Over the past few years, I've been asked many times about stairway bunk beds, or bunk beds that have stairs instead of a ladder to get to the top bunk. Having stairs instead of a ladder has one major advantage, safety. If you are worried about your kids actually climbing a ladder and whether or not they can handle it, especially when you can't be with them every second, and believe me it only takes one second of not paying attention for a child to get hurt, then stairs is probably for you.

Having stairs lead to the top of the bunk is not only a crucial safety feature, but it can make going to bed on the top bunk fun, as if it weren't fun enough, I guess what I meant was more fun. Remember how much fun it was for you as a kid when you got to sleep on the top bunk? It was almost a feeling of independence as a kid, freedom from the floor and the rest of the world.

Another great feature that stairs provide is the ability to have storage underneath these stairs. I've seen a few sets where drawers have been built to utilize this space nicely. In fact, it's like having a dresser on the end of the bunk beds that will store all your clothes. Think of it, two beds and a dresser all built into one unit, now that's extreme practicality.

Now that we've defined the benefits of having stairs lead to the top bed on your bunk beds, let's discuss the downside. Can you think of any? Well, there is really only one drawback and if you can work around it, you will have no problems. Since the stairs are typically built on the end of the bunk beds, you will need more room to accommodate the bunk bed set, more room lengthwise that is, and this is where most bedroom floor plans fall short. You might be able to get the bed in against the longest wall and have it fit rather nicely, but then you find the drawer option that is going to house all your kids clothes doesn't work. That is, there isn't enough room to even open the drawers.

So as a good rule of thumb, make sure you know where you would like your new bed to fit in the room, take some measurements, find out the entire length of the bunk bed including the stairs, and then add twenty four inches on top of that if you expect to have drawers at the end. Remember, not only does the drawer have to open all the way up, but you have to be able to get in there at the same time.

One other thing to keep in mind when planning out space in the room for your bunk bed, remember that the stairs, and therefore, the drawers, will only be able to fit on one end. That is you won't be able to reverse the stairs and put them at the other end of the bed.

Hopefully this article has given you a few tips about buying stairway bunk beds and some decisions that need to be made. Having a set of stairs instead of a ladder will give you much needed peace of mind, especially when it comes to kids.