Kids love bunk beds. As well as being practical, bunk beds for kids inspire imagination as children can pretend they are in a castle or on a boat while they play in their bedroom. The initial design of the bunk bed was to accommodate soldiers and navy personnel, but in domestic use they enabled more space for larger families when two or more children had to share a bedroom. They were usually nondescript and made from plain pine or metal piping, but nowadays the plain old bunk bed has been given a dramatic makeover and the designs available are not only still practical and functional, but limitless in the imaginative and creative styles.
Bunk beds make for a great kids sleepover!
Bunk beds were often viewed as being more of a “boy” bed while girls were often given a standard bed with a “trundle”. A trundle bed is a bed which slides out from underneath the main bed and is low to the ground. This idea has changed along with the designs available as little girls can now be indulged with pink bunk beds with fairy castle themes or daisy flowers painted all over them. The castle themed beds come complete with tower carvings on the posts, a candy pink curtain around the bottom bunk with castle windows sewn in and even a slippery dip from the top bunk. This design is also available as the boy equivalent in blue so that the little master can imagine he is a knight high up on his tower ready to defend against attack! Toddler bunk beds in these styles are very popular – your kid will be reluctant to upgrade to a grown up bed for a long time to come.
Other themes available include star wars bunks- where the posts actually look like the legs of the giant “walker” robots from the movies, a pirate ship bed, complete with ships helm and wheel and flag flying from the top post. Some of the bunk bed companies online even advertise that they will custom make bunk beds to any theme, so there is no fairy tale that can’t be played out in your little one’s bedroom!
Bunk beds are great if you need to fit 2 kids into the one room, but more and more families are finding a use for a bunk bed for just one child. Loft bunk beds are designed to lift the height of a single bed, increasing the space available below. Often this space can be used to house a work or play desk space, or even to hang clothes or store toys out of the way. Bunk beds with desks aren’t just for younger children, with many teens appreciating their own space in the house to study.
Of course, with anything that is going to be used by children safety standards need to be considered. When buying bunk beds for kids ensure that the safety rails on the top bunk are secure and that they distances between railing meets with the safety standards and never allow a toddler or children prone to sleep walking to sleep in the top bunk.
