If you’re fortunate enough to have more guests than guest rooms, a tricked-out bunk room might be the space-saving solution your home needs when friends and family come for a visit. We’ve spotted the bunk room trend everywhere from vacation rentals to grandparent nests and now in upscale settings. These gorgeous guest rooms offer the inspiration you need to get a jump-start on your next project.

What Is a Bunk Room?

A bunk room is a room that you outfit with multiple sleeping spaces. While there is not one right way to do this, most include more than two mattresses in any number of configurations, including lofts, beds set end-to-end on the floor, or a series of bunk beds. A bunk room is designed to sleep a crowd and makes the most of your square footage.

Bunk Room Space Requirements

To create a functional and comfortable room for bunk beds, your space should have ceilings that are a minimum of 8 feet high. If you’re lucky enough to have higher ceilings, even better. This will make it easier to get into that top bunk and provide a comfortable sleeping situation. You’ll also want a minimum of 40 inches between the top and bottom beds to create a comfortable space for the bottom bunker.

How to Make a Bunk Room Special

Interior designer Brittany Bromley created a sophisticated, immersive hideaway by wrapping the room in mix-and-match wallpaper and fabrics and painting the built-ins and trim to match. Here are a few of her best tips for privacy, lighting, and storage.

Color Coordinate

One way to instantly upgrade a bunk room is to stick to a narrow palette. Bromley used a two-color scheme pulled from Christopher Farr La Jungle wallpaper and fabric, then painted all the woodwork Benjamin Moore New Born’s Eyes to unify the room. Neutral, natural fibers like jute and rattan temper the playful hue.

Hang Curtains

Adding curtains to bunks or nooks allows for privacy and darkness control (and is something you can do to a store-bought bed, too). Bromley suggests installing double-sided curtains so they look good from inside and outside the bunk.

Incorporate Lighting

Mounting a sconce in each berth lets every sleeper control their own reading light. Bromley says it’s handy to choose adjustable-arm sconces that can be pulled closer when needed. If you can’t hardwire lighting in, try one of the new cordless, rechargeable varieties from Pooky.

Add Smart Storage

Take full advantage of the area below the lower bunk. Bromley’s have a trundle bed beneath, but you could also select a bed with drawers. Bookshelves and a window seat with drawers further maximize storage.

Bunk Room Ideas Everyone Will Love

Three more interior designers share their tips to make bed nooks feel bespoke with clever customizations.

Elevate the Look with Trim

In this garden-inspired room, designer Becky Nielsen tucked bunk beds into a corner and had the side rails and drawer details made from lattice. Gingham fabric panels with awning-style valances create an enveloping effect.

Use Awkward Spaces

To make use of the space beneath the eaves, designer Stephanie King specified a bed nook and had an upholsterer make a custom French mattress in a size between a twin and a full. Upholstery-weight fabric lets it double as a seat cushion.

Make the Beds

Aiming for bunks that would be easy to access and make up with linens, designer Ashley Gilbreath fashioned niches with a staircase instead of a ladder. She says a queen-size coverlet, cut in half and hemmed by a tailor, fits a twin mattress without excess to tuck in.