Custom Bunk Rooms: The New Splurge For Nostalgia

Photography by Kat Alves

With the holidays quickly approaching, the need to sleep as many people comfortably is a necessity for many families spending time with multi-generations. Packing kids into a room in order to free up additional sleeping space is key. Thank goodness that children no matter what age love bunk beds.

From their humble roots as a way to house people with no frills to today’s bunk rooms that ooze luxury and grandeur, bunk rooms are a sought-after room in today’s retreat homes or multi-family compounds, especially at this time of year. They ooze nostalgia for many who went to camp, had a family cabin or survived college dorms. The bunk bed is a part of history that stirs memories of childhood for many of us. The bunk room has come to age, and with that, the request for extravagant bunk rooms that create a statement is a common request from clients to designers and architects.

Nine times out of ten designers work from the start to incorporate space for a bunk room in a project. This is an area in the home where you can get really creative and design a space that sleeps a bunch of people and still is comfortable and most importantly, fun! Our firm has designed bunk rooms over the years that house up to 18 people and is always the room that everyone loves.

One major con of the bunk bed is changing the bedding, as it is exhausting to wrestle the sheets and to get up and down with agility. When designing a bunk bed, if space allows, make sure your designer provides two inches beyond the mattress size to leave room to tuck everything in. A staircase instead of a ladder also helps make the upper beds more accessible and is a clever addition if you have space.

The key to a great design is to let your imagination run wild! We have created everything from rustic cabins with gondolas in the room to sleek sleeping spaces that any adult looking for a dose of nostalgia would be happy to climb into for the night.