First, I bought two L-brackets at the DIY store and stuck little self-adhesive cork pads onto them (I didn't take a picture of that step, sorry!) Then I clamped them to the bed rail with a plastic clamp. The cork pads protect the bed's paintwork.
Then I applied silicone sealant to the top of the brackets, like so:
And then I clamped on a piece of wood, 6 inches by about 16 inches:
I had to move the whole stinking bunk bed away from the wall to get the back clamp on, then I had to give myself a head-slap when I realised I could have built the shelf on the opposite side and then moved it to the wall side later. Doh!
As you can see, I still need to add the white iron-on strips to the ends.
I left it for a few hours and voila! It worked! The shelf sits neatly on the railing and can be easily removed.
UPDATE: the silicone adhesive came loose from the shiny surface of the shelf; it really needed a couple of screws. So much for being lazy and trying to avoid that step; I should have just used the screws to start with!
See, I told you it could be removed - here is what the underside looks like with the cork pads:
I love it when a plan comes together!
I have to give kudos to my parents. My mom is full of bright ideas, problem-solving tactics and design solutions. While I grew up she was always crafting, turning her hand to knitting, embroidery, quilting, sewing, crochet, macrame, fabric painting, cross-stitch and so on. My dad is like the King of DIY - he can make or mend anything and invents all sorts of gadgets too. They were a great DIY team - If my dad was trying to make or mend something and was stumped for a solution my mom would come up with one and he'd use his mad DIY skillz to put it into action.
So I have create crafting, DIY and idea genes and examples - thanks, Mom and Dad!
