This exciting hideaway may actually make your children welcome an early bedtime.

The 1800mm-high four-poster bed has space for a curtain rail to hang a mosquito net in the summer months, swing doors and all the attractions of a secret den. Let your child choose their favourite colours, using oil-based enamel paint for extra toughness and easier cleaning.

You'll need:
Materials
100mm x 100mm radiata pine corner posts (4)
150mm x 50mm bed base frame (bottom rail)
75mm x 25mm bed base slats and side slats
200mm x 25mm feature slats
100mm x 50mm top rail
100mm x 50mm mid rail (top of side slats)
25mm x 25mm battens (instead of rebate)
PVA wood glue
Ply 15mm
T-hinges, 300mm
Cup head bolts with nuts and washers
75mm bullet head nails
Sandpaper
Paint or stain

Tools:
Circular or drop saw
Drill and drill bits
Hammer
Pencil
Square
Tape measure
Nail punch
Spirit level
Jigsaw
Router

Here's how:
1. Notch out each of the corner posts to take top, mid and bottom rails. Typically the posts are notched at 400mm for the bottom rail and 1000mm for the mid rail but these can be altered to suit your requirements.

2. Conceal the ends of the vertical slats (to be placed between mid and bottom rails to form the bed head and end, see step 4) with a rebate running through the centre of the mid and bottom rails. There are a couple of other options if you don't feel comfortable with rebating. Your local timber yard will cut in the rebate for a small sum or you can fake it with battens. To do this, nail a length of 25mm x 25mm pine to the mid and bottom rails. Set out and nail the slats to this. The butt ends can then be covered with another batten.

3. You can decorate the slats with shaped cut-outs or any motif of your choice but this should be done before the bed is assembled.

4. Place vertical slats between mid and bottom rails to form the bedhead and end.

5. Make the bed base by supporting horizontal slats on the bottom rails of the sides, using 75mm x 25mm radiata pine and spacing the slats evenly about 70mm apart.
Note: If you are familiar with joinery, it's possible to make this bed demountable by using bolts instead of nails. Similarly, notching the bottom rails will allow you to insert the base slats without gluing or nailing. As such they are easily demountable.

6. To make the swing doors, set up a template to your own design (we used bat wings) and cut out with a jigsaw. Use ply and hang them with T-hinges from the end posts.

7. To finish use paint or stain, bright colours or elegant timber. If you're going to stain, remember that you'll see the grain so it's worth investing more in quality timber.