Recently I had a friend who purchased the Dorel Twin Over Futon Bunk Bed for their son who is 9 years old. Being that I have some experience with putting together apartment furniture, he asked if I could come over and help him out and just like any good friend would do…I did.

He purchased his Dorel Bunk bed from an online retailer that I will not mention because I get a lot of flack for being such an advocate for Ikea. So, I decided to leave out the location of where he purchased the bunk bed. If you look their are many locations where you can purchase the Dorel Futon/Bunk bed. He paid roughly $240 for the frame and another $250 for the mattress and futon cushion.  He had roughly $490 in the bed when all was said and done. As I always recommend…be sure to check for free shipping. My friend did get free shipping on his Dorel Twin Over Futon Bed, so that was a huge savings right there.

They decided to go with a bunk-bed and futon combination because of space limitations. The room where the bunk bed went measured 10×10 so there was not much room for seating if they went for a double bed bunk bed. With the futon below they can watch TV and still be able to accommodate sleeping when his friends came over for sleep overs.

Let The Build Begin!

Assembly was pretty time intensive. From start to finish it took about 4 hours. There was no missing parts and we never had to drill any additional holes to make anything fit.  A majority of the time was dedicated to the slants that are used for support under the bed and futon. The other was because we tried to use the tools that came with the Dorel Bunkbed/futon. Typically I will say always use the tools provided, but in this case since the frame was made of metal we decided to use a battery operated drill with a torque setting. This allowed us to set the amount of pressure applied to the nuts and screws. Doing this will lessen the likelihood of you stripping bolts or screw heads. Now on wood furniture it is never recommended you use a hand drill. Once we got the hand-drill setup the overall assembly process went together a lot faster.We built the Dorel Twin Over Futon Bunk Bed inside the room due to size. Once you build the bunkbed inside a room, don’t be expecting to move it.

Comfort vs. Function

After we got it together I thought I would test out comfort. For a nine year old I would expect it’s comfortable enough. For a full size adult…don’t go there. I believe it’s not made for adults, at least in my mind. Of course anytime you purchase apartment sized furniture you are always battling comfort vs. function. But,  I’m a fairly large person at 6’1 and 220lbs and I felt pretty vulnerable in the bed. Elevated above the ground like that was not for me. I will say that I don’t think structurally the bed was lacking…just not for me. The futon below felt really solid and I could imagine spending a night on it, but not on a regular basis. As for the nine year old, he loved it! And that’s what mattered most.

Safety Alert

One watch out is ceiling fans. The room where we placed the Dorel Twin Over Futon Bunk Bed was only 10 feet high. The height of the bunk bed was about 6’6 and the ceiling fan was a hazard. We removed the fan and replaced it with a lighting fixture. It also has full length guard rails for the upper bunk, so don’t be worried about the little ones falling out. The ladder used is vary sturdy and integrated into the design of the bed.

Specifications

  • Weight Limit – 600lbs, but only 160lbs for the top bunk. This would explain my uneasiness.
  • Weight without cushions – 137.5 lbs.
  • Dimensions – 78.9inches  x 70.1inches  x 41.7 inches

My Thoughts

Overall for a kids room…this is a pretty solid bed for the price. As for a piece of functional apartment furniture I would say you will need to be a little smaller than me to make it work. It was a fun build and I’m always pleased to pass on these space saving pieces of apartment furniture to my readers.