Sometimes you have a
bedroom without a lot of
space and it's usually
the bed that takes up
most of it. Especially
for rooms that are
designed to be more than
just sleeping areas
(kids' rooms, for
example), this can mean
that there's not a lot
of room for the rest of
the things - desk, chair
and other paraphernalia
- that the room needs to
contain. Here are some
ideas on beds that
maximize your space and
allow the room's space
to be used to its full
potential.
The Shelf
Headboard:
Possibly the simplest
thing you can do to
combine sleeping
arrangements with
space-saving, the
headboard that doubles
as a shelf can hold
books, tissues, lights
and anything else
imperative for bedtime.
Most beds can handle an
appropriately sized
shelf-headboard, making
it an economical option
for people who already
have a good bed.
Bunk beds:
The original
space-saving solution,
the bunk bed! These beds
are generally geared
towards children who
have to share a room or
a child who has a lot of
sleepovers. Bunk beds
are also an option for
guest bedrooms and for
storage of toys and
equipment on the top
bunk. For children, they
can also function as an
economical canopy bed
with the addition of
curtain rods. Take note
that it is strongly
recommended that
children under the age
of 6 not be given the
top bunk.
Mezzanine/Loft beds:
At first, these
appear to be bunk beds,
but they generally lack
a second sleeping
arrangement on the
bottom, leaving space
for a chair, desk, or
anything else that a
person might desire
underneath. Some come
with elaborate setups
that include shelves,
steps and matching
furniture. Others are
just the bed and a
ladder. These are ideal
for college dorm rooms
and smaller rooms that
need to house an active
child. The same caveat
that applies to the top
of bunk beds applies to
lofts - no kids under 6.
Murphy beds:
A Murphy bed will
flip up against a wall
when it is not in use.
This enables the
floorspace that it would
otherwise occupy to
serve for other
purposes. Murphy beds
have come a long way
from the cartoon cliches
that folded up on
hapless characters. Many
of them today have
exceptionally
comfortable mattresses
and are easy to take
down and put away.
Modifications to the
Murphy style allow for a
desk or other useful
feature to "pop out"
when the bed is put
away.
Hanging beds:
Some of these beds
just hang from the
ceiling and don't offer
any more storage space
than a regular bed with
room underneath the
frame. However, a few
enterprising businesses
and individuals have
created hanging beds on
a pulley system,
allowing the bed to be
swung to the ceiling and
out of the way. This
requires a fairly high
ceiling relative to the
room's occupant to be
truly useful and care
must be taken that the
pulley bed, equipment
and structure it is
affixed to are able to
take the weight of both
bed and occupant(s).
Bedup:
This French
concoction puts the bed
on tracks and gives it
some fold-down legs so
that you can raise and
lower it like a hanging
bed on pulleys, only
it's anchored to the
wall. This makes the bed
less movable and gives
it some solid support
from the legs as well as
the tracks it runs on
Futons:
What we think of as a
futon and what the
Japanese, the creators
of this style of bed,
think of as a futon are
two completely different
animals. The Japanese
futon refers only to a
mattress that is often
folded up and put away
during the day, allowing
for use of the bedspace.
The Western "futon"
tends to refer to the
mattress and the frame
it is placed upon, which
can be laid out like a
bed or folded up like a
couch. Either way, these
are very good beds to
use for a small space.
However, one should take
care in the type of
futon they choose; many
futon mattresses are
cheap copies of
traditional mattresses
and are not supportive
of the back.
Sofa beds:
The first cousin of
the futon, the sofa bed
mimics an ordinary sofa,
but turns into a
different creature
entirely when night
falls. A mattress
appears out of hiding
and folds out to create
an ample bed, the width
of the original sofa
seating space. If it's
space saving you're
after, this is
definitely one to
consider.
Trundle beds:
Another time honored
tradition, the trundle
bed is a
bed-within-a-bed. One
bed is put together the
normal way, but its
frame is just a giant
drawer, holding another
bed. Perfect for small
spaces and frequent
sleepovers. Most trundle
beds have the mattresses
at different heights,
but some have pop-out
mechanisms that put the
trundle mattress at the
same height as the main
bed.
You can do a lot with
a smaller living space
if you find the right
furniture. Check out
some of these options if
saving space is
important to you.
