Designing on a budget

As a college student, I think one part of being a student is being broke--or close to it. This is, however, a good thing at times and a bad thing at other times. When I finally transfered to the University, I was confronted with the dilemma of living with a roommate and having half the living space. I knew I would need a desk, a bed, closet space and just room to move around. The entire room was around 14.5' x 11', my roommate had already moved in and took most of the space with his desk and bed. Long story shot, I got the shaft.

So to recap, we both had full-size bed (approx 6' x 4.5' times 2) and one desk. Thats already 54 sq ft. taken of 159.5 sq ft. that leaves 105.5 sq ft. for two desks and room to navigate around. In a moment of clarity, I began drawing plans up for a full-size loft. Generally, lofts made by major manufactures run upwards of $400.00USD to $500.00USD, without the ability to personalize it. All in all when the project was completed it cost me around $150.00 to $200.00USD. Not to mention that the loft was build by me, for me, but I was able to add things to accommodate my situation.

I should have an instructable up with in the week, but the process is rather simple and straight forward. This was a fun project and learning experience. Not to mention that I am benefiting from building for my own needs, I used most of the scraps for miscellaneous parts, like the ladder. I'll update this when the instructable is up. For now enjoy a few photos, and if you want, try it out for yourself by heading to instructables to get an idea of how to start designing basic furniture on the cheap!