Cut all 6 boards to size and then bevel the 4 posts at a 45° angle, on one end, making sure to keep the length of your original cut. You will be making 2 units here and you can drill your pocket holes in the bottom rails. Set your Pocket Hole Jig for 1 1/2″ material and attach your posts to your Rails using glue and 2 1/2″ Pocket Hole Screws. Your posts will sit with the longer edge on what will be the inside and the same side as your pocket holes.

** When you bevel, you are simply cutting your board at an angle with your board laying flat and your miter saw tilting 45° rather than being turned at a 45° angle as it would be when you miter.

Create your inner frame by cutting your boards to length and attaching them to your Head and Foot Rails. If you prefer for your slats to sit flush with the rails, secure the Center and Side Boards 3/4″ down from the top edge of the Head and Foot Rails and 1/4″ up from the bottom edge. Secure the Center and Side Boards in place using your Kreg Jig set for 1 1/2″ material and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws and glue. Attach the center board first for ease of securing with pocket hole screws and you can place the pocket holes on the outsides of the Side Boards since they won’t be seen.

Now you will attach the 3 units you have built by securing the Side Boards to the Bottom Rails with 2″ wood screws and glue. Use your countersink drill bit to pre-drill for screws that will sit flush with your boards. Since you will secure the Side Boards directly to the Bottom Rails, you can simply glue the Head and Foot Rails to the Side Boards if you wish, but there is no need to worry about securing these with screws or pocket holes to the Leg Units.

Fasten your slats in place using 1 1/4″ brad nails. If you don’t have a nail gun at your disposal, you can opt to use 1 1/4″ wood screws, just be sure to countersink them using your countersink drill bit to pre-drill, and then fasten your screws with a phillips head drill bit. The slats should fit perfectly with no spaces between them, but it would be wise to dry fit just to be sure!

The reason for this is so that you don’t have to move this bed to clean stuff that falls between the slats. It will save you a lot of hassle – promise.

Now for the fun part! This looks so much more complicated than it actually is – promise! Cut your boards to length and note that you will be creating 2 units for the pitch of your roof and that the 2 boards that form one unit are not the same length. One side is going to be 1 1/2″ longer than the other. Once you have them cut to length, bevel one end of each board at 45°. Be sure to keep the length as directed when you do this. Once you have beveled the end of each board, you will create your pitch by securing the straight cut end of one long and one short piece together. Please be sure to set the short piece to the inside edge of the longer piece as you see in the diagram.

Once you have your 2 roof units created, you can secure them to your posts using glue and 2″ wood screws, downward from the top edge of your bevel down into your posts. Be sure to countersink and pre-drill so your screws are flush.

**Note that these pieces will sit flat for beveling as well as when you secure them to create your pitch. The face of your roof boards should match that of your posts and both will have the face side of your board (the 2 1/2″ side) run the length of the bed (the longer sides) rather than the width (the shorter head and foot). This means that when you look at your bed from the side, your boards will appear slightly bigger than they do when you look at your bed from the head or foot, but all should match.

Secure the rails in place using 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws and glue. Cut your rails to length, noting that the top rails that run the between the 2 roof units are 2×2’s while the Upper Side Rails are 2×3’s. The 2×3’s will sit with the face of your boards (the 2 1/2″ side) facing outward. Place pocket holes for 1 1/2″ material on either end of one face of the 2×3’s and secure to the Posts and Roof Units from the inside of your bed. Note that the top edge of your Upper Rails will actually sit flush with the top edge of your roof board bevel. Place your pocket holes for 1 1/2″ material on either end of your 2×2 Pitch Rails and secure one aligned to the very top of the pitch of your roof with the pocket holes on the under side. The remaining rails can be placed about  8″ down from there on either side. The exact location of the lower two pitch rails isn’t critical, just make them level to each other. Place your pocket holes on the underside of your Pitch Rail so they aren’t visible.

This last step is optional, but pretty adorable. To create a chimney, you will simply cut all 3 pieces to length, and then bevel the legs at 45°. Secure all 3 pieces together using 2″ wood screws and glue and be sure your beveled edges face the same direction and note that this chimney unit will also sit with the face of your board (the 2 1/2″ side) sitting the same way your posts and your roof sit (along the sides) with the sides of your board (the 1 1/2″ side) facing the front and back.