Because I had opted to reassemble the loft bed upside down, the original magic shelves were not going to work, so today I set about replacing them. I knew roughly what I needed and popped round the corner to Jewson. Sadly they were out of stock of 19 x 100mm PAR planks, though they'd probably re-stock before next Saturday. While I was considering alternatives the helpful person in the timber shed told me that there was another wood yard a little farther along the road. Most helpful! I had seen it but assumed it to be only kitchens and bathrooms. So I carried on along the road and sure enough they did have in stock the kind of thing I was looking for, and in much longer lengths than I had ever been able to get from Wickes in Chatham. Each plank was in fact 4.2m in length so I purchased three and walked home with them carefully balanced on my shoulder.
I took them round the back out of sight where the bicycle is securely locked and then went up to the flat for appropriate tools. From each of the three planks I cut two lengths of 1.9m and had three pieces of 400mm to play with.
Here you see the result.
I began to assemble it and load it with books but then discovered that the books were marking the walls and I refuse to have another deposit fiasco so I pulled it all out from the wall and backed it with a sari-length piece of fabric I bought in Chatham but have never found a good use for. It's not wide enough to cover the whole of the back of the structure in one go but given how long it is I have been able to cut it in two and hide the join behind the hefty structurally robust shelf. This means that with the exception of framed things that hang on walls, I am now fully unpacked and all my cardboard boxes are stowed beneath the shorty-bed sofa for when I next need to move.