Instead of a bunk bed, to give your daughter a place to play plus the option of a bunk, how about a loft bed, with mattress on top and a desk or play space underneath? You could put a small dresser under there, plus a cushy beanbag chair, and use rings or clip hooks or velcro to even put drapes on the bottom to create an enclosed space when desired. Then having the dresser under there should give you room to have another twin (with a trundle, or with storage underneath) in the room.

My younger DS had a bunk over a desk, but that was pretty tall. He loved it, but by the time he was about 10, being a taller guy, climbing up into the bunk was no fun any more, and sitting up in bed wasn't great - and we have 8' ceilings.

Another option would be a twin daybed with pop-up trundle. I've linked a random example. As your daughter gets older, she might appreciate the sofa-like appearance of a daybed versus a bunk bed. The pop-up trundle would allow you to have the same number of beds as a bunk bed when needed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Daybed

I would opt for a trundle. My boys have a 10x10 room, and we ended up separating their beds because the room looked bigger with two low beds than one bunkbed. The bed nearly the ceiling made the room looked cramped and even smaller.

Just my $.02!

One thing to consider is that some people may not want their kids sharing a bed, or people might be bringing unrelated kids and they might not want to share a bed, so that full-size mattress might only sleep one in some families. Which might limit the number of people willing to rent from you, because you've gone from 1 full or queen bed in the master and three twins, to the full/queen in the master, plus another full in the kids' room, plus the twin upper bunk.

There are a few trundle bunk beds out there, but you'd probably have to search to find a store that carries one in the showroom. And they probably wouldn't work with your low ceilings.

You could consider regular twin bunk beds and a high-quality rollaway bed.

These are some great ideas. I appreciate everybody's helpfulness. I'm sorry that so far nobody has said that a twin over full bunkbed would work.

Les - that is one good idea - to put the dresser under the loft - if there's a separate twin. My daughter would still miss having a bed over her - she likes being cocooned in a lower bunk. This way she could do it to play but not for sleeping.

Fun2bhere - those are attractive trundles - which would achieve the extra bedding we're seeking but none of the fun of playing up high - or sleeping/playing in a nook under an upper bunk.

Finz2left - thank you for the feedback. If regular bunkbeds crowd a 10 by 10 room, a twin over full is bound to cram it. The only mitigating factor might be that nobody is there for more than a few days to a week at a time. Our master bedroom is pretty tiny too (10 by 10 - with a nook that's about 5 by 6 - some of which is closet and doorway). I'd feel crowded in it at home - but for the few days at a time we've spent there, it's been fine.

Camlan - you're right that some people wouldn't view a full bed as accomodating two (heck - I know we wouldn't), but I'm not that concerned about losing those few renters. We'd rather not be renting to a family who is also bringing unrelated kids. It's just too small - and we're not really renting to groups. So usually if there are five, it is three kids in one family. (I suppose they could bring an air mattress if they wanted - or we could do that trundle thing - but I think a trundle bunkbed would surely be too tall in that room).

MJLB - that room is awesome. My daughter just peeked over my shoulder and loves it. Of course, we couldn't fit most of that - but we have one 10 foot wall - and could perhaps fit just the overlapping bed portion. Where did you find that? I'd love to consider something like that. The ladder looks a bit uncomfortable and there's no safety rail but it's also lower to the ground. Interesting you mention the striped wall. I hadn't thought about the reason for it, but this room does have vertical stripes (in a pale ocean blue and buttermilk). Two owners ago the owner was an artist -and she did beautiful things with faux painting in the condo (also wonderful fabrics, window treatments and some furnishings that conveyed). We would not have room on the other side for another twin. The only wall that could accomodate this (no closet door or room door in the way) is 10 feet long. The other opposite wall has sliding closet doors and can't have furniture against it.

It's possible that we just can't accomodate bedding for three in there - but I'll keep thinking about it.

If anyone has had a decent experience with a regular twin over twin (or twin over full) bunkbed in such a small room, I'd love to hear it.

