How to turn an Ikea Kura bed into a fun bed tent!

NECTAR Sleep Mattress sent us a mattress for the purpose of a review within this Ikea Kura bed tent hack post. All opinions and photos are my own.

I wanted to do a fun update to Elliot’s room for his 8th birthday. His room had become a hodgepodge of little boy things over the past few years and needed a refresh. Naturally, we decided to go with a Star Wars bedroom and the first step was an Ikea Kura bed tent hack.

Ikea Kura Bed

I had added curtains to the bed using velcro when we first bought it. Plus we bought the standard Kura bed tent from Ikea which combined with the curtains made for a fun bed.But my little guy wanted complete coverage. So the plan was to make a real Kura bed tent and also upgrade Elliot’s mattress.

Kura Bed Mattress

Elliot requested a modern memory foam mattress like his brother has. When NECTAR Sleep reached out and asked if I wanted to try one of their memory foam mattresses, I figured it was fate. Before I said yes I did a little research about their product. I liked the idea that their mattresses come with a soft, breathable cover and two layers of gel memory foam to help distribute air. It can get extra warm in Elliot’s bed with curtains and tents covering it, the NECTAR mattress is designed to keep people cool.

The mattress arrived in a bag with straps making it easy to carry to the room before we opened it up and let it expand. It was very easy to set up and Elliot loves it. We are very happy with Elliot’s new mattress, I am on it almost every night reading to him and often fall asleep with him. I also love that NECTAR Sleep comes with a 365-day risk-free trial, so you can be confident in your purchase.

I’d be happy with a King version in my own bedroom to sleep on every night. If you have a NECTAR mattress as well, they’d love for you to share your own experience online using #MyNECTARMattres. Everyone deserves a sweet night of sleep!

Kura Bed Hack Instructions

Once we had Elliot’s new mattress figured out, it was time to update his actual bed.

The plan was to add a simple A-frame structure to the top of the bed frame to support the tent. We bought three 2’X2’X8′ pieces of wood, in a color similar to the Ikea bed frame. I don’t recall what it was but likely pine or Douglas fir.

The design would vary by the angle of your A-frame but once you decide on a height, you need to cut 45-degree angles on both ends. Nail two pieces together to create an A-frame, then attach that to the bed frame. One on each end, and one in the center of the bed frame We added pieces of wood for support between the three A-frame structures.

Kura Bed Tent Materials

(3) 2X2X8 pieces of wood
Nail gun
Miter saw
Drill
Iron-on velcro
Material for the curtains and tent

I don’t have the exact fabric dimensions because I ended using an awesome Star Wars shower curtain to create the curtains around the bed and then a white bed skirt (found at a thrift store) for the top of the tent.

Kura Bed Curtains

Adding curtains to a Kura bed is fairly easy to do with a little fabric and Velcro. Just attach velcro to the bed frame and along the top edge of the curtain. I simply updated the curtains on the bed using the super cool Star Wars shower curtain that I cut in half.

Kura Bed Tent Hack

The fabric for the top of the Kura bed tent was a little trickier because I don’t have a sewing machine. I pieced it together by hand sewing a few different pieces of white fabric together. The main section of the tent is a king bed skirt. Then piece in sections of fabric to each end to complete the tent.

I really like how it turned out and naturally, Elliot is a super fan. I have a few more fun Star Wars projects planned for his room that I can’t wait to share with you.