With a second child on the way we recently purchased IKEA's popular Kura bed for our 4-year-old. We chose it because with the bed in the lofted position (it can also be on the ground) it wasn't too high for him and it would give him some valuable play space below. The Kura has a lot going for it but the plain pine wood and reversible white/(very) blue panels could use some improvement.
So far we've painted our Kura, but I've been looking for more inspiration and also to see how other parents have utilized the space under the bed. I'll be sure to show you our bed when it's complete, but for now here's some Kura inspiration I've compiled:
The first row above showcases some ideas for decorating the bed using paint, fabric, paper, textured wall flats and an adhesive product called Panyl:
TOP ROW:
1. Kura Sides Covered with Panyl product on Flax & Twine
2. Kura Covered with Textured Wall Flats by Inhabit
3. Kura Painted White with Added Chalkboard Paint by Sample Sale Mom
4. Kura Sides Covered with Fabric by Southern Disposition
5. Kura Covered with Scrapbook Paper on IKEA Hackers
The second row features some more fantastical imaginings of what the Kura could be:
BOTTOM ROW:
6. Kura Turned Princess Castle by A Creative Anna
9. Kura Turned Medieval Castle
10. Kura Turned Cottage Hideaway on IKEA Hackers
(Images: 1. Lucy Schaeffer 2. Nessa Does 3. Sample Sale Mom 4. Kendra/Southern Disposition 5. via IKEA Hackers 6. A Creative Anna 7. reader Rosandra 8. Anna Haltern 9. reader Casey 10. via Ikea Hackers)
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Kids love their own private space and these are super cool. Love the fire engine, castle and house.
Whoa. Customized or not, I would have felt as if I had died and gone to heaven if I had had this as a child. Just...whoa.
LOVE the fourth and fifth one! Even as an adult!!!
We planned to get our 3 year old a Kura but then realized we would not be able to cuddle on the bed to read stories. For parents that have a Kura, is this a big deal? What do you do for story time?
The last image reminds me of a dog house - a very cute pink one.
@notyou, we turned the bottom into a reading nook with abig fatboy beanbag to snuggle on and read. we strung some r2-d2 lights and lanterns as well, to help with lighting.
We do bedtime stories on our own bed and then our son climbs into his bed. His previous bed was too small for an adult so it's the same routine we've always had. The height is really nice for talking to him and tucking him in at night.
Perfect timing. I was just looking for Kura ideas this morning as I'm certain one is in our very near future.
Curious about two things for anyone who owns one: First, what age did you feel comfortable with your child using the upper bunk? Second, does anyone happen to have the dimensions of the ladder? I'm wondering if we could fit a queen mattress on the floor perpendicular to the top bunk, but the website doesn't have that information.
I own one and we've had our son sleep on the top bunk at age 5 but stopped and flipped it back over since I heard him one night and went in and he was sleep walking up there. Yikes! Its nice to have the option to flip it though and we've kept it that way for at least a year now. It's about 59" from the ladder to the side post.
I chalkboarded my son's Kura four years ago when we got it. Best idea ever. He's always got the coolest bed in the neighborhood and it's great for parties with a wide age range since no kid under 25 can say no to a friggin chalkboard bed!
We let him dictate up or down and it's been in both positions numerous times. We never worried about him falling out since the sides are plenty high with a thin mattress. And the canopy which was mad mandatory provides a visual barrier. I am looking into padding the sides since he kicks and it sounds so painful when he hits a panel at 2am.
Regarding a queen bed under, I wouldn't suggest it. There's a 2x2" support bar that spans both long sides along the floor in loft mode. You would have to go over that. Then the thickness of the mattress would create a lot of severely bumped heads. Hell, I can't even sit up straight right on the carpet!
Here's a link to the Craftster post I did about it way back then.
We have two boys that will turn 2 and 4 this winter. We've had the Kura for awhile now and love it, but haven't yet flipped it into bunk mode for them to share. The age recommendation for top-bunk sleeping is 6+, I believe. We likely won't wait that long, but we will wait until they're past the "pushing and screaming" stage to avoid accidents. I'm thinking when they're 3 and 5 next year we'll be able to flip it.
We painted the panels apple green on the outside and left them white on the inside, but I wish now I'd either painted both sides or painted the white a complimentary color. Both the white and blue original colors of the panels aren't too great, as everyone knows. I'll probably end up hot gluing some cool fabric on the inside of the panels, which hopefully won't wreck the panels. We have the canopy up and blue led lights strung around the top, it's really cool.
I really like the Kura, but don't want to lose underbed storage room (we have almost no storage space in our old little house!). Anyone seen anything on the great wide web showing someone putting a real bottom and legs on this? We've got to get bunkbeds for our girls so they have more than 6sqft to play in in their room, but very few of the ones I've checked out have been okay with the oldest girl (she's completely scared by most bunks, especially if they're too tall or the ladder doesn't seem "part" of the bed).
I used white contact paper to cover the ugly bright blue sides of the KURA which was easy and inexpensive. IKEA are you seeing these posts?? Just make the side panels white or natural wood.
@notyou I'm 5' 10" and have had no trouble climbing up and cuddling for story time. My 4 year old son is the size of the average 6 year old. I can even manage to nurse my 4 month old while up there. When the bed was flipped, we managed bed time with my 4 year old son, my 2 year old daughter, and a hugely pregnant me. That was a very tight fit, though.
Our boys have been sleeping in a KURA (bunk bed style) since they were 3 & 4. We haven't had any problems with it. We read bedtime stories on the couch at night or in our bed.
We have had a Kura (actually two of them) for several years. We read stories all the time to the kiddos in their bed without having given it a second thought. Also, it may be it the comments somewhere, but one is obligated to purchase the Ikea mattresses to fit perfectly in the Kura bed space (The cheaper Ikea mattresses are slightly different size than US twin size and also thinner so that it is really snugged into the top bunk).
Does Ikea even sell the Kura anymore? It's not in the 2013 catalog, and doesn't appear to be online, either.
britta - It is still on the website, and I saw it in the store last time we were there in late August. Here is the link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10123996/
I did this when we moved recently, with the Kura we have had for 5 years. My boys are 9 and 6, and have been sharing a room for almost 3 years now. I haven't had time to do a full blog post on my main blog about it yet, but there is a slideshow in this entry on my house blog that shows how our Kura grew up: http://kithouse.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-been-quiet-but.html
@notyou - I agree with @jenstiles. I have Kura beds for my girls and we climb up in the bunks with them for story time every night. Even my husband fits who is 6'2".
We did not buy the IKEA mattresses for the Kura beds and were not obligated to buy one either. They seemed too flat and not very supportive, but we were careful about the mattress we put up there. The puffy pillow-top kind were too tall and we felt there wasn't enough of a lip to keep the kids contained. Standard US twin mattresses fit fine, even with a sheet, blanket, and a quilt tucked in.