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Bunk beds or a pair of twin beds?
Hi, I haven't been on here in forever.
Anyway, we are about to move into a 'new' house. Its an 1890 Queen Anne. Besides the master suite there are 3 bedrooms. We hope to have 3 children. To start out though we are going to continue to have our sons share a bedroom, make one room the play room, and the remaining bedroom can temporarily be a guest room.
I keep going back and forth on whether I should get bunk beds for the boys or a pair of twin beds. I really like the look of pairs of twin beds and I like the versatility of dividing them up when each child gets his own room. I like that there is no fighting over who gets which bed. While I don't encourage jumping on beds, it certainly gives them the opportunity on occasion. 
On the other hand, I had bunk beds with my sister when I was a kid and it was fun. I've only ever slept on the top bunk though, so I don't know how much fun it actually is for the bottom sleeper. The beds we had could be taken apart though and function as stand alone twin beds; I'm not sure if any bunk beds are made like this anymore? Two of DS1's friends share bunk beds with siblings so I know DS likes playing on them at least.
What do you think?
Re: Bunk beds or a pair of twin beds?
Why don't you get the bunk beds that can separate into two twin beds?
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/rustic-thomas-bunk-bed/?pkey=dbunk-beds
Best of both worlds, yes?
Oh wow, good point! I had been thinking about where I could place the twin beds so there'd be enough clearance around them for making the bed (and there is room.)
I hadn't even considered how inconvenient changing wet sheets in the middle of the night would be in bunk beds. hmmmmm....
It's good to know they still make some that can be separated. The ones I have seen in showrooms have been that way. (Although I have been looking at ones that have storage underneath so maybe that is why.)
Personally, I would say it would depend on two things, 1) will their bedroom double as a playroom and 2) the size of the room
If the bedroom was just for sleeping and a decent size (like 12 x 11 at least), I'd go with two double beds (possibly two that could eventually be bunked like pp mentioned). Like pp said, it is a real PIA to make the bed on top. Plus, the kids and the ladder is a dangerous combination in our house.
BUT, if the room is on the smaller side, bunk beds is ideal for saving space. Even more so if the space is needed as a play area. In that case I'd 100% say go for the bunk beds and just deal with it. Not putting them against the wall might make them a tad easier to make and using a step stool under the bed might help (but then again I'm 5'0" so it may be easier for anormal height person, haha). And as for the ladder....we're thinking about doing either a pirate or treehouse room for DS and I'm considering doing some type of rope ladder to the top bunk for him just so I can toss that stupid ladder, haha! I have so many gashes in my walls from them carrying it around so they can get to things...like the candy stash!
No, I'm definitely going to have a separate playroom! That is my main issue now in the bungalow. When DS2 is napping twice a day DS1 is cut off from his toys.
It's a fairly big room, 12x10, so I can easily fit two beds and a desk or two. I imagine by the time everyone needs his own desk we can eliminate the playroom so everyone has his own room
Since you're going to have a separate play room and you're looking for storage underneath I say twin beds. Two matching twin beds with drawers underneath would give you twice as much storage and just look better IMO.
I hated the bunk bed I had to share with my sister and I had the top bunk. I'm just too tall for bunk beds so I couldn't sit up completely and you're crawling around everywhere. Bedtime stories were a pain with two kids and an adult trying to sit on the lower bed. The adult can't sit up in the lower bunk and getting in a position where both kids can see is hard. Luckily it was only a temporary living situation for 6 months.
If the room can comfortably fit two twins, I prefer two separate beds over a bunk. But I'm pretty sure they still make bunk beds that split out into two twins, so since you sound like you really love bunk beds, I'd look for one of those. :-)
If you have the room I'd go with separate beds, safer and noone will be fighting over the top bunk. I thought about bunk beds for about 30 seconds for our sons big boy bedroom and then decided on a trundle bed.