Bunk Beds for the Grandkids: Setting Up a Room They’ll Beg to Visit

The chapter book you read together is still on the shelf, with the bookmark where you stopped. The puzzle you started is waiting on the table. There’s an empty drawer where the grandkids know they can put their pajamas as soon as they arrive. Little things like these can make a spare room feel like a place they get to come back to.

Start with the visit you have most often. Give each grandchild a sleeping spot that suits them, leave a place for their things and make a simple plan for the weekends when everyone comes at once. If you also use the room for work, sewing or reading, sketch out where those things belong between visits.

Leave a little of the last visit waiting for them

Give each child a drawer or basket within easy reach. It can hold the book you’re reading together, a spare pair of pajamas or the drawings they want to finish next time. A teen might prefer a clear shelf for a phone and a little privacy to unpack. Keep charging cords and bags away from the bunk and the path to the door.

Pick one thing you’d both enjoy doing again. Keep a notebook of pancake recipes you’ve tried together or make room on a shelf for a photo from each visit. If space is tight, keep the rainy-day games in a basket you can bring out at the kitchen table. You can make it a tradition even when the room is small.

Choose beds for a regular visit

Bunk beds for grandkids can make room for two sleepers in a compact layout when one can use the upper bunk. Children under six should stay off the upper bunk. Think about where each child is comfortable sleeping and how easy it is for them to get up during the night.

Before a busy weekend, ask parents what their children sleep on at home and where they’d be comfortable here. A child who turns in early might enjoy a quiet room down the hall while the older cousins stay together. Give each visitor a spot before you shop for another bed.

Decide who will sleep where before buying

Before offering the upper bunk to an older child, check the manufacturer’s instructions and talk with their parents about how they handle climbing, nighttime wake-ups and the house rules. Use both upper guardrails, the specified mattress size and thickness, and the bed’s own ladder or stairs. Allow one person on the upper bunk and keep play off the frame. See our top-bunk readiness guide and the federal bunk bed instructions.

A grandchild who used to tuck into a twin may need more length a few summers later. Compare the mattress size on the level they’ll use. If a parent also stays over, check the size and weight limit for their sleeping surface. Think about whether you’ll want to sit on the lower bed to read or help a child at bedtime. Check the room between the lower mattress and the underside of the top bunk. Our bunk bed size guide can help narrow the choices.

Measure the room the way it will be used at bedtime

A bed can fit against the wall and still leave too little room to pull out a trundle or walk past an open drawer. Use the exact bed and options you’re considering for these three checks.

1. Mark the full frame and access. Include the ladder or stairs, the floor where a child gets on and off, and enough space to approach the lower bed and change its sheets. Check headroom from the top of the selected mattress and account for ceiling fans or light fixtures.
2. Try the room with things open. Mark the trundle or drawers in their open position. Swing the room and closet doors and check whether a suitcase or hamper would block the path. Our bunk bed trundle guide walks through this part of the layout.
3. Walk the nighttime route. Start at each bed and follow the route to the door and bathroom. Leave space for someone to help at the lower bedside. Put a night-light where it helps with the route and keep cords clear of the bed and walkway.

Choose what goes under the lower bunk

Use drawers if extra sheets, towels and spare clothes are the everyday problem. Choose a trundle if you need another suitable bed often enough and it fits when open. Keep bags somewhere else on nights you use it. Check the trundle’s mattress and weight limits separately from the bunks.

A grandparent who reviewed our Moreno Grey Queen over Queen Bunk Bed in 2023 chose the Full XL trundle so there would be an extra bed when the grandchildren visited. The Moreno currently offers the bed alone, optional underbed drawers or an optional Twin XL or Full XL storage trundle. You select one configuration. Think about your next few visits and whether you’d use the extra sleeping spot or the storage more often.

Give the first night an easy rhythm

Have the beds made before they arrive, with an extra blanket nearby. Show them where to put their bags, where to find a cup of water and how to get to the bathroom after lights out. A younger child might want to bring a familiar bedtime book or ask you to leave the hall light on. Ask what helps them settle in at home.

When it’s time to slow down, pull a chair up to read together or make a spot in the living room for everyone to listen. If the grandkids want to make a fort or spread out a game, give them a place away from the bed and the climbing path. Then let them choose the story or decide which game you’ll leave out for breakfast time.

Make the room easy to reset

Keep a clean set of sheets for each mattress together and label the sizes if they differ. After a visit, wash the sheets, put the trundle away according to the instructions and return the toys and books to their spot. A basket for the things they’ve left behind keeps the rest of the room free for your worktable or reading chair.

Before the next long visit, check who is coming and whether anyone has outgrown their sleeping spot. The child who used to need you beside the bed may now appreciate a little space to read alone. Keep the parts of the room they still enjoy and make space for what they do now.

If you’re shopping for bunk beds, share your room dimensions, ceiling height and the beds you’re considering with a Totally Home Furniture Personal Shopper. Tell us how many low sleeping spots you need and how often you’ll use an extra bed. We can help compare the layouts.