Let me be honest with you — when most people hear "bunk beds," they picture a kids' bedroom with a wobbly ladder and a twin mattress that's seen better days. But what I designed for a client's vacation home in Reunion? That's a completely different story.
This client came to me with a wonderful problem. She has a large, close family — the kind that actually wants to vacation together — and a beautiful VRBO property that needed to sleep as many people as comfortably as possible. Her solution? Two custom bunk beds for adults, designed and built specifically for her home. And let me tell you, these are not your childhood bunk beds.
Why Adult Bunk Beds Are Having a Moment
Here's something the vacation rental world figured out before the rest of us: bunk beds, when done right, are actually a brilliant solution for adult guests. They maximize sleeping capacity without eating up floor space, they can be designed to look absolutely beautiful, and — this is the part people don't expect — they can be genuinely comfortable.
The key words there are "when done right." Custom bunk beds for adults are designed with grown-up comfort in mind from the very start. That means full or queen-sized mattresses instead of twins, generous headroom between bunks, sturdy construction that doesn't wobble or creak, and easy-to-navigate ladders or stairs that don't require the agility of a ten-year-old. When you check all of those boxes, a bunk bed stops being a compromise and starts being a feature guests actually love.
What We Designed for Reunion
For this project, we designed two distinct custom bunk beds — each built to fit the specific room it lives in and styled to feel intentional rather than institutional. These aren't pieces that look like they were ordered from a catalog and assembled on a Saturday afternoon. They were designed as part of the room, with the overall aesthetic of the home in mind.
The result is sleeping space that feels elevated and comfortable — the kind of setup where adult guests actually look forward to claiming their bunk rather than feeling like they drew the short straw. That's exactly what great vacation rental design should do.
Plenty of headroom plus individual night lights make this custom adult bunk bed comfortable, cozy, and practical.
What to Think About If You're Considering This
If you own a vacation home and you're thinking about adding custom bunk beds for adults, here are the things I always tell my clients to consider:
Size matters — a lot. Twin bunk beds are fine for kids, but adults need more room. Queen-over-queen configurations are incredibly popular right now for good reason. They sleep four people in the footprint of one bed, and nobody feels cramped.
Headroom is everything. There needs to be enough space between bunks for someone to sit up comfortably, and the person on the top bunk needs to be able to get in and out without a gymnastics routine. This is where custom design really earns its keep — you can get the proportions exactly right for your specific ceiling height.
The ladder or stairs can make or break the experience. A well-designed staircase with storage built in is not only safer and easier to navigate, it adds another layer of function to the room. Details like these are what separate a thoughtfully designed space from one that just technically works.
Style it like the rest of the home. Bunk beds don't have to look utilitarian. With the right finish, hardware, and bedding, they can look just as polished and intentional as any other piece of furniture in the room.
The Bigger Picture for Vacation Rental Owners
If you own a VRBO or Airbnb, sleeping capacity is directly tied to your booking potential. More guests means more revenue — but only if those guests are comfortable. Custom bunk beds for adults let you have it both ways: maximum capacity and a guest experience that earns you five-star reviews.
Our Reunion client understood this perfectly. She didn't want her family — or her guests — to feel like they were roughing it. She wanted everyone to feel taken care of. That's a design problem I love solving.
And this isn't the first time we've gone the custom bunk bed route for a vacation property. A few newsletters back, I shared the transformation we did for a New Smyrna Beach house where we built custom bunk beds with a fun nautical theme — navy, red, crisp white shiplap — perfect for the kids and beach-loving guests that property attracts. That project was a great reminder that custom bunk beds can be tailored to any age, any style, and any vibe. Click here to read all about that beach house transformation.
The Reunion project took that same philosophy and scaled it up for adults — different rooms, different needs, same commitment to making every guest feel like the space was designed just for them.
If you have a vacation rental property and you're thinking about how to maximize your space without sacrificing style or comfort, I'd love to talk. Whether it's bunk beds, themed rooms, or a full property refresh, this is exactly the kind of creative, functional design challenge that gets me excited — and the results always speak for themselves.
Call me for a free consultation at (407) 743-2399 or email me at carmen@sohointeriordesign.com