Great Ways To Transform Small Spaces With Adult Loft Beds

Unlike bunk beds which in a home are usually associated with kids, loft beds can be quite sophisticated and they can also be used by adults. In fact, they’re a common design option for small homes because they free up valuable floor space which can be used in other ways. Adult loft beds are a pretty diversified category and they differ from each other in lots of ways that have to do with size, shape or placement. A full loft bed is usually expected to sit on a raised platform accessible via a ladder or staircase.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

This apartment in Poznan, Poland was designed by mode:lina architekci. It has a full-size loft bed as part of a large block which contains the kitchen and desk area on the bottom. By organizing the functions this way, the architects managed to save a lot of space and to allow this small apartment to double as a design studio.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

We find this design by Edo Studio to be ingenious not just because of the way the space is organized but also because of how the stairs spiral around the large support beam. This is a small apartment located in Sofia, Bulgaria. It has a high ceiling and this made things easy for the designers who were able to raise the sleeping area and to make room for a large closet and a desk.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

A high ceiling can definitely simplify things but what if you don’t have that luxury and yet you want to free up some floor space by getting rid of the bed and placing it on a different level? Vincent Kartheiser (you may remember him from Mad Men) surprised everyone when he chose to live in a small cabin rather than a large mansion. His Hollywood cabin is so small in fact that the bed had to be lifted with chains under the ceiling to free up the room during the day. Find out more about it on Dwell.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

When converting a space into something completely different, the usual design strategies don’t always work. Spaces have to be reorganized and that can even mean you can play with the ideas and create something unique, like this London apartment in a building that once used to be a church. It has a loft bedroom suspended above the kitchen. The transformation was done by VORBILD Architecture.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

This is an apartment located in San Francisco, California. In 2015 ICOSA Design gave it this nicely-proportioned and very space-efficient interior which placed the sleeping area on a platform, above a nook with lots of storage as well as a bench. The loft bed can be reached via a ladder on the other side of the nook, facing the window. There the space feels like a balcony and the bed has a pretty nice view of the surroundings.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

When there’s very little space to work with, sometimes you have to make a choice between having a bed or a closet and you obviously could use both so why compromise when a loft bed could solve the problem? Here you can see how such a combo could look like. The bed sits on a platform while under it there’s a set of open shelves but also a small sink.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Would you live in a micro-home that measures only 13 square meters across? Plenty of people would and some even formed a micro-village of tiny homes called Boneyard Studios. It’s found in Washington DC and this is one of the homes found there. It’s a self-sustaining, off-grid home clad in a layer of charred cedar wood and, as you can imagine, every bit of space had to be optimized, hence the loft bed.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

This would have to be one of the most impressive loft beds we’ve seen so far and it’s all because of the height at which it stands. This is the interior of a 1900s barn which has been renovated and restructured a while ago. It became a charming home with modern and rustic details and this loft bed that sits under a skylight. {found on dwell}.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Architect Christi Azevedo also had to transform something. This used to be a brick boiler room originally built in 1916. It had to be converted into a guest house. Since it measured only 8.6 square meters, the space didn’t offer a lot of room to work with. The best way to optimize it was with a queen-size loft bed and a vertical layout.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Five out of the seven steps that lead up to the loft bed in this small Manhattan apartment contain drawers inside of them. It’s one more way in which this layout helps save space. Even though it seems pretty close to the ceiling, the bed platform actually sits under an opening which gives it plenty of light and a pretty open look. The interior of this studio apartment was designed by Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Most challenges can be overcome with a little bit of creativity. This small apartment is a good example. One of its problems was the ceiling which was high but not high enough to create a loft area without making both spaces seem cramped. The solution was an ingenious one. The mattress in the loft bedroom sits directly on top of the kitchen ceiling but the floor area area around it is a bit lower in order to create a full-height circulation area. This interesting solution was found by Kyu Sung Woo Architects.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

When asked to renovate this apartment in London, Ullmayer Sylvester Architects, they proposed a new layout that would open up the spaces to the surroundings while also allowing more storage and better insulation for the rooms. The most important addition was the loft bedroom which can be accessed via a set of stairs with storage cabinets under them.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

As it turns out, a 29 square meter apartment is not necessarily tiny, at least not if you know how to use the space. This apartment from Gothenburg has it all but only because the bed was raised above the floor. It’s a beautiful display of how a loft bed with desk underneath can be space-efficient and good-looking at the same time.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

This loft bed is so high up it would be hard to spot without that ladder to give it away. It also helps that the mattress stays hidden behind those bookshelf modules. This interesting configuration allows a small apartment with a regular-height ceiling to stack a cozy sleeping area above the living room, gaining more floor space for other functions.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Can you imagine living in a 10 square meter space? It’s pretty small, even for a single room. You can hardly fit a bed and some storage in this space so where would you put the sofa and the desk that you also need? Well, the answer is simple: on the floor. How can they all fit? They don’t because the bed is raised under the ceiling and you’d have plenty of room underneath it for storage.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Of course, loft beds aren’t just for tiny homes. The fact that they’re space-efficient is definitely a big advantage but sometimes they’re appreciated for how fun and cozy they are. This loft bed designed by Kerr Ritchie for this residence in Otago, New Zealand is a cool feature, especially for a child’s or teen’s bedroom. Basically it adds another bed without taking up floor space.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Eight square meters – that’s all the space the designers from Kitoko Studio could work with. In case you’re wondering, this is a micro apartment found in Paris, France. Instead of being discouraged by the lack of space, the team made the most of what they had and managed to give this space lots of storage and even to add a loft bed inside this large wall unit. Sliding panels can be closed off to completely conceal the bed when needed.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

