Beds in Shared Rooms: What are my Options?

Beds in Shared Kids Rooms

As soon as the Twins start climbing out of their cribs, it’s time to move to proper beds. This is sure to happen earlier than it did with their sister, afterall, the temptation of each other is too much! I’ve always liked the idea of keeping them together, but what are the options for beds in shared rooms? I intend to find out, and start designing my big boys’ room… I am more than excited!

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Beds in Shared Rooms: Bunk Beds

The obvious answer to beds in shared rooms is the classic bunk option. I had bunk/cabin beds as a kid and sleeping on the top is so much fun. It feels like your own little den!

Pros of Bunk Beds:

  • Space saving;
  • Sleeping on top is awesome;
  • You can come up with fun ways of climbing up and down;

Cons of Bunk Beds:

  • Sleeping on the bottom is generally considered inferior to the top… cue arguments;
  • Young children may not be safe up top;
  • Changing sheets on the top is not fun;

You’ve got to love the double bunks in this Florida home by interior designer Andrew Howard. That slide is awesome! If you’re looking to buy bunks instead of build them, check out my faves in ‘How to Choose the Perfect Bunk Beds‘.

Beds in Shared Rooms: Corner Junction Beds

Fitting the beds neatly into the corner is an idea I am very fond of. I like the idea of the boys’ telling each other stories at night, their heads close enough to hear a whisper but without being in direct eye contact.

Pottery Barn Beldon Set
source: potterybarnkids.com

This traditionally styled Belden Bedroom Set by Pottery Barn Kids is perfect. However, the price tag is a little steep. Still, I love the layout and the storage drawers below, and I am confident in the quality of Pottery Barn products.

Pros of Corner Junction Beds:

  • Bedtime stories made easy;
  • The corner junction creates a handy shelf;
  • Everyone is close to the ground;

Cons of Corner Junction Beds:

  • Your room has to be deep enough for the length of the bed and the corner unit;
  • Is anyone else seeing that pointy corner right next to the pillows? Paranoid Mom?
White Corner Beds for Shared Kids Rooms

For a stripped back, more affordable option, this NE Kids L-Shaped Bed will do the trick. They also offer options with storage and a trundle bed but it all adds to the price and you end up back at Pottery Barn budget.

If you love this look and enjoy a bit of DIY there is plenty of inspiration out there to get the power tools excited. Take a look at Ana White’s ‘Corner Hutch Plans’, it’s certainly inspiring me… I love a project!

Beds in Shared Rooms: End to End

If you’ve got the length on one wall, there’s something very sweet about end to end beds. If the Twins are getting along they can lay pillow to pillow, and when they’ve had a little sibling feud they can just swap to the other end.

Pros of End to End:

  • Siblings can choose to be close or not;
  • Everyone is close to the ground;

Cons of End to End:

  • Without a headboard there could be pillow breach in the middle;
  • Many bedrooms will not be long enough for this layout;

You can push traditional beds together end to end but I rather like this shared platform. I’m presuming that’s storage underneath too, perfect!

If you can’t quite make the length for two beds end to end you can cheat and build a little overlap like the beds above. Little ones won’t notice the loss in bed length and the raised loft bed will always be a hit!

Beds in Shared Rooms: Interlocking

To squeeze the corner set up into a slightly smaller space, there are a number of options to interlock them. You can overlap an upper bunk, or wrap around the corner of the room. It’s a space saver, without going full bunk.

I wanted to include a set up that wasn’t in the corner… it’s not the only option! Love this design from Christopher Burns Interiors. More space to move about underneath but the perfect hideout spot up top!

Pros of Interlocking Beds:

  • Relatively space saving;
  • Would work at any height;

Cons of Interlocking Beds:

  • One bed could end up superior to the other;
  • Changing sheets could be awkward;

Beds in Shared Rooms: Traditional Twin Beds

Of course there’s the obvious solution of buying two twin beds and placing them on opposite sides of the room. Don’t knock it, sometimes simple is best.

Pros of Traditional Twin Beds:

  • Plenty of choice (no DIY required);
  • Feeling of ownership and privacy;

Cons of Traditional Twin Beds:

  • Can look like a dormitory;
  • Direct eye contact may not help littles to sleep;

Four Cheeky Monkeys nails it everytime, I just love Vanessa’s style.

Where to go from here…

I can’t wait to get stuck into the design of the boys room and will keep you up to date on it’s progress. Once I’ve made a decision about the layout and position of the beds, I know the rest will just fall into place. My biggest problem is the boys will likely be very young (pre 2yrs) when they move into their big boy room so safety is a major factor. I also want to make it fun, because if you can’t have fun with a kids room, where can you?

Just to finish, I wanted to share this gorgeous triple bed set up in Atlanta. It’s a custom piece and so much fun!

To be continued… do give me your thoughts on what I should do, I’d love the blog to help shape the boys’ new room!

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Katherine Betts

Architect and Science Teacher in a previous life, Katherine Betts is now a SAHM of three kids and family lifestyle blogger. She created her twin parenting blog, TwinPickle, to help parents of multiples with the unique challenges they face. Since it's conception, TwinPickle has grown to include a larger virtual community of twin parents through social media.

Blog Comments

These are such great options and they look really great too! We’ve been thinking what beds to get our kids for their room so this is perfect!

Belle | One Awesome Momma

Thanks Belle, it’s so much fun thinking up ideas for the kiddos!!

I like the bunk bed option best. I remember as a kid it was the ultimate symbol of cool to have bunk beds haha.

Haha, it was! ?

Since my husband and I live in DC we’re looking at smaller houses than usual and although we dont have kids yet, when we see a bedroom we ask if we could fit two kids in there if need be. I love these ideas – especially the slide!

I just can’t get enough of that slide!! Please build one in DC and send me a pic! ?

This is the perfect time for me. My boys share a room and we have a loft bed and a double bed…but something just doesn’t work. I needed some fresh ideas!

Interesting… does the cool factor of the double bed offset the loft bed. I think I might give up the top spot for a double!

So many fun options! I love that bunk bed with the slide!

I’m pretty sure that would be every kid’s favourite too!

I don’t have kids, but my sister has two girls. I am sending her these ideas – they are so cool! I especially love the interlocking beds, and the bunk beds with the slide. I wish I had one of those set-ups growing up!

I agree, it’s terrible we were deprived on a bed slide in our youth! More slides in houses I say!

It’s really hard t pick the right solution! As a kid I loved bunk beds… Now I’m an adult and my second bedroom in my little house is SO tiny. Like a twin bed fits with maybe 8 inches of room to the side of it… And we’re getting my boyfriend’s two kids for visitation soon so I really need to figure out a solution. lol

Hmm… sounds like bunks might be the way to go for your tiny room, good luck!

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