Ikea Doll Bed Re-do

$105.95 vs. $20 + a few supplies * insert hands acting as an imaginary scale weighing the difference *

I considered… for about 1 minute… whether to buy the American Girl doll bed for Elle’s “My American Girl” ($105.95 not including the bedding) for Christmas or re-doing the Ikea doll bed ($20) that the doll fits in. Me and my pocket book are very happy with the outcome!

Before

After

Here’s what you’ll need:

The Ikea doll bed

Sand paper

Primer

spray paint

piece of MDF

Optional “stuff”:

12”x19” piece of 1” thick foam

Half yard soft cuddly fabric

Stuffing/batting/pollyfill (i.e. whatever you want to stuff the pillow with)

Vinyl decal of the dolls name

Scrap fabric for the sheet and quilt

• First things first… my 2 year old stepped through the flimsy piece of wood bottom that comes with the bed the first 2 minutes she played with it. So not in the “optional stuff” category for us, was a more substantial piece of wood to replace the bottom of the bed. I brought the broken piece into Home Depot and the helpful staff cut a piece of MDF the exact same size for me.

• Next, I sanded all sides of the bed frame. You don’t have to get too crazy on this step, but it does need to be sanded to rough it up a bit so the primer and paint will stick

• Paint a thin even coat of primer (I used an oil based primer in a spray can) on all sides of the frame and let dry

• Lightly sand any rough or “globby” spots

• Spray another thin even coat of primer if you got a little carried away with the step above. Let dry.

• Spray paint the entire frame with a thin even coat of the color of your choice and let dry

• Repeat the step above if you’re not in love with the results yet

You could call it a day there if you’d like, but I was pretty sure Elle would think Kathryn (the doll) required much more comfortable bed linens than come standard issue with the Ikea bed. So I made a mattress, pillow, sheet, and the beginnings of a quilt Elle and I will sew as her first official sewing project. So here’s where all that “optional stuff” comes in:

• I picked up the piece of foam at Jo-Anns and just cut it to 12” x 19” with a pair of scissors.

• From your cuddly fabric, sew a simple case for the foam mattress (I just left one short end open… like a pillowcase… and tucked it under the mattress)

• Sew a matching pillow and stuff with your choice of filling

• I hemmed a rectangle scrap of fabric and called it a sheet

• I cut a bunch of 4” squares to make a matching quilt. Elle is very much looking forward to working on this project with me! I had hoped we would get to it over her Christmas break but didn’t… so that’ll be a post for another day!

• For the finishing touch, I applied a vinyl decal Gifted Express made of the doll’s name to the headboard.

We had one happy 6 year old on Christmas morning!