Installing new kitchen cabinets is ALWAYS exciting! There’s nothing better than updating a tired space with accents that are modern and relevant to your current tastes. Nonetheless, it can be taxing to figure out a good way to upcycle clunky cupboards. Luckily, Emily from Off-Tract shows us a great way to turn those seemingly useless pieces into a gorgeous built-in bed.

Emily lives in a house that’s about 40 years old which means—gasp!—it was built circa 1980! Now, I’m not knocking the 80’s; I dig the music and movies, but that decade is definitely not known for its simple and chic home décor. In fact, cabinetry from the era, in particular, is usually that special shade of glossy pine that seems to go with NOTHING!

So, this family made the wise decision to ditch their old cupboards for new ones, and they came up with the awesome idea to indulge their little one in the process. Spoiler alert: the end result is awesome. In fact, Emily writes:

I think this bed looks like a piece of Watermelon Bubalicious gum from when I was a kid.

The family explains that their motivation behind completing this build was to achieve extra space. As we all know, storage space and kids go hand-in-hand—this piece lends itself as a perfect place to store children’s’ books, toys, and linens.

The key to this build is to allow the former bottom-level cabinets to act as the base and frame for the bed. Be sure that you do a very accurate measurement of your mattress before you do any slicing and dicing—the cushioning should fit snugly in the arched entrance which sits directly on top of the former cupboards.

Additionally, it’s quite important that you stabilize the top to ceiling and floor so that the entirety of it is secure. The build is most successful if you look at it not as a separate piece of furniture, but rather as an installation, in a sense.

The best part, of course, is the fact that you can easily paint and style this any way you want! As I mentioned, the lucky little girl who gets to call this her “new bed” chose a loud green and pink combination. Though the color scheme might be a bit jarring, Emily says that they found a way to work with it.

Speaking of pink, if pink is a color you choose or are forced into because your kid loves it, know that you can use many shades of pink without worry, almost all pinks go with pink. It is some weird pink thing that cannot be explained by science. It also seems to make pink better when it is presented in different shades rather than one giant room coating of Pepto-Bismol.

Point taken! I agree that pink looks great with any color—even, well, pink.

 Check out some of these awesome after photos. I bet this is one happy kid!

What do you think about this project? Have you ever upcycled old cabinetry? If so, how did you do it? Tell us all about your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!