Decisions, decision, decisions. If I had a penny for every time I was asked which bed I should choose, I would be a very wealthy man indeed. Every day I get asked should I go for the metal bunk bed or the wooden bunk bed. All I can say here is that common sense will prevail and you will find out the appropriate answer by looking at your own personal preferences.

If your son or daughter consider themselves a bit of a trendsetter and doesn’t normally conform to the norm then the metal bunk bed could be just what they are looking for. When your kids friends see the metal bunk bed that your son or daughter have they will be green with envy. I know this to be the case as this happened to my own kids a few years ago. They went over to a friends house and said they had the coolest bed ever and wanted me to go and have a look at it. Now their timing couldn’t have been better as they needed a new bed anyway.

So a couple of weeks later I relented and went out and bought them a new bunk bed. It was different to the one they saw but it started the wheels in motion. If your child is a little bit quieter then they might prefer the old traditional wooden bunk bed which is made out of wood. The chances are that seventy percent of kids will choose the metal bunk bed as they are really sleek looking. At the end of the day it is your decision.

A few people have asked me to provide them with a checklist of questions they can ask themselves when deciding on a kids bed.

·         Will the wall and the carpet in the bedroom match the futon bunk bed

·         Will I need additional cash to spend on extras like paint, fabrics and carpets

·         If I had to choose between a metal futon bed and a wooden futon bed which one is most likely going to last the longest.

·         Do I need an interior designer for the bedroom redesign or can I do it myself.

·         Will the present mattress you are using fit the new futon bunk bed or will I have to go out and buy an additional one.

·         Can you give any advice on what I should do with the bed I have in the house. Should I throw it out or pass it on to a family friend or even on to one of my own kids.

All of these are questions that should be examined in further detail before any purchase is made. There will always be additional unforeseen costs that you need to factor into the equation so bear that in mind when you are doing out the budget.

You have a couple of choices when deciding on putting your bed together. Should you do it yourself or should you get someone to do it for you. I know I personally fall into the 2^nd camp as the prospect of banging nuts, bolts and screws into a bed is just of little interest to me. Some people love to take out the toolbag, get the drill out and generally make a lot of noise and mess in attempting in trying to put the futon bunk bed together. As far as I am concerned  that would be my idea of my worst nightmare.

I do have some bad news for the DIY enthusiasts, putting together futon bunk beds has been really simplified and even someone who is afraid to change a plug would be able to accomplish it. So you can put away all your tools that make a guest appearance once a year.

Even now I have difficulty in justifying paying someone to put a bed together as it is so simple to do. All you have to do is literally stick things end to end, the amount of screws you use has now been reduced as well. If the thought of this still bothers you, there are always people willing to do this work for you. Just hop online or look in the yellowpages and you are bound to find someone. What I normally do is ask the bed manufacturer to recommend someone to do the job.

You will be thrilled to hear that the vast majority of futon bunk beds have a huge selection in colours, sizes and shapes. The biggest plus of a futon bunk bed is that it is a massive spacesaver. Added to this is that they are really sophisticated looking which cant be said about the majority of kids beds that are being sold in stores. The number 1 issue for any parent when buying any type of bunkbed is “Is the bed I am buying 100 % safe for my child ?”

For any bed that has a top bunk which a futon bed does, you will need to double check that it has guard rails. You need gurad rails to prevent a child from falling out and injuring themselves. It is irrelevant if you have a teenager as well, these guard rails are still a necessary evil. When it comes to safety you should be able to relax a little as the majority of beds that make it to market have to be tested. These are not just cases where an inspector looks over a bed and says it is good to go on the market.

They have to pass fire inspections, quality of materials as well as quality of workmanship. So the chances of buying a lemon are reduced by a huge amount. If you aren’t satisfied with the amount of information you have received to date on a website then don’t be afraid to ask additional questions. Your mind will never be fully at ease until you hear the answers you expect. You don’t want to be waking up in the middle of the night worrying about the futon bunk bed you just bought.

If you have what you consider to be a messy son or daughter and you are at your wits end trying to get them to clean up after themselves, then maybe I have a solution for you which you may be interested in. You will be delighted to know that you are not in the minority here at all. Every day, we get phone calls from frustrated and sometimes even angry parents complaining about the pigstye mess that their kids have left behind.

Parents like your good self are desperately seeking a solution to this old turnip. Did you ever think that maybe the problem is the room and the bed that your son or daughter are sleeping in. Now I am the first to admit that this is a rather tenuous link but there is definitely a connection here, Let me explain what I mean.

What your son or daughter needs in their bedroom is a spacious are where they can fully express themselves. That is easily achieved by getting a futon bunk bed. At present your sons or daughters room probably has clothes strewn on the floor, shoes everywhere etc. When you combine a bed into a living space which has a bed, futon and desk you will begin to see a huge difference in how your children look after it. Suddenly, their living quarters will go from being one of the messiest around to one of  the cleanest, literally overnight.

So what are the massive differences between bunk beds and loft beds or are there any at all.

