Four sisters sharing one room? That's just the kind of challenge Casa Kids loves. Here, the Brooklyn-based company, who specializes in bunk and loft beds, created a custom solution in a "beautiful, but compact" loft in Soho, New York so these siblings can bunk up together beautifully.
Casa Kids, headed by designer Roberto Gil, gives us the scoop on this quadruple bunk build-out:
We designed four beds to fit in the space that still give each girl a sense of privacy - the rails are higher than is standard and also gives the added benefit of more sound insulation. The stairs that lead to the upper bunks are raised so as to both save floor space and allow for trundles to be placed beneath the beds, increasing the room's sleeping capacity for sleep overs and family guests. Each girl has her own wall-mounted light and the beds are constructed of solid birch plywood (no MDF) in a white finish.
Although there are surely some benefits to having one's own room, time and again we hear from parents about the virtues, many of them unexpected, of kids sharing a room. I imagine these sisters will have many happy memories of pre-sleep storytelling, whispers and sweet dreams-wishing.
You can see more of Casa Kids' furniture on their website. The real rooms section is especially fun to peruse.
(Images: Casa Kids)
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These are perfect!
How really wonderful for sisters. Great design!
And by making them all white, each child can choose a favorite color for pillows or accents. Are they twin length?
I have four girls that currently sleep 2/room. I've been trying to convince them to all bunk together so that I can set up the additional room as an office/playroom/art room for them, but nobody's interested. Sigh.
Hi. I designed this room and wanted to answer Charmgirl's question. The beds fit regular twin size mattresses. I just made them 1/2" shorter than the standard so they would fit along the wall. My beds are normally 76 1/2" long and these are 76". Thanks for your comments!
@Robertin, I love them! I don't have kids, but I love them anyway! ;^)
Pretty design, but I'd like to know who changes the linens. I think it would be a back-breaking task.
I shared my room with an older sister until I was 11 or 12. It wasn't always smooth going, but it was comforting having her there when I was little and still afraid of things.
very nice solution. changing the sheets shouldn't be hard. they're old enough to do it themselves. i had bunk beds. it ain't so bad and they are so much fun. no safety sides on mine (1978). we used to take a pillow with a satin zip cover on it, and use it like a sled to kick off the wall and shoot of the top bunk onto a bean bag chair. one time i landed on my head. so freaking dangerous...and so fun.
Dormitory in a room.
love them! I have four girls in a room - we have two sets of bunks. So the room is pretty squish. but they love it (theres the odd need to separate and send someone off to our room ;) anyway I love inspiration like this. not everyone has a large house or many bedrooms.
Great use of space and nicely designed. We did consider putting 4 bunks in a room a few years ago to accommodate kids sleeping over. A few years on, though, and I'm pleased to have the versatility of 2m beds as all those friends are now man-sized!
I shared a room for years with my three sisters - we sang ourselves silly everynight - falling alseep to giggles and whispers and Mom would yell for us to quiet down. Although we did not have bunkbeds like these (more's the pity)! I'm sure these little ladies will have sweet memories.
RE: Greenwoodgal
Give me a break. You may have forgotten, but previous generations lived in smaller homes with more children. This notion that families have to live in a 2000+sq ft house in order to properly raise children is ridiculous. 2 or more children does not mean you need a McMansion or a big SUV.
I love these. Really nice design solution for the long term. And I like the white which allow each child to personalize their space over time. Nice to see such thoughtful custom work.
These are beautiful! (Oh, and having "more bedrooms than kids" is a pretty recent, and very American/privileged, phenomenon. I suppose I wouldn't have minded having my own room as a child, but we had a blast most of the time.)
Changing the sheets on my childhood bunkbeds (we had 2 different kinds) has forever made me hate changing sheets of any kind, on any bed. (I scraped my knuckles on the textured plaster walls one too many times!) My own kids have very lightweight mattresses (no innersprings), so I can lift the whole mattress to change the sheet. So much easier.
@thisiskrister
I actually have shown some of these photos to my mother, who's now in her 60's who lived in some crappy housing and even dealt with outhouses until her teens. Even then it was only two or three kids to a room, not 4.
@greenwoodgal - I'm not in my 60's yet, but I remember sharing a room with 2 sisters and a brother when I was younger, and a two bedroom apartment was the only option.
Later, my brother had his bed in the family room adjacent to the kitchen.
@GreenwoodGal - Having a room to yourself does not automatically make you a happy child, nor does sharing a room with several siblings mean you are to be pitied.There are much more important things in life than a room for each kid.
Those bunks are cool! Actually i am close to 60 and sleep in a loft bed because i always envied the kids their bunk beds :-D
Love the beds and the concept of sharing. These girls will grow up with lots of wonderful memories.
RE: Greenwoodgal
Children do not need to be in their own bedroom, as others have pointed out, to become happy well adjusted adults.
I'm sure they parents will re-evaluate their situation when the girls are older (4 teenage girls in one room could be a bit chaotic) but for now they have a wonderful shared space they will fill with memories. Maybe the parents CHOSE to live in a smaller home so they could be in a neighborhood with better schools and community programs. Maybe the parents live in a smaller home to decrease their eco-footprint or maybe they just aren't materialistic enough to want to build a 5 bedroom mcmansion or maybe they bought it before they have kids and don't want to move yet. I'd personally rather live in a small bungalow in a great neighborhood then a large cookie-cutter home, but that doesn't mean I don't hope to have a large family (through both adoption and the old fashioned way) someday and when I do, we will work with what we have, and what/where we love, and raised to know that spending time with family is far more valuable then everyone having their own room full of crap to hide out in.
Learn what works for you, and do it, instead of trolling AT and judging others for how they live their lives in a way that works for them.
@IVICHELLE
But why waste money building this set up? For what it cost, the parents could have gotten an apartment with another bedroom.
I want to live where I can get another bedroom for the price of 4 beds!!!
I'm Roberto from Casa Kids and wanted to make a comment in regards to changing the sheets in these beds. It's true, it's not fun. The trick is to use a thin mattress (6" or 7" thick) that bends easily at the corners so you can lift it and put the fitted sheets in place. For a top bunk never use a heavy, spring mattresses that are very rigid. In addition to this, I always make my bunk beds strong enough for adults to safely go up and I also make the stairs easy to climb with enough cut outs to hold yourself.
I designed something similar to this for our summer home and yes, the top bunks are a bit tricky to make on a daily basis. But what they lack in ease, they make up for in style :) They look awesome and I love that all the kids and friends can sleep in one room...in theory. The younger ones usually end up crawling back into mommy and daddy's room but it's nice to have the overflow bed option, for adults too. (Just make sure the upper ones are built strong enough if you plan to have adults go up on top.)