Thank you.
Lynn.

If I were to search

I do think the bunk over full bed would work as far as space goes, but maybe not from a rental standpoint. As someone pointed out, it isn't very flexible for renters who want to sleep three, but without sharing a bed.

Could you fit the 3rd twin at a 90-degree angle to the overlapping bunk beds? Sort of like this? A little bit penitentiary as drawn, but nicely decorated? No sourcing on the red and white room. Many furniture vendors have low-cost custom furniture made from standard size cubes. A children's furniture store might do the same, or even a closet-outfitter.

I would bet the bottom drawer on the striped room bottom bed is a trundle so it would fit three. Just a thought.

That's a great picture Mjlb. Thanks. I'll be saving that for when my little guy is older.

We have awesome built-in triple bunks in our three girls' room. Their ceiling is 7 feet 9 inches and it works out great. I can comfortable sleep in any of them. If you don't want to build on in, I would do regular double bunks, twin over twin, with a trundle.

This may sound silly, but you could find a bunk bed your daughter likes and shorten the legs underneath the bottom bed so it's lower to the ground and gives the upper bunk more headroom.

Here are a variety of bunk and loft bed solutions, including the overlapping bunk.

I don't have any experience with the brand, but they look nice. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Matrix Kids

Here is another picture of overlapping loft beds. Maybe purchase the daybed/trundle and look into having a carpenter build something around it. You could have a lot of fun with this!

Here is a link that might be useful: Overlap loft bed

We purchased a bunk bed from BunkBedDeals.com. When speaking to them they suggested a minimum of 30-36" of clearance from the top of the mattress to the ceiling. A lot of the beds legs raise the bed probably a foot off the floor. One option would be to purchase a wood bed and trim the legs down but I'm sure this would void the warranty. Just an idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: bunk beds for sale

Daybed are hard to make and bedding for them is limited.

I'd look at the regular twin beds with trundle underneath. Wesley Allen has some very nice ones. I think WA might also have a couple of full or queen bed with room for a trundle underneath.

Good luck.

I had the Riley bed in my son's room before we redid it. Our ceilings are 8ft 1 or 3", I can never remember. And it was very tight to sit up in that bed, even for an older child. He stopped sleeping on top at the age of 7. So I really don't think this is an ideal solution for you with even lower ceilings.

I would not do bunks with low ceilings, but my college dorm had bunks we could configure into a taller and lower bed and most of us used the taller with the lower one tucked under one corner like 2/3 of what mjlb posted. I was going to suggest something like that, even with a full or queen on the bottom because you only need clearance for foot and leg space -- not head clearance.

My grandmother's guest room at one point had what were then called Hollywood studio or daybeds -- two twins tucked into a corner, often with a large square table in the corner that one of the beds slid under or both beds could just push up to it. I saw some with elevated shelves in the back or other clever details (update the idea with a docking or charging station, etc.). Either of these options could also have a trundle underneath too -- if you have room to pull it out.

We put a twin over full bunkbed in a weekend-use condo bedroom. My kids hated it. It was imposing and it felt like it took up the whole room. Nobody wanted to sleep so close to the ceiling. The sheets were difficult to change.

W did like having the full option because sometimes grandma came with us and she was fine sleeping with one of my kids. You could never do that with a twin sized bed.

We now have the mattresses on the floor, having sold the bunked on craigslist. Ours also had a twin pullout trundle under the full, and that was used more than the top bunk.

My kids shared a small bedroom with a low ceiling at our former home. We handled the bunkbed situation by getting a bed that was supposed to go over a chest of drawers (Captain's bed? ) and a trundle frame with a mattress on top of it... so we go the effect of a full height bunkbed, but closer to the ground. (The boys were 6 and three when we went to this set-up.)

My sons slept in those beds until my older one started HS-- even after we moved to this house and they could have had their own rooms. Elder Son (who was taller) always slept on top, The Boy always slept on the bottom. He liked his cozy little cave. Still won't get you sleeping for three, but it WILL give you more floor space for other stuff...