-          When you total everything up in a kids bedroom you will need a bed, mattress, desk, additional bed or mattress  when a friend stays over. When you buy a loft bed you get all the above included which you don’t get with a bunk bed so the savings in price are definitely worth shouting home about.

-          The way loft beds utilise space is far better than bunk beds ever could be. I don’t know of any bunkbeds that have managed to integrate a desk wardrobe and computer, practically none I would say.

-          Loft Beds when you add on the futons can sleep an extra friend for a sleepover. Bunk beds don’t have futons which can do this.

-          Without a shadow of doubt loft beds fall into the category of KOOL with a capital K. They even look smarter and funkier than any of the bunk beds on the market.

-          Kids are fanatical about loft beds as they are still a relatively cool phenomenon. None of their friends will own a loft bed and that’s one of the special attractions of them.

-          Loft beds or High Sleepers are a parents best friend as they are so simple to put together. You don’t have to spend hours on end getting frustrated as you fail miserably in working out how to put the bed together. There are no complicated instructions or manuals, everything practically falls into place quickly and easily.

If you have more than 2 children then this is an idea certainly worth looking at especially if you are planning to have more on the way at some stage in the future. At the present the chances are that your children are sleeping in separate rooms. To free up some space what you can do is put 2 children in the one room. Now you have a multitude of options.

You could decide that your kids would be happier in a bunk bed environment where one sleeps on the top and one on the bottom. This throws up its own potential problems in that each child will be lacking in having any sort of independence as they will be sharing everything.

What you could do is get 2 futon loft beds. This will mean that each child will have his or her own desk as well as their own futon bed. This will mean that they will have their own desk to do homework and will also have that all important feeling of independence.

They can also both have friends to stay as you can just convert the futon into and extra bed. So potentially you could have 4 people in the same room. So is there a downside to this. The answer is not really, however you will need a rather large room to manage 2 futon loft beds into them. If that doesn’t really appeal to you then there is no reason why you can’t revert back to bunkbeds. Even the bunkbeds nowadays have come on in leaps and bounds compared to ten years ago and the selection is just massive.

Next there is the futon bed which is a fantastic addition. Whoever  thought of this was clearly on the ball. Kids can use these futon beds  to chill out and relax on as well as having friends over to stay got sleepovers. This is where the loft beds are the cats pyjamas.

There is  nothing better as far as a child is concerned to have a friend stay over in their room for a sleepover. The pros of this are that you don’t have to worry about buying additional beds as the futon loft bed acts ad another bed. So you  are saving yourself buying another bed so you could buy another piece of furniture in addition to the life bed.

When you do buy the loft bed  you can also increase the space in the room by putting up shelves underneath the top bunk and just above the desk. Kids like to put  files and books on these shelves along with all the other stuff the 

need to get their homework done.

Picture your little boy or girl in their box bedroom but having  nowhere to play as they have practically no space at all as the place  is full of desks and wardrobes.  So how can you remedy this potential  nightmare. Hard as this is to believe there is a solution to this  massive problem for a huge amount of parents. The solution is what is  known as a loft bed or sleeper.

This has been the best product to hit  the Market in years from the bed manufacturers. It was obviously a  logical progression from the bunk bed. Everyone knows what a bunk bed  looks like but not many are very familiar with a loft bed or sleeper.  So let’s look at the principlal differences. Bunk beds have 2 beds one  on the top and one on the bottom.

You access the top bunk by means of  a ladder which is attached to the side of the bunk. With a loft bed  you also get to the top bunk using a ladder as well. However there is  no bottom bunk at all. What you have is just a top bunk. Underneath  you can have a desk along with futon bed.  The desk is a real space  saver never mind the cost of it as well. On the desk your son or  daughter can do all their homework in a fraction of the time it would  take them to do it in the kitchen.

One of the major problems kids  encounter is having the essential peace and quiet especially if they  have a bunch of siblings who aren’t at the homework stage yet. They  don’t understand how important it is for their brother and sister to  get their work done. This will not prove to be any obstacle at all now  that they have their own desk in their own room to complete all their  assignments.

Time for an embarrassing story. About 6 months ago I was reading the latest Harry Potter book to my 2 girls who are mad about all of JK Rowlings books. I opened the book and sat down on my 4 year old daughters bed and literally fell through it. Now I am the first to admit that I had out on a few pounds over the previous 6 months but even I was surprised that the bed wasn’t able to take my weight. I was expecting the bottom bunk of the bunkbed to be slightly sturdier but I was mistaken.

It was the massive crack of the wood splintering that really surprised me. Fortunately, I hadn’t done irreparable damage to the bed. So I went downstairs and duly got my toolbox and took out my screwdriver, hammer and nails to try and repair the damage that I had done unwittingly.

After messing around for half an hour and fixing the bed, I have to admit I was quite proud of my handywork. I should say I was proud of my work until 2 months later when I totally forgot about the damage I had previously inflicted on the bed and sat down on it again, only to have the same result as previously. The bed frame cracked again much to my embarrassment, the girls thought it was hilarious. It was only then thet I realised I had to shift a few pounds as well.