Bunk Bed - help me avoid a budget buster!

[Abbeys_mom]

DD7 is ready for a loft/desk/bunkbed combo. Other than Ikea, where can I find a good price? Any tips about must haves, besides side rails of course.

TIA!

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

We have bought a decent one at Meijer before. I can't remember the price right now though.

 

[redlawyer]

I would definitely try Craigslist before going to a store to buy a set. We got lucky and my parents still had theirs in the attic.

 

[Disneys#1fan]

We got our DD's loft bed at Big Lots. I think we paid just under $200 when we used a 20% off coupon. It is by far the best built bed we could find for the money and it has the desk under it too!

 

[englishteacha]

Big Lots is having a 20% off Friends and Family sale next Sunday, if you can finagle a coupon. (In the past we've printed them from online) I've also had friends get decent furniture from Sam's Club or BJs.

I'd check Craigslist, the newspaper, etc. before buying new. Maybe even place a "wanted" ad for one. I know in our area, we've been lucky to get furniture from our local college when they remodel or update the residence halls. If there's a college in your area, you might want to call their maintenance department to see if they have any bunks and/or desks for sale.

 

[elgerber]

I saw a nice one at Costco on Friday, sorry I didn't check the price though.

 

[sookie]

not cheap
but we got dd9 a loft bed from PBTEEN.
love it.

 

[MomtoGKC]

My girls got bunk beds for Christmas. They already had beautiful Pottery barn headboards and I had a feeling they would get sick of the bunk beds after a few years so I wanted to go budget. It was very hard to find a decent set in white. One thing we noticed was that most of the budget sets had the top and bottom bunks so close together the person on the bottom couldn't even sit up.

We ended up going with a set from Wal Mart. I was nervous about how the quality would be, but it is great. Sturdy and nice looking. The kids have plenty of room to sit up on the bottom to read at night. The only drawback is that they didn't include any covers for the screws so you can see the silver on the white beds. I was going to get white paint to fix that but never bothered. Also, you have to put them together on your own. We are not good at that stuff and did it in a day.

The best part - the girls love it (although my oldest sleeps with her sister on the bottom a lot!) and it was only $250!!!

Here is the set we got...

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kylie-Collection-Twin-Over-Twin-Bunk-Bed/14504429

 

[thegilchrists]

We just bought a loft bed for our grandson on Friday from Walmart. It was $159. Very sturdy. Pretty good quality for the money . They had a bunch to choose from on Walmart.com. I think you can ship it "site to store" for free-just takes about a week.
They had desks and chairs to match it and they were marked down but he is not ready for those yet so we just put his toys and bookcase underneath with his tv.
Hope this helps!

 

[FoundMyPrince]

DD7 is ready for a loft/desk/bunkbed combo. Other than Ikea, where can I find a good price? Any tips about must haves, besides side rails of course.

TIA!

Another vote for Craigslist. I came across a couple yesterday while I was checking for a different item.

 

[debjk4]

We bought the loft one with desk for our daughter from Big Lots also...friends and family 20 percent off too(the furniture dept had some coupons in their area). It is metal...soft gray look...she loved it! until she decided she wanted to be in a "normal" bed again..ugh..not fun taking apart!

 

[kellydizfan]

Make sure you purchase the boards for under the mattress. I forget what they are called but I know it starts with a B. We have 2 sets of bunkbeds. We purchased both sets from two different furniture stores. The first set was just the beds. The 2nd set was the beds, 2 dressers and a long dresser with a mirror for my DD's room as they had single beds but they took up too much of the room. They wanted the bunk beds. My DS has his own set for incase he has friends over but they always end up sleeping out in the living room in front of the TV.

 

[JaymeC]

We actually got our kids bunkbed at walmart... I figured it was going to be a temporary solution, but it's hanging in there much better than I expected.

I will add, instead of getting a bunkie board get a piece of plywood cut to the measurements to slide in there. It takes any weight a lot better and is a better stabilizer imo. It'll probably last longer as well.

 

[MomtoGKC]

Sorry, I somehow missed the loft/desk part of the OP. I would still suggest looking at Wal Mart, just read all of the reviews and questions/answers people put on there, they can be very helpful.

Oh, and some bunk beds don't need the bunkie board, just check the website carefully. I know ours from Wal mart didn't need one, but others from Rooms to Go did need them.

One more thing, I really wanted to get a set that could use a real mattress, not one of those tiny thin ones. if that is important to you check the description carefully.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

Thanks for the ideas!

I found the exact same bed at Big Lots and Walmart, but it was $229 at Big Lots and $319 at Walmart, and of course she did not like that style.

Craigslist had a GREAT bed with the desk and 2nd bed for less than $300, we have an appointment to go see that, thanks!

We budgeted $500 for this, but I would LOVE to save some $$$ for other stuff.

 

[smb6]

We got our DD's loft bed at Big Lots. I think we paid just under $200 when we used a 20% off coupon. It is by far the best built bed we could find for the money and it has the desk under it too!

This is what I was going to suggest.... Big Lots has great deals on furniture! And it holds up well- I have bought bunkbeds and couches from them that I've had for several years now with no regrets...

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

We also got the twins a bed from Walmart
http://www.walmart.com/ip/your-zone-zzz-Collection-Twin-over-Full-Bunk-Bed-Walnut/13814282

We had to put it together, but I am impressed at how solid it is.