The loft bed and desk combo is pretty common, often being used by architects and designs when dealing with small spaces. Paul de Ruiter Architects used this strategy when they designed Villa V in Bloemendaal, The Netherlands.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Student apartments are usually small and adult loft beds allows a maximization of the floor space. LYCS Architecture worked on a project that aimed to provide affordable and space-efficient apartments to be rented in high-density cities from China. Their design strategies include loft beds, minimalist desks, built-in and multifunctional furniture.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

By opting for a loft bed instead of a regular one, nookarchitects managed to optimize the floor space in this apartment located in Barcelona, Spain. The apartment now basically has two spaces staked one on top of the other. There’s the bedroom up on the platform and a multipurpose space under it.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Adding more storage to an already small space is not easy but loft beds make things a bit easier. You don’t even need a high ceiling to pull this off. Studio Bazi raised the bed of this 35 square meter apartment in Moscow on a wooden platform and integrated it into a module that includes a closet underneath.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Unless your home measures less than 13 square meters, you can’t really complain. This apartment in Wroclaw, Poland is definitely tiny but this doesn’t stop it from being cozy and well-organized. With a loft bed, a custom storage unit, a desk and a small kitchen this apartment has it all. It was designed by Szymon Hanczar.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Rearranging the furniture in an apartment to gain more space is not that difficult but adding an extra room to an apartment…that’s tricky. L. McComber Architects took the challenge head on when they were asked to create a room for a newborn baby for this loft apartment in Montreal, Canada. They created a curved suspended platform using plywood and tubular steel.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

An adult loft bed can also help add storage room to an apartment that doesn’t have enough. This was the case here. This tiny apartment didn’t offer enough storage space for the owner’s belongings and collections so Remo Zimmerli was asked to step in. The space was transformed by adding a minimalistic cube with a loft bed on top.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

The ceiling of this apartment in Stockholm wasn’t high enough to allow a separate level to be built so instead architect Karin Matz built a storage unit with lots of shelves and compartments and placed a bed platform on top. The bed is aligned with the kitchen cabinets so there’s a nice linearity throughout.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

The high ceiling of this small studio apartment in New York allowed the designers from New Affiliates to squeeze in a plywood sleeping platform. It sits between the columns just above the kitchen and saves us lots of floor space. The loft bed leaves the entire main floor open and usable as a social gathering area.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Studio HEIMA architects designed several apartments, all of them small and all of them with loft beds. The apartments are located in Vilnius, Lithuania and measure 25 square meters each. Although that’s not much space to work with, the architects managed to include a bedroom, a kitchenette, a living room and a bathroom in each studio. The loft beds leave room underneath for storage, maximizing the floor space.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Another really cool loft bedroom was designed by In situ for a house situated in Bucharest, Romania. The house has a gable roof and that makes the bedroom feel a lot like a cozy attic space. There’s a wooden beam running through the center of the ceiling marking the highest point and there are also skylights which bring in natural light.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults
Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

As a lot of these projects have shown, high ceilings are great, especially if the floor space is limited. With that in mind, nookarchitects gave this apartment from Barcelona a whole new identity. Many important changes were made to the design and the structure of the space. The ceilings was raised by half a meter, allowing loft beds to be constructed. Now there’s a clear distinction between the night and the day areas but they still remain closely connected.

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

A lack of space was not the issue in the case of this charming apartment, as it has a total floor area of 78 square meters. Still, there’s a loft bed in here. The reason for that is because the owners wanted to create a cozy little nook in the living room and they chose to do that by hiding a bed right underneath the ceiling, with a small ladder on the wall and doors that can completely conceal it.

The best loft beds on the market

Metal Pipe Full Double Size Loft

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

Looking at all those cool interiors and all the interesting ways in which loft beds can be introduced into a home you may feel inspired to bring one into your own space. In that case, you’re probably interested in what the market has to offer. This right here is a good option, especially if you want something fairly compact which doesn’t require any structural modifications to be made to the room. This is a bunk bed type of system with a metal frame.

Amazon's Choice
Metal Pipe Full Double Size Loft
Metal Pipe Full Double Size Loft

The bed is at the top which leaves an open space underneath that can be turned into a workstation or used for storage.

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Full Metal Loft Bed with Ladder

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

This is also a really great loft bed design, against with a metal frame. That gives it an industrial appearance but the fact that the frame is so thin and sleek really helps to maintain a modern vibe. The design is ultimately very versatile and can potentially fit into all sorts of spaces and decors. The sturdy metal frame also leaves the room looking spacious and airy which is very important for small spaces.

Space-Saving Design
Full Metal Loft Bed with Ladder
Full Metal Loft Bed with Ladder

The bed at the top works with a full-size mattress and has guard rails for added safety.

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Wood Loft bed with Ladder and Guard Rail

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

In case you prefer a more traditional design this might be just right. This design combines a loft bed and a desk. The bed is up at the top and the desk is at the bottom right underneath it. A ladder is attached for easy access to the bed and the desk is seamlessly incorporated into the frame. The entire structure is made out of wood and has an espresso finish which gives this loft bed an elegant but also traditional appearance as mentioned in the beginning.

Traditional design
Wood Loft bed with Ladder and Guard Rail
Wood Loft bed with Ladder and Guard Rail

Full length guardrail. Height from floor to mattress platform: