i drew out plans for the loft on some graph paper. then asked skot to barrow his truck to pick up the lumber. he took a look at the plans and came up with a more sturdy structure. he also escorted me to home depot to get all the necessary supplies. home depot also took care of more the wood cutting at no charge! once back home, my zombie-raver-construction girlfriend and i started preparing the wood by making a few more cuts, sanding, and drilling.

unfortunately kevin's drill wasn't up to the task of drilling through relatively wet 4x4s. we were able to get through making the final cuts, but only achieved to drill 3 holes. it was time to call it a night.

last night i started with a fresh battery in the drill and was able to drill about 7 more of the needed 16 holes. skot came to the rescue again around 11pm, letting me barrow his makita drill. with this power horse i was able to finish drilling, assemble the legs, and raise the structure with a little help from my roommate sarah.

it has about 3.5 feet of clearance below the bed for storage. the bed height is about 8 inches higher than before and will take some getting used to. i built a shelf next to the bed to use as night stand. found a spare 2x4 in the garage and used that as extra support on an overhang and now it's io's favorite perch. overall i'm very happy with how it turned out.

thanks all who helped!