We used beds to create clever storage in this children's room

Picture this: You’re a parent to two adolescents. You have a small barely-fit-one room and your kids have a growing mound of stuff that is just threatening to spill into your own space. 

As Small Space Sleuths, Sherlocks of Tiny Room Problems, Investigators of Problematic Layouts  (amongst other titles awaiting approval from HR) we share two projects we completed recently to give you some ideas and inspiration for your room revamp project.

Case Study 1: Tiny a** room that needs to accommodate 2

Consideration 1: You don’t want a bunk bed because of safety and accessibility issues.
Consideration 2: You need more storage because you have 2 kids with lots of stuff! 
Consideration 3: You want the room to feel as big as possible. 

Blafink Solution: The Twin Cocoon

FEATURES

1. A wide wall mounted headboard with custom electrical point placements

2. Storage bed with Lift Assist and Drawers x 2

3. Boyle Storage Headboard flanking each side of the cocoon, used as individual storage nooks

HOW THE TWIN COCOON SOLVES THE PROBLEM

• A single wall mounted panel instead of two separate headboards helps to visually elongate the space, making the room feel wider than it actually does.

• Boyle headboards built as storage nooks along the length of the bed instead of the width yields 191cm of storage space - almost twice of what would have been just 108cm of storage if the Boyle was used as a typical headboard. 

• The Boyle headboards also fully maximise the width of the room, eliminating awkward and unusable space.

• Due to the additional flanking headboards, the kids have multiple reclining options and can opt to use their bed like a sofa.

• As the Lift Assist feature requires some strength, the pull out drawers are easier to access and allows both kids to independently retrieve items as and when required. 

• The Lift Assist feature adds additional storage deep within the bed frame, useful for storing items used less frequently e.g. winter clothes.

REGRETS

• The Twin Cocoon did mean that we have to sacrifice some window and some natural light for extra storage

• We did wonder if 2 electrical points were sufficient for two Generation Alpha kids surrounded by a multitude of electrical devices.

Case Study 2: Tiny a** room that needs to accommodate 2 + annoying condo ledge eating into valuable floor space

Consideration 1: The accompanying wardrobe in the room is already maxed out between two kids
Consideration 2: The room only has 1 electrical point, which needs to be accessible to both occupants in this room.
Consideration 3: We can build as big a storage as you like but it must fit the condo lift for easy delivery

Blafink Solution: The Window Ledge Saver

FEATURES

1. Storage bed with Lift Assistx 2

2. A wall mounted version of the Boyle Storage Headboard with custom electrical placements on either end of the headboard

3. A  divider made of foam to set boundaries

HOW THE WINDOW LEDGE SAVER IS A SOLUTION

• With such limited floor space, every cm counts! The stepped base and headboard “cut” into the window ledge and use the existing structure as part of the base in order to optimise floor space. Without building onto the window ledge, the usable walkway space between the bed and the wardrobe would be 29cm — far too tight to be usable.

• Custom, removable inserts were made to fill the awkward gap between the bed and the window.

• 2-gang electrical outlets at either end of the shared headboard allows each user to have their individual charging points.

• While it's not much help for privacy, we hope the foam divider draws the line between both occupants and hopefully is enough to set boundaries. 🤞

• We increased the height of the bed base to fit the client's Romowa trunk

• To future proof this set of beds, we made three 14 x 15cm basic blocks upholstered in the same Aquaclean fabric as the bed for the client to keep. in the even that they need to move house and reuse the bed, they still use the blocks to fill in the ledge notches.

REGRETS

• The Window Ledge Saver did not save all of the natural light in this room as part of the window was blocked out for extra storage.

• While we were able to fit the client's Rimowa trunk, the extra bed base height made the room feel smaller with diminished air space.

But with some give and take, we got 2 seemingly impossible problems solved with a little bit of ingenuity and some customisation. Have a layout problem you can’t seem to fix? Come speak to us and be inspired to create more room out of your tight space!