Bunk Beds

With our expanding family and growing children, we knew a big girl bed was quickly becoming a necessity for Miriam.  And rather than cram a twin bed alongside a toddler bed into the girls small room, we decided bunk beds would just be a better fit for our family.  Luckily Owen's sister had gorgeous ones she was selling, so we snatched them up and got the girls into them at the beginning of the year.

The transition has been pretty easy too.  We left their bedroom door cracked the first couple nights not really knowing what to expect.  Nobody escaped the first night, but Liesl quickly discovered she was free to roam and she started coming in time after time.  Only one or two nights of that made us quickly decide they had to have the door closed like normal.  For now, Liesl still cannot open our doorknobs, but the lock is reversed on their door so once she can and if it's a problem, we at least have that option.  Hopefully she will just leave it be and play and then sleep.

The first few nights either Owen or I would lie by Liesl to get her to sleep, after those nights though she started to play around and not fall asleep quickly so we've just let her get herself in bed after she plays for a half hour or so.  We have been pretty impressed with how grown up she's been about it since she went straight from a crib to the bottom bunk.  She's fallen out once and although we know we could buy one of those bed rails, she seems to stay near the wall and isn't much of a wiggler in her sleep.  She must have inherited that from me (although I was a wiggly sleeper when I was little) because I can sleep a whole night and only have to pull the covers back up to make the bed in the morning...that is, when I'm the only one in the bed.  With Owen around, we have to straighten and tug and pull and tuck and pretty much start all over making the bed every day.  Miriam sleeps like he does.

Miriam plays some nights and other nights stays in bed and goes right to sleep.  She was warned very sternly that she is no allowed to jump or stand on the top bunk and pushing is absolutely not OK.  Right around Christmas she pushed some of her cousins of their bunk beds and it was not a pretty talking to she got.  I think she knows how dangerous it is now after the many warnings she has received since then.

I plan to paint them white (not stark white, just slightly creamy in nature) as well as all the other wood furniture in their room.  Maybe one day it won't look like I totally hodge-podge our home together.  I know coordinating furniture and decor is not a necessity, but I have this annoying designer bird in my brain who just peck, peck, pecks away and drives me crazy when things don't look how I envision.  Budget or not, I will find a way to make their room like I want it one day.  Even if that's 10 years down the road and they want nothing to do with little girl stuff!!

 I would post a picture of them sleeping in them, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to get a picture of kids sleeping in a dark room on a bunk bed.  It's not the same as a normal bed.  So instead you just get a picture of the beds.