Why not do a rolling bed desk; certainly a more grown up feeling and cheaper?

The Railyards · More Info

Can’t imagine. The mattress would have to be on the floor to allow a chair to be added to the upper area. I can’t see it being very practical or even safe!

Rethink room/options, as there are lots of ways to incorporate a small work space. If needed, get rid of dresser and add organization in closet or in the desk’s combination. Let the desk do double duty as a nightstand, use a tall cupboard vs a dresser.

The first step would be to do a floor plan, test different ideas and get inspiration on line so you and your daughter can find a practical solution. If you want help, provide room’s layout, her needs and a budget.

Thank you!!

I've got a teenager who does a lot of her schoolwork sitting in her loft bed, so I actually think this could work. Not with a desk on the platform. But you could treat the upper bed as a daybed, with bolsters along one or more sides to give a sofa feel. A wall-mounted shelf to store a laptop, notebooks and pens. A lap desk as a writing surface. A sconce for a good reading light.

I have no idea how she could work at any desk up top .I really do not understand the issue . She does not get out of bed all day? I have teen international students all the time we are required to provide a desk for the students they never use them. Every teen I know sits on the bed with a laptop and their phone. So ask her does she wanyt a desk and if so not that idea. I think maybe mcarroll16 might have the perfect answer.

I think OP means that the bed has to be at ground level, so parents can force the girl out in the morning. Just guessing. It's possible that one of my children must be in a regular floor-level bed for similar reasons.

Hi! Thanks for your comments. So she eventually gets out of bed (runs to schoolbus as it approaches house with backpack quickly thrown on her back and her shoes in her hands). I just know that if her bed were high up, it would be even more of a challenge for her to walk down a few stairs or a ladder when she is literally half asleep. It just takes her time to fully wake up and a cozy bed making her feet even farther from the floor than they already are will just make mornings tougher.

I like the idea of maybe getting bunk bed and having her actual bed on lower part with more of a loungy hangout spot up top. But to encourage good study habits and sleep habits (I’m actually a child psychologist with specialty in ADHD), she needs an actual separate work area with proper chair and desk so relaxation time and work/focus time are not all jumbled together.

I guess I can also look at some space-saving desk ideas. Maybe something like over the foot of the bed but flipped the other way so she can keep a proper chair (she would face the bed while working). That should save some floorspace. Thoughts??

The app isn’t allowing me to post pic. But it is a rollong desk that rolls onto and off of the bed. See link here. Would love any thoughts on this? Kenney Height Adjustable Desk
https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/the-twillery-co-kenney-height-adjustable-desk-w006431880.html

After all the comments above about teens working on laptops while sitting on the bed, I do think the rolling bed desk would solve a lot of issues for you.

Assuming she's using a laptop, I think the rolling desk with a chair facing the bed is a great solution.

ETA: If there is room at the foot of her bed for a chair (which needs space for sitting and for pushing back when you stand), is there room for a desk placed perpendicular to the footboard? That's how we arranged my youngest girl's room. Her bed sits lengthwise against a 9' long wall. She has a 30" wide writing desk placed against the same wall at the foot of the bed. In an 11'x12' foot room, you could do the same but with a more generous desk.

I am stuck on the issue that your teenager is impossible to get out of bed. I have a teenager daughter who likes when I help remind her what time it is. She sleeps through her alarm sometimes.... she can be annoyed when I remind her the time but we always laugh about it.

Is the issue here that there is a struggle with YOU helping her get out of bed?

After 4 kids/older teens, and many different beds/configurations, I can tell you that the bed arrangement I hated most was the one you show in your post. It takes up an enormous amount of room in a bedroom, and shin wounds from tripping over the legs at the foot of the bed were terrible! I couldn't wait to get rid of that thing.

However, you will note that there IS a desk-like situation already built in on the side of the bottom bunk. The desk is tiny, closed in, and non-functional for a teenager who needs to spread out materials (imho).

What your daughter needs is (1) a bed and (2) a desk. If you want those things to be in her room, then I'm sure you have space for them. Perhaps you have to re-arrange or build-out her closet and remove a dresser from the space. Putting a desk up by the ceiling seems like you just haven't addressed the other things going on in the bedroom. What's taking up so much space there isn't room for a desk in the bedroom?

Edited to add: for adults, it is commonly recommended on these advice forums to NOT place a desk in the bedroom area, as the desk with its clutter is a reminder of the stress of what has to be done, when the bedroom should be for sleeping. Families so often have desks in teenagers bedrooms. Come to think of it: we don't.

Our teens/college students set up in the dining room, or pull up a table in a quiet room elsewhere. At this point, might it not be better for your daughter's "sleep hygiene" to make the bedroom be a bedroom and study elsewhere???? What's the psychology behind adults not having offices/desks in the bedroom but the teenagers DO have a desk in the bedroom?

Hi! Thanks for the bumped shins caveat. Ouch! I actually agree that it’s ideal for both adults and kids to separate their work area from relaxation area—she is just the oldest of 4 very boisterous boisterous kids in a 4-bedroom house (the others do not actually have an “inside voice” LOL). So I encourage her to work in her room because it is likely the quietest space.

But now that you note the possibility of setting up outside her room, I can actually try to set up a space for her in my husband’s home office area in the basement. The basement has a door that closes so she should be able to find some quiet while the littles are being wacky while going through their dinner/bedtime routine above her. I will explore this and try to get her excited about this really great idea. Thank you!

We were advised that for students with ADHD, it's best to have a designated study area and that organizational systems through out the home have to be in place because clutter can quickly derail concentration, items get lost, etc.

I would be very reluctant to use a bunk bed as a solution. It's hard to change sheets and make the bed and it will be easy for study materials to get buried on the top bunk and left behind, especially if catching the bus is down to the last minute. Consider the entire bedroom and even the rest of the house in finding the solution so it's easy(ier) to create a quiet space and a place to set up organizational systems.

I have one of those daughters too! Mine managed to make it through high school and university but she is useless until her medication kicks in. Next month she is going to have to return to the office regularly so moving back to her own apartment and getting to the office is going to be a rough adjustment. For security reasons, she is required to work in a private enclosed space so working in her room has been her only option while she has been staying with us.  

Would a captain's bed setup work where you could have sufficient storage underneath the bed and not need any dressers? If combining bed and desk doesn't work, perhaps you could combine the bed with dresser and leave room for a desk. I hope you can figure out a system to work with her because playing to her strengths and minimizing the effects of her challenges is the key to success.

Yes. All fantastic ideas. Maybe raising bed very (very!) slightly with storage underneath can save floorspace elsewhere. And same here—before her medicine kicks in, it’s mean Zombie mode because her brain is just foggy and sleepy. After that and after some time getting used to wakefulness, the lovely human that she is emerges. :) And we do work hard to have the kids stick with their assigned zones for items, but I still cannot wait to one day finally figure out why placing shoes in clearly labeled cubby of your own placed right at entryway takes significantly more effort than dropping said shoes 5 inches away from assigned cubby ACROSS the foyer floor. Multiplied by 4 of them, it’s consistent challenge. Summers with some at sleepaway camp was eye-opening!! So much less “unhomed” stuff for me to have to place in assigned homes! Fascinating.

My daughter's room is smaller (9.5x11), and she's got a twin XL bed, a desk, a wall of clothes, and an area by her bed w/two nightstands and a large mirror that sits on the floor. No need to have a lot of open floor space.