and is the PERFECT size for 2 bunk beds (without hanging over the edge). We’re still using ours all these years later!
Janice says
These are so cute! Have you ever seen Beddys? We just got some for our bunk beds and they are really easy for kids to make.
Andrea says
Thanks Janice,
And yes, I’ve seen Beddys — but as I recall, they are quite expensive. They are cute, but for now, I’ll go with our freebie option 🙂
Molly says
You’ve inspired me. My daughter is 5 and has a loft bed. She also has a king-sized purple blanket that she absolutely loves. She’s been using it since she was one or two. A king sized blanket does NOT fit in a single loft bed. Every night there are lots of requests to “remove the blobs” and I actually told her she couldn’t use it other than the coldest winter months anymore. It’s been packed away since about March. She thinks of it, or catches a glimpse of it, once in a while and begs me to let her use it.
I think I know what I need to do now. I’m a little worried she’ll cry that it’s cut and smaller, but I’m hoping she’ll be happier that she can use it year round again.
Andrea says
definitely give it a try. As a bonus, you’ll always have a backup blanket in case something happens to her (or if you need to wash it).
One note, a king-size blanket is significantly larger than a full-size comforter — you might want to actually measure your daughter’s bed and size the blanket accordingly
Veronica says
This is such a great idea and solution to making a bunk bed, which can be tricky! The bunk bed comforters I have my eyes on are out of our budget, so I love this! Thank you!
Andrea says
yes, there are several VERY PRICY bunk bed comforters — I just couldn’t bring myself to fork over the money for them when we made ours for free! 🙂
Bonnie'sMama says
Yesterday I asked my son to cut some pool noodles in half for a multiplication tables project. He bustled around with a tape measure and a carpenter’s square and wanted to get some kind of saw or knife.
I showed him that you can bend the noodle in half and cut it in two whacks with a scissors.
And then unexpected words of mom wisdom crossed my lips, “Usually the simplest way is best.”
You could have shopped for then tediously added the red piping on those two sides of the comforter, but this way was simple and this way was DONE.
And DONE is a good thing.
So you’re inspiring me today to find something around here that needs a quick, simpler solution instead of a complicated solution which has been put off.
Andrea says
haha — great story!
DONE is definitely better than “perfect” — I believe I have a blog post with that exact same title!
JJ says
Wow!!! You’re very ingenuitive!!!
Andrea says
haha thanks! Or just really frugal 🙂