Hi all. Thanks for the kind words.
Tom, with regard to the finish, I've been sitting on the fence going back and forth between CPES and epoxy. I'm leaning in the direction of epoxy at the moment, but haven't made a final decision yet.
Mike, yes John has it right. The closet brackets will support two cots. I forget the distance between the bed and the cots, but I made certain there was enough reason for me to sleep on my side. I embedded t-nuts into the supports on the wall that the closet brackets screw into before I installed them, and I'm using stainless steel hardware. My two sons are young, so weight-wise we should be good for a while.