Kids Bedroom Features Floating Pirate Ship
What six-year-old children don’t dream of something this spectacular? A space ship theme was considered, as were race cars and medieval castles … but with pirates you can never go wrong, right? Argh!!!
“The rope bridge is connected to the top of the jail cell, built to accommodate evil doers, thieves and little sisters.” At the end of the bridge, across from the crow’s-nested-and-steering-wheeled vessel, sits the faux-stone prison turret with a theme-fitting wood ladder.
Curved wooden ribs support plywood planking (sorry, no actual plank!) covered with plaster and epoxy for stability and aesthetic effect.
A knotted climbing rope drops down from the lofted play area to a closet below … and then a secret spiral slide spins you the occupant the way down to the first floor.
Designed and built by Steve Kuhl, a Minneapolis design-and-build expert, this extraordinary work has become something of an overnight sensation around the world, to the point where the designer’s portfolio site was so deluged it crashed … drowned, as it were, in the internet’s version of Davey Jones’ locker.
Read more about how this room, completed years ago, suddenly went viral on the internet at the Star Tribune:
“Six years ago, Hopkins remodeling contractor Steve Kuhl took on a quirky project. The client was his older brother, who was building a house in Medina and wanted ‘something fun’ for his two young children. Kuhl delivered: a climbing wall, a ‘super luge’ (a 55-foot spiral slide into the sport court), a secret door hidden behind a suit of armor, and a pirate-themed bedroom for his nephew, then age 6.”
“Kuhl pulled out all the stops in the bedroom, which included a ship’s hull jutting out of the wall, a crow’s nest, a rope bridge, a jail cell (‘for evil-doers,’ Kuhl said) and an under-the-sea paint job. ‘It was fun,” said Kuhl, whose company, Kuhl Design Build, typically works on kitchens, bathrooms and additions. ‘I like to work outside the box.'”
