Looking to transform your child’s loft bed into a magical hideaway? Skip the expensive store-bought tents and create your own with this fun and easy DIY project! This no-sew loft bed tent, perfect for bunk beds as well, is a breeze to make and uses simple and inexpensive materials.

We purchased my youngest daughter a new loft bed a few weeks ago.  The bed is solid wood and is the perfect height for her. I loved the loft bed tent that you could purchase to go underneath it, but I wasn’t a fan of the $89 price tag.  Once we got the bed set up, I thought more and more about how much she would enjoy that fun little tent.  After taking a peek at the tent once again, I said to myself, “I could make that!”  And felt and hot glue would make it even easier to do so!  Take a peek at the no-sew loft bed tent I made:

No Sew Loft Bed Tent Tutorial

 

UPDATE: Lots of people have emailed me asking where I got the bed – it is the Popsicle Mid-Loft Sleeper and I bought mine through O.co (AWESOME customer service at that site!).  I had a promo code and it was free shipping, so it was the best deal on the bed I could find, but you can find it all over online.  There is even a version with a slide which we did end up purchasing later.  I do want to mention that the first bed we received was missing the headboard and the footboard, and four of the pieces (I think it was the four bottom legs) didn’t have holes on one side.  O.co was amazing and shipped us a new bed OVERNIGHT and paid for the old bed to be shipped back.  The second bed came in and there were no issues.

How to Make a DIY Bed Tent

SUPPLIES:
3 different colors of Felt from the bolt (the amount depends on the measurements of the bed)
Several sheets of colored felt
Hot Glue Gun & Lots of Glue Sticks
Clear Plastic Sheeting/Vinyl (optional)
Ribbon
Velcro
Scissors
DIRECTIONS:
Measure the length of the bed. Our loft bed was approximately 73″ wide and 29″ high.
Now that you have the measurements, head to the fabric store to purchase the felt from the bolt. I purchased 2.5 yards of blue felt that was 70″ wide, a half yard of pink, and a half yard of white.  All the felt, glue sticks and clear vinyl came to under $20. We love an affordable DIY!
No Sew Loft Bed Tent Tutorial

Crafting the Play Tent

With your materials gathered, it’s time to unleash your creativity! Here’s a general guide to get you started:

We now have our measurements and materials for the tent’s main panels. Using your fabric scissors, cut a large rectangle following the dimensions you noted earlier (73″ x 29″ in this case).

Here’s a handy tip: to create a more substantial and sturdier tent, double up on the felt!

Cut another identical rectangle and use your hot glue gun to carefully adhere the two pieces together along the edges – don’t forget to include the window and door seams for a complete enclosure. This will give your child’s hideaway extra durability and allow it to hang better.

Loft Bed Tent - Step 1
Using tape, tack the tent up under the bed and figure out where to place the door – make a rough cut.  Do the same for the window.

Let’s just say there’s a reason for the, ahem, “unique” window shape and slice in the door in the photo above. In a moment of forgetfulness (thanks Mom brain!), I left the scissors within reach of my resident two-and-a-half-year-old interior decorator. Apparently, she wasn’t a fan of the standard door and window dimensions and decided to implement some “improvements” of her own. While this did add an unexpected design element, it also meant the door construction required some on-the-fly adjustments. We’ll tackle those in a bit, but for now, this serves as a friendly reminder: toddlers and scissors don’t mix! I’m just glad she didn’t get injured.

Now it’s time to add some definition to our windows! Cut four strips of felt for the window liners, each approximately 2.5 inches wide. For the window bars, you’ll need four more strips 1 inch wide and slightly longer than the width and height of your windows.

We’ll use a clever trick to achieve nice corners on the window liners. Take one liner piece and position it along the edge of the window cutout. Carefully snip a small triangular section from the shorter edge, and repeat for the other side, as shown in the picture below. This will allow the felt to fold nicely and create a clean corner when glued in place. Repeat this step for all of the short edges of each liner piece.

Apply a line of hot glue along the raw edge of the liner piece. Carefully position it along the window cutout on the front of the tent panel. Once secure, gently fold the liner piece around the window edge and onto the back of the tent panel. Add another line of hot glue to secure the liner in place on the back. Repeat this process for all four window liners.

For the window bars, we’ll create a bit more stability by doubling them up. Apply hot glue along one long edge of a felt strip (1-inch wide). Carefully place another strip on top, lining them up evenly. Press them together to form a thicker bar. Now, line up the doubled felt bar in the center of the window opening, on the inside of the tent panel. Use hot glue to secure the ends of the bar to the felt liner on the back of the tent panel.

Cut out a piece of clear vinyl to cover the window. Glue the vinyl in place on the back of the tent, right over the strips of felt that were used to create the window bars.
For the door I had a little problem because my daughter made it bigger than I had originally wanted.  The 1/2 yard of fabric I purchased was no longer wide enough to cover the opening so I took some white and pink felt and glued them together. Problem solved!
Glue the door to the top of the door opening on the backside of the tent.  I added some ribbon to both the front and back of the tent at the top of the door so that we could tie up the door if desired.  I also added her house number which is the day she was born.

Now on to the fun part!  Decorate the DIY loft bed tent as desired. This is where you and your child’s imagination can truly take flight. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Create a charming mailbox using felt scraps and decorate it with the word Mail, their initials, or favorite colors.

Craft a simple flower box with colorful felt flowers (circles glued together with attached stems). These can be permanently glued on or attached with velcro for easy rearranging.

Add string battery-operated fairy lights inside the tent for a touch of starry magic (adult supervision required for young children!).

Attaching the Play Tent to the Bed

Lastly, glue some velcro along the top edge of the tent. Staple the other pieces of velcro to the inside of the bottom of the bed.  Attach and you’re ready to play!
I had one extra step because of the little shelves on either side of my daughter’s bed.  For the DIY play tent to lie flat I had to cut a little notch, see photo below:
 And how it looks when it is in place:
 
And here is the end result of the no-sew loft bed tent:
I adore this photo of my daughter napping in her new tent:
UPDATE: We’ve had the tent for almost 3 years and it is STILL in perfect shape. My daughter chose to remove it for a few months (yay to me for being smart and using a velcro attachment!). When I reminded her about it she got excited all over again and played in her clubhouse ALL afternoon! I haven’t made any changes or additions since the original install. Definitely worth the small amount of money, time and effort that it took to create.

No-Sew Loft Bed Tent