Top Bunk Dorm Room Ideas

When my daughter was about to leave for college in NYC, she discovered that she had been assigned the top bunk in a tiny dorm room. She was disappointed to say the least as she imagined the "hassle" of living in the top bunk. My 20+ years of living in a small space, I knew that not only would we make her top bunk amazing.... we would make it so perfect that if given the choice, she would choose it over the bottom bunk! We succeeded!.... The following summer, when she stayed in summer housing and had her choice of beds, as predicted... she CHOSE the top bunk. Here is what we did to make her top bunk the envy of her dorm mates.

The first thing we did was list my daughter's objections to the top bunk. And.... she had plenty:

You climb up in bed and forgot to turn the light off.... annoying!

You're in bed and realized you want a tissue, or a snack, or your journal, or a charging wire, your book, a bottle of water, etc., etc. Each time you want something, you'll have to climb back down... annoying!!

My daughter loved to putz in her bed... doing skincare to nailcare to everything else.... everytime she wanted something... she was going to have to climb down... annoying!!!

Top bunks don't have headboards, so likely nothing to rest against.... super annoying!!!!

Trust me... the list was long.

And so... we set about to make her top bunk as comfy, convenient and cozy as possible and to this day... she freely admits she LOVED her top bunk and wouldn't change a thing!

Here is what we did to create her little haven! The idea was simple, create a top bunk bed space in her dorm that felt like her own little haven, with everything she could want at her fingertips and as comfy and cozy as possible.

First, we started with the bed rail. Most dorm top bunk beds come with a bed rail. We put every inch of this bed rail to use and created so much storage that everything my daughter could ever want was at her fingertips when she was in bed and still easily reachable from standing. Win! Win!

• The classic bedside caddy! There are many types out there.... and below is our favorite. You are looking for sturday and lots of pockets. My daughter's was so wll secured, she was comfortable storying her laptop in it, which meant it was accessible in bed and she could put it "away" when she first got home and it was always within reach whether in or out of bed. Make sure to get one with a water bottle holder (though we didn't use this for a water bottle... more on that later!

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• Hanging basket organizer: More storage.... this varied for usuage around the year... but she kept everything from lotions to notebooks, you name it!

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• BedShelfie: You might think that with all the storage, why would she need this little. table... but... it's always nice to have a little space beside your bed to put things down as you need them, a cup of tea, a pen, etc.. This bedside table was PERFECT! We weren't sure how well it work (and I worried about it protruding from the bed and being a place her bunk mate might bump her head. It turns out these were unfounded. Her bunkmate loved it and hung over her nightstand and she would even hang necklaces from the bottom side when she would go to bed. Another win! Win!

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  BedBev cupholder. Why a cupholder when there is one built into the bedside caddy? Well, this one is designed perfectly and because it's made of plastic, this beverage holder held her Stanley cup in place and didn't need two hands for her to place her cup down/in. It kept it secure, handy, and freed up the bedside caddy for more useful items (see below!).

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Now that we fully utilized the bed rail space, next came items of convenience.

• Round tissue tubes - If I do say so myself... these were my idea and they were PERFECT!! Who doesn't want easy access to a tissue when in bed?! Whether for you nose, make-up or sticky fingers after a snack, easy access to a box of tissues just makes life nicer. We put these round tissue tubes (available in a multitude of colors and prints, my favorite was these grey and white floral prints - which matched her Ikea bedding beautfully!) in the netted "drink holder" of her bedside caddy and they worked fabullously all year round. I even kept a couple tubes for myself and keep in my car.

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• Remote plug and hooks: Now for the... "crap, I forgot to turn my light off!" complaint. Problem solved with this remote plug. We already had one since we use these with some of our Christmas lights. Make sure to buy one with a "keychain" type remote. If you have a desk lamp or floor lamp, plug it into this remote controlled plug and hang the remote from a tiny hook on your bed post. This is super convenient from in or out of bed, and convenient for both bunkmates too. If you buy the hooks, the extra hooks are great for hanging up fairly lights. Speaking of fairy lights... make sure to get ones that come with 2 remote controls and you and your roommate can each keep one handy by your bed! Super convenient, courteous and pretty)

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• Corner light - We struggled here because we couldn't find a well reviewed lamp that could be used on the top bunk and felt safe enough that it wasn't going to create a fire hazard (if it slipped into the bedding). Our solution might not work for you, but it worked for my daughter's room layout (her bunk was up against a corner)... and it did require some screwing into the wall (shhhhh.... don't tell... we covered up the holes upon removal!) It came with a 17'cord... and the switch was conveniently located for her to turn on and off from bed.

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Lastly came comfort! All the convenience in the world won't help if you aren't comfortable. Here are the items we used to make my daughter's bed as comfortable as possible!

• Headboard pillow - A FANTASTIC choice. I hemmed and hawed on this one for a while because of the price... but it was a fabulous addition, and she loved it. Now that she is in her own apartment in NYC with a bigger bed, I have this back at home and it sits on a twin guest bed. It is so comfortable, it has become my goto spot to sit and take a phone call! I love it and so did she!!! I can't recommend this enough!!

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• Mattress topper: Don't skimp on the mattress topper! Dorm mattresses are NOT made for comfort!

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• Mattress cover: A genuinely annoying part of top bunk living is changing she sheets. Make life easier for your college kid by using a zip mattress protector that encases the topper and mattress keeping them in place.

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  Duvet.... Continuing with the "make it easy to make the bed theme", since top bunks are notoriously difficult to make, make it easy. Forget the top sheet and just use a fitted sheet, duvet and duvet cover. you might not want to know all the things that will happen in your kids dorm bed.... don't ask, don't tell. But... you do want to know they can clean it when needed. For this reason, I suggest a washable duvet. This is the exact one I bought each of my kids for their dorms and they each loved them.

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I hope you enjoyed this article. If you can't tell, I thoroughly enjoyed helping my daughter set up her dorm room. I left the decorating to her.... no curated middle aged women vibe for her dorm... she has too much character for that.... but she will hands down tell you she LOVED her top bunk, her roommate was jealous of her setup, and everyone who came in their room left with a shopping list of items to make life easier!

Coming up next.... now that we had her bed perfectly set up.... we'll share what we did to make her postage stamp dorm room as organized and comfortable as possible! Stay tuned....