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Bunk Beds and Loft Beds; Making Children's Rooms Bigger

Nowadays, a lot of people have difficulty in find space in their children's rooms for all of their toys. This is the result of our overly materialistic culture, which offers so many things for children to buy that they can quickly build up a huge number of toys. Unfortunately, our storage abilities have not kept pace with toy development, and it can still be difficult to find somewhere to put everything. Despite the fact that families now are smaller, and houses larger, then they have ever been before, we simply can't keep pace. So clearly, the only thing to do is to find a more efficient storage method. It's all very well telling your kids that their room is a mess, but how can they clean it up if they don't have somewhere to put everything? It's our job, as the adults who bought them all the toys in the first place, to find a better way to keep them.

The solution to the problem is to fund unusual, or just unused, places for storage. An excellent idea is to replace the standard twin bed, with a bunk bed or loft bed. It's not a new idea, but even something as simple as this can have a significant positive impact on overcrowding, and be used to free up a surprisingly large volume of space.

If you are bothered by the safety aspects of stacking beds on top of each other, then let me reassure you that modern bunk beds are far safer already then they ever were before. New designs are constantly invented, and government regulations ensure that the beds made adhere to the highest safety standards. If that isn't convincing enough, then let me offer a bit of personal evidence. I have six children, myself, all of whom sleep in bunk beds and yet I've never had a single accident. Well, at least not any bunk bed related accidents. Kids will be kids.

Back to the topic of storage space. Without having to switch to a bunk bed, you can find extra storage space under even a standard bed. The majority of currently popular children's beds have a good 20 cubic feet of space underneath them. That's as much space as you'll find in a large chest of drawers, or even a small closet. If you need a quick and simple storage solution, then just take some measurements of the space available to you, then go to your local Wal-Mart and buy as many plastic boxes as you'll be able to fit in there. For best convenience, try and get long boxes, that will reach from one side of the bed to the other. I would also advise you to remove the lids, as you really don't need them, and they make it much harder to access the boxes. If you have a little more time, then take a look at http://www.bunkbedsunlimited.com/ where you will find some good suggestions as to how you can best make use of this space, for example through oversized storage drawers or a trundle bed.

Loft beds free up the entire space that one twin bed takes and make it available for other furniture like dressers, chests of drawers, sofas, daybeds, futons, desks, dollhouses and the list goes on. Sometimes a loft bed can seemingly work a miracle in an overcrowded room.

Now have a look at a typical kids room. It's got two twin beds, two chests, and there are toys scattered all over the room. If you had a bunk bed in there, instead of the two twin beds, then you would have enough space for another chest of drawers and could quite possibly fit all of the toys neatly away. Drawers are easy to access, and if you use storage boxes with wheels under the bed, it will be easy for your kids to get to their toys.

As an added bonus, a bunk bed does double duty as a toy in its own right. Kids love to climb, and the prospect of sleeping high above the ground will turn a usually boring night, into an exciting adventure. This is something to bear in mind, and you can even tell them the upgrade to bunk beds is a reward for good behavior.

If you are currently thinking you might buy a bunk bed, then I urge you to consider carefully what kind you get. Don't just go out and buy the cheapest, because in something like this, quality is important. You want a strong and sturdy bed, that will last you for a while and survive all the rough play that children's furniture has to put up with. Don't just buy the most expensive one, either though, instead look for something that exactly meets your needs. If you're worried about cost, you could try getting a bunk bed kit, that will give you a good family project to work on while being cheaper then something ready assembled. Check out http://www.bunkbedsunlimited.com/. They have some excellent suggestions, with simple plans and very good prices on a variety of different designs. Including some rather unusual ones.

In conclusion, when approaching the problem of space in kids' rooms, arm yourself with the knowledge of what is available and then do some patient planning. You might need to just stand there and imagine awhile. Provide children with a place for everything and then you can reasonably expect them to put everything where it goes. Consider bunk beds, loft beds and trundle beds when you are making your plan and don't forget the space under the existing or new beds either. If you provide lots of space for all of their belongings and they still won't fit, you may need to get rid of some stuff. But that's another article.

Article Source: http://www.inpop.net

Author Patrick Oakley is a professional carpenter who specializes in creating furniture that makes efficient use of space. He has recently begun providing bunk beds and loft beds over the internet.

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