Getting the right children's cabin bed for your family
At srbWorld we recognise that family life is getting busier - families are
buying more than ever online, for the convenience as well as the good prices.
Our series of buying guides aims to give practical advice and information to
parents looking to buy children's products online from our team of expert
buyers. This guide offers useful insight into buying a children's cabin bed, a
second guide on furniture safety is also available.
Buying a Cabin Bed for your child
Cabin beds are becoming more and more popular, in part because parents recognise
their great bedroom space saving attributes and because kid's think they're fun.
Frequently called midsleepers or loft beds, there is an eclectic mix of girls
and boys cabin beds on the market and choosing between them is not always easy.
We have included here a few tips to make it a little easier to find the perfect
cabin bed for your child (from srbWorld or not) and to help you see the
difference between the many cabin beds available in the UK today.
Asking yourself the following questions may help you narrow down the search.
Why a cabin bed at all?
Sounds silly, but worth the consideraton before you start. If you are buying a
cabin bed because your girl or boy's bedroom is a little compact and you are
having trouble fitting in additional children's furniture (chest of drawers,
wardrobes etc) then you should avoid most curtained cabin beds or playhouse beds
and opt for the more substantial 'filled' designs that include integrated
storage furniture. For the same reason those fun looking beds with slides should
also be ignored. If it's really more you child making the choice of cabin bed,
then slides and curtains are the things to look for. Different styles of
curtains are often available, allowing to match them to your child's personality
and imagination.
More play orientated kids cabin beds are perfect for homes where your child's
bedroom is also their playroom - it stimulates their imagination as well as
giving them a new place to play. Once your daughter starts to outgrow their pony
themed pink curtains, or your son gets bored of the racing car themed
slide you can just untie them and you are left with a plain white children's bed
without an age limit!
**Top Tip** Cheaper cabin beds with integrated storage furniture tend to
have rather shallow drawers - check their depth to ensure there's not dead space
behind the unit.
What does your children need out of the bed?
Children's desks can often come as part of a cabin bed and can seem like great
value - but only if they're going to be used! A children's desk that is too
small is not adding value to your purchase. Worse, it will take up valuable
space that you could have used for more useful children's furniture. Do you
actually already have somewhere quiet enough for your son or daughter to work
when necessary?
Design Practicalities of Children's Beds
The Bed's Ladder
All children's cabin beds come with a ladder, but the style of the ladder can
vary. Some models offer an angled ladder and others are fitted flush to the side
of the bed. If you are buying a cabin bed for a smaller children's bedroom then
it goes without saying that you should aim for a bed with a flush ladder rather
than an angled one. An angled ladder in a small bedroom won't just take up more
space but could also block a wardrobe door or prevent access to a different part
of their bedroom.
Cabin Beds with Slides
There are a wide number of cabin beds with slides on the market that can vary
dramatically in quality. Slides are great fun and it is easy to see why kids
find them attractive and appealing. From a parent's perspective, they can be a
really useful way of persuading children to get out of bed in the morning and
get to school!
If you have decided on a children's bed with slide, you may want to consider the
following.
- Slides increase the footprint of the bed in the bedroom, in a small room your
child may well end up sliding into the middle of their bedroom.
- Good quality beds have slides that gently taper as they meet the floor rather
than stopping sbruptly at a harsh angle, your child's spine will thank you for
the little extra investment.
- Cheaper cabin beds are often made of poorer quality materials that length
strength and substance - whilst the slide is obviously just meant to be a way of
getting out of bed, we all know the abuse that most children's play equipment
gets - a strong slide means a safe slide. Fixings are an easy way for a
manufacturer to lower the cost of a cabin bed, this may give you a saving in the
short term, with additional cost in replacing them in the long term.
**TOP TIP** Use masking tape to mark out the footprint of the cabin bed onto
your child's bedroom floor - it may surprise you just how much room it can take
up!
Playhouse Style Cabin Beds
Midsleepers with themed curtains can be a fun and easy way to introduce colour
and texture into the design of a girls or boy's bedroom. Some curtains are in
the style of a garden playhouse for girls or a car workshop for boys for
example. Fabrics for children's bedrooms have to meet very high fire
regulations, a strict requirement for any product that is sold on srbWorld. If
in doubt, speak to the retailer of the bed or fabrics for confirmation that the
items you are looking at meet the correct specific children's regulations.
The washing instructions for these curtains are also important - being able to
easily remove the curtains to wash them at home without risk of shrinking and
without the hassle of outside dry cleaning is a vital but sometimes silent
point. As always - if you are in doubt then check with the retailer! All
playhouse bed curtains on srbWorld.com can be washed at 40 degrees and will fit
into the majority of front loading washing machines.
Sleeping on a cabin bed
In the UK, the law treats cabin beds that have a sleeping area that is 80cms or
more from the floor in the same way as a bunk bed. This means that it has to
comply with a host of safety requirements. See the srbWorld guide to furniture
safety for more information.