Ways to Position Twin Beds in a Small Bedroom
Twin beds are a comfortable way to place two children in the same room. Some houses, especially those less than 2,000 square feet, have small bedrooms. With the advent of the great room to encourage family interaction, bedroom size is sacrificed to give more space to common areas. There is no definitive “average” dimension for bedrooms since the room size varies by total house square footage and the year the house was built. From my experience reviewing house plans and touring homes for sale, houses around 2,000 square feet have an average bedroom size of about 10 feet by 11 feet. When considering the bedroom entry door and closet door in the room layout, it can be challenging to place twin beds with accompanying chest of drawers. While rearranging a room in my own house, I came up with several possible plans to accommodate twin beds. Platform beds with drawers on the base provide much needed storage for toys or clothes.
1 Head of twin beds on parallel walls
Place long side of the beds close to opposite walls. This bedroom floor plan assumes the closet door and entry door are on opposite sides of the room. The beds set parallel to each other. See image 1 above or envision the beds inside a square. The head of one bed is against the top of the square with the long side of the bed against the left side of the square. The head of second twin bed is against the bottom of the square with side of the bed against the right side of the square. This layout allows for a small chest of drawers next to the head of each bed, and accounts for space for an entry door to the bedroom as well as to a closest. Rotate this room layout 90 degrees, or swap the beds from left to right sides of the room to accommodate window position.
2 Head of twin beds on perpendicular walls
This bedroom layout assumes the closet door is on a perpendicular wall close to the bedroom’s entry door. The beds set perpendicular to each other. See image 2 above or envision a square with the head of one twin bed inside the square and against the bottom side of the square with the long side of the bed against the left side of the square. The head of second twin bed is against the right side of the square with side of the bed against the bottom of the square. This layout allows room for a chest of drawers next to the head of one bed and a second chest of drawers against the wall near the foot of the second bed. This layout provides optimal floor space for playing.
3 Head of twin beds on the same wall
This bedroom floor plan works best if the entry door and closet door are close together. Place each twin bed with the head of the bed against the longer wall and separated by a small chest of drawers. A second chest of drawers can be placed along a side wall. If placing the head of each bed along the shorter wall, the chest of drawers can be placed at the foot of each bed.
Source: Rand Soeliner, “Large, Medium and Small Home Designs and Home Designers Size Definitions,” Home Architects
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