How to Fit Many Kids into One Room

Not all of us can live in palaces with a separate bedroom for every kid. More often than not—especially when you have more than two children—you need to apply a little creativity to make everyone fit comfortably. We have some ideas on how to fit many kids into one room.

Parenting blogs around the Internet have taken up this dilemma with gusto and offer a range of practical solutions for everything from arranging twin beds to setting up a bunk room.

Photo via Ikeahackers.net
Photo via Ikeahackers.net

One of the tried and true strategies is making use of vertical space. Stacking kids is the way to go, whether you’re using two side-by-side bunk beds, like these built-in plain wood bunks for four or something like this triple-decker IKEA bunk bed for three.

If the room is big enough, however, all your kids might be able to fit well on one level. This beautiful bedroom for four uses matching iron-rail beds and colorful accents to set up an appealing space for multiple kids. And this solution using custom-made futons on the floor leaves space overhead for a lofted play space.

Of course if your room is big enough, there is hardly a limit to the number of kids you can fit. Here’s a room for five and here’s one with space for six. By installing two sets of bunks—or even triple bunks—on each of the opposing walls of a room, you could handily fit eight or even 12 kids.

Photo via Theandersoncrewblog.com

Sleeping space isn’t the only consideration, though, which might be why most people don’t try to squeeze more than three or four into one space. A big question is where all the clothes and toys will go. And then there’s always the matter of whether you are comfortable with boys and girls sharing space. Not to mention whether many kids in one room will keep each other up.

But regardless of what arrangement you choose, there are plenty of creative solutions. How do you fit your kids into your space? Have you seen any multi-kid set-ups you think work particularly well?