"If you are having problems finding large enough dowel pins, you can also use metal dowels (aka metal rod)" I would stay away form metal unless you use about th esame diameter (3/4 to 1 inch) as a wood dowel. While the metal wil be way stronger than needed (a 1/4 inch or even 1/2 inch would be strong enough) a small metal insert can easily exceed the crush rating of the wood it is on. This would cause the post to simply split with the smaller metal dowel from load concentration.

Don’t worry about the pink, it’s fine. My boys wear pink and purple t-shorts all the time and my girl has a lot of grey and blue in her room. If they and you like the lighter one better, that’s the one you should choose. (Ps. I like it better too)

Original design made from inexpensive framing lumber as a DIY project on a budget. The bunk bed is painted with a durable enamel in SW Alabaster and accented with pine rails in Minwax Fruitwood.

"And also where the light isn't directly exposed, so kids won't hurt themselves." If the light "isn't directly exposed" it has to be installed inside something. What is that something? What's wrong with an LED wall light? Do you think they're dangerous?