The Ultimate Bunk Bed

I found this excellent bunk bed design online and I thought I would share it with the viewers of my website. This bunk bed is quite unique in that it offers two desks, two beds (of course), and tons of storage space with shelves, pull-out drawers, and more. This bunk bed offers almost every feature you could ever want in a space saving, and compact design. Here is the photo:


This bunk bed is available at BarnDoor Funiture Co. I am not affiliated with the company in any way nor am I profiting from this post. Just thought I'd share this with my readers!

Are Bunk Beds Easy to Assemble?

The term “easy” is relative. What is easy for one person might be hard for somebody else and vice versa. Most bunk bed assembly requires only very simple household tools to be able to put your new bed together, such as a screwdriver or a wrench. If there are any tools required that are not considered “household,” they will be provided with your bunk bed purchase.

If you do not know what a screwdriver or a wrench is, or what they even look like, you might want to consider getting some help. Although these beds can be put together with one person it is advised that you have a second person. That additional set of hands will make assembly a lot easier.

The first thing you want to do when your new bed arrives is to lay everything out onto the floor and read the assembly instructions carefully and thoroughly, at least once through even before you start. Make sure that everything in the documentation is included such as rails, headboard, etc…. and all of the hardware. What I mean by all of the hardware is bolts, washers, and screws. The last thing that you want, and I've had this happen to me before, is to get almost done and find out that you're missing two bolts. And at 7pm on a Sunday evening, there are no hardware stores open where I live. So the best advice before you begin putting together your new bunk bed is to make sure that all the parts have arrived and that nothing is damaged. Once you have verified that the contents are complete, start with step one.

Since bunk beds are actually two beds one stacked upon another, I cannot stress the importance of putting the beds together correctly. Please take the time to read the instructions before you begin. I know the temptation to look at the pictures and start putting together the frame is high (and I'm guilty of this myself with certain projects), but bedroom furniture, especially heavy bedroom furniture, needs patience. So for the safety of everyone, please read the instructions.

So, how easy are bunk beds to put together? For the average person with average household skills the installation is relatively easy. The first thing you will likely assemble is the actual bed frame to the footboard and the headboard of both beds. Sometimes you will actually assemble two beds and then lift one on top of the other. For this type of assembly it is imperative that you have a second person, as lifting one bed on top of another is something most people cannot do by themselves. There are many bunk beds that are assembled as a whole unit rather than two separate beds. Some of the loft designs and certain theme bunk bed styles are put together as one unit.

If you have any reservations about having bunk beds delivered to your door and being overwhelmed at the thought of how they will be assembled…don't! Help is always a phone call away, every reputable seller has phone operators that can help with instructions and assembly. Don't want to even attempt this yourself, or just don't have the time? Local handy men in the phone book can perform this task with ease. There are some online retailers that will deliver and put together your new beds for you, just ask them.

So, get out there, choose your style, get the beds delivered, put them together, you can even make a nice family event out of this, and have fun.

Choosing the Right Log Bunk Bed

So you’ve got the perfect little log cabin, or chalet by the lake, or just want a country touch to your home. You want a log bunk bed, or two, but don’t know where to start. And they don’t carry them in your downtown furniture store.

Not to worry, there are plenty of options available on the Internet. There are loft log bunk beds, twin over twin log bunk beds, full over full or even twin over queen. I haven’t seen a twin over king yet, but really the Amish can make any size you want. A lot of college students who looking to build an inexpensive loft bed might find an Amish loft bunk bed to be just the ticket, and some of them come with futons under them, too.

There are federal regulations regarding bunk beds, so you’ll want to make sure that whatever bed you choose meets the regulations. We’re talking safety here, and things do happen. But you certainly wouldn’t want a bed that doesn’t meet the regulations, so make sure that the one you buy, does. Most accidents with bunk beds happen to children under the age of three. Many of these accidents can be avoided by having safety rails on both sides of the top bed. If one side of the bed is against the wall, that can be sufficient--but it must be against the wall. There are also regulations regarding headboards. There is a link to a page with the regulations at the bottom of this article for those who wish to read further.

Bunk beds built to those regulations are generally built to hold an adult weighing up to 250 pounds. If you are pushing the limits, try cedar instead of pine. In the beds we sell, the cedar logs are 5 ½ to 6 inches in diameter, while the pine is about 3 ½ inches in diameter. They are both built to federal specifications, and the pine bunk beds are very solid and strong, but if there is a question in your mind, go for the bigger logs. And of course, you can always put the big fella on the bottom, too.

Some log bunk beds come with a metal frame to hold the mattress, but some of the Amish build them with a wood frame to hold both the box spring and the mattress. You don’t have to put a box spring in those beds, but you certainly can.

The other alternative to hold the mattress up is called a Bunkie board. A Bunkie board is basically ¾ inch plywood cut to the size of the box spring. It sits inside either the metal bed frame, or the wood bed frame, and supports the mattress. If you have a box spring you don’t need a Bunkie board, but if there is not a box spring, the Bunkie board is what supports the middle of the mattress. We sell Bunkie boards if people want them, but a lot of people just cut their own. It’s up to the buyer.

Another option to consider is the type of ladder you want with your log bunk bed. Some of the Amish beds have the ladders built right into the end of the bed, so you don’t have a ladder leaning out from the bed. Others have a moveable ladder that can hook on the end or the side. In many cases, the amount of space available determines the type of bunk bed you buy. If you have a small room, the larger cedar logs may seem too massive. If you don’t have room for a slanted ladder, however, you may opt for the cedar bunk bed anyway that has the ladder built in. If you have a larger room or larger people, you may opt for the larger cedar logs.

If you get a pine bunk bed with metal frame, there is a way to give the metal frame that log look when the covers are thrown back. These are decorative half logs or rails, not to be confused with the safety rails that go around the top of the bunk bed. The top safety rails are always included with the log bunk bed, but the decorative half rails are optional and just for looks.

Last but not least, be sure to measure before you buy. Last year we sold a couple of log bunk beds to somebody in Montana. They absolutely loved the beds, but had bought two for the room and soon found out that only one could comfortably fit. Since we are in Michigan and they in Montana, it would have cost quite a bit to ship it back. They ended up selling the extra bed on ebay, but the problem could have been avoided with a bit of careful measuring up front.