This week we are welcoming a guest blog post from one of the newest members of the Segreto team, design assistant Andrea Condara. As the oldest of 6 kids, she is no stranger to the challenges of sleeping arrangements for herds of family and friends! Today she tells us a little bit about bunk rooms and their many iterations.
There is nothing quite like the memories of staying up for hours, talking the night away, in the bunk room at my grandparents house in Galveston. After a long day at the beach, swimming and working on our sunburns, we would pile anywhere from 6-10 grandchildren and friends into the bunk room to "sleep". We would stay up for hours talking and inventing games and generally causing mayhem that only the closeness of bunk beds can inspire until we would finally drop off, one by one, to sleep.
As a child, nothing compares to the rush of winning the battle for the top bunk and the novelty of being allowed to climb a ladder, by yourself, to the place where you would be sleeping! With the exhilarating memories of feeling that grown up freedom, it's no wonder that bunk beds are so irresistible to the young and the young at heart!
Although there is no official recorded beginning of the bunk bed, there is some evidence that the concept of a lofted bed dates as far back as the Ancient Egyptians.
Soldiers in bunks aboard the S.S. Pennant Source
Bunk beds, as we recognize them, have a long history of providing functional and space efficient sleeping solutions for large groups of people. Less glamorous examples include the military, ships, trains and even prisons. More comfortable versions are found at summer camps and personal and vacation homes.
The "standard" bunk bed is a simple, space saving design of a twin bed stacked over a twin bed with a frame made of metal or wood and a ladder to the top bed. In the recent decades, the style of the "standard" bunk bed has become just one option in many. Today, designs include lofted beds, twins over full sized beds, L-shaped configurations, queen beds and custom multi-story built-ins.
As special as our bunk beds in Galveston were, with their bright blue metal frames and the white sheets printed with brightly colored sailboats, they now seem like primitive prototypes for the incredible bunk beds that are cropping up in contemporary designs. These rooms are literally the stuff of dreams!
Stepbrothers, 2008
Bunk beds are not just for kids! Bunk and lofted beds are a great way to use your vertical space more efficiently! As Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly point out in "Stepbrothers" - It will give us so much extra space in our room to do activities! Lofted beds are popular for college dorm rooms and many styles have built in drawers or storage underneath.
Contemporary loft and grown up sized bunked beds open up the door for creative sleeping arrangements, especially for guest rooms at a lake or ranch house (or even for the college graduates moving back home)!
So the question of the day is: "Do you ever become too old for bunk beds?" Our answer: Never!
We hope you enjoy our bunk bed finds! Do you have a favorite bunk room? Share them with us in the comments section! Have a wonderful week! Warmest Regards, Andrea
New at the Segreto Boutique!
Greyfreth Bottles from California
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