Sleepovers never go out of style. Neither do bunk beds.
Kitchen islands and conversation pits may wax and wane, but this residential touchstone remains evergreen. And upgrades like the built-in bunk bed Steve and Brooke Giannetti crafted for Jennifer Garner’s sumptuous slumber party room demonstrate how much potential the model offers. Just ask AD100 interior designer and bunk bed enthusiast Ken Fulk. “The most charming part of bunk beds is the visual repetition they offer in a room,” he says, “whether it’s the repeat of patterns on bedding, the detailing in the craftsmanship, or simply the symmetry of the duplicate shapes.”
Los Angeles–based interior designer Jamie Bush also touts numerous built-in bunk beds across his portfolio. “I always find it’s a chance to be more playful and fun,” he says. The built-in bunk room is a “modern invention,” he notes: “That typology developed in the 20th century in a very natural way, when people had more free time and would have secondary homes.”
Fulk concurs. “They are perfect in a vacation home, where bunking up with friends is a nostalgic throwback to summer camp or sleepovers,” he says. “They are not always ideal for a forever home where kids might outgrow them.”
Bush and Fulk aren’t alone. Nate Berkus has also tried his hand at the genre, rendering an entire bedroom of bunk beds for Ray Romano’s desert hideaway. “The bunk room was designed with future grandchildren in mind,” Berkus says. “As the vision really started to take shape, excitement grew with everyone clamoring to claim a bunk.”
