Buy a finished bunk bed whose maker states it meets the current bunk bed standard, and put it together exactly as the instructions say. Then choose the design that fits your room and the children who will sleep in it. Bunk beds are bought for the floor space they save, with two beds in the footprint of one. Before you choose a design, measure the width of the wall it will stand against and the height of your room.
Leave enough room between the top mattress and the ceiling for your child to sit up in bed without hitting their head. A bunk suits a larger room too, when two children share it or when you want the floor clear for play.
A bunk bed buys you floor space
Floor space is the main gain. Two children sleep in the footprint of one bed, and the space you free up takes a desk or a wardrobe. A smaller footprint is quicker to clean around as well.
Each child gets a bunk of their own, which gives them more privacy than two beds side by side.
Many bunk beds have drawers or shelves built into the frame, so clothes and toys have somewhere to go and the room stays tidier.
Bunk beds are usually bought for children, but a bunk in a spare room sleeps two guests in the space of one bed.
We asked Jim Oram, a home safety policy officer at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), from what age a child is safe on the top bunk. His answers came by email from RoSPA in October 2026.
Before you order, turn his readiness points into questions about your child and answer them. Answer them separately for each child, because children of the same age can differ. Before the first night, watch your child climb the ladder up and down on their own, once in daylight and once at bedtime with the lights as they'll be. If they're not ready yet, use the bottom bunk for now and ask those questions again later.
The designs run from a plain frame to a bed with storage built in
The simplest bunk is two platforms, one above the other, on a plain frame. More elaborate designs add shelves and drawers to the frame, so each child has storage of their own without another piece of furniture in the room.
A fitted bunk, built to the room, suits a small or awkwardly shaped bedroom where a freestanding bed leaves you no floor to walk on.
A standard bunk suits two children and a raised bed suits one
Most bunk beds fall into two groups. A standard bunk has a bed on each level, and a raised bed has the top bunk only, with the space underneath left open. Choose the standard bunk when your children share the room, and the raised bed when your child needs a desk or floor space under their bed.
Pick the features by what the room is short of
Choose the features by your child's age and by what the room lacks: a desk under a raised bed for homework, or drawers for clothes. A pull-out bed underneath covers sleepovers. Avoid the slides and tents that turn the bed into a climbing frame, because a bunk is for sleeping and not for play. Most features come built in or can be added later. The mattress for the top bunk has a depth limit of its own, which our bunk bed mattress guide covers. Ask your child what they want from the bed before you order, because they will notice what you have missed.
We also asked Jim Oram where bunk beds injure children. Check the parts he names before you look at the desk or the drawers.
Before paying, ask the seller to show where the listing or label states the standard he names, and walk away if they cannot. Stand where the top bunk will go, look at what hangs above it and stands beside it, then move the bed or fitting before the frame goes up. Keep the instructions and fixing key after assembly, and put a date in the diary to go round the bolts. On the first night, tell your child the bunk is only for sleeping in. A rule set early is easier to keep.
Four designs cover most of what is sold
Standard bunk. Two single beds sit one above the other, or a single sits above a double. Most can be split into two separate beds when the children are older.
Futon bunk. A raised bed sits over a futon that folds out into a second bed at night and back into a sofa by day. It suits a small room where you need the floor during the day, and the futon is where a friend sleeps on a sleepover night.
Loft bed. One bed is raised over an open space, with room for a desk or storage underneath. This is the raised bed for one child.
L-shaped bunk. The top bed sits at a right angle to the bottom one. It needs more floor space than a standard bunk.
Bunk beds come in metal and wood, in finishes that suit most rooms. Pick the one that goes with the furniture your child already has.
Measure the wall and the ceiling height before you compare the beds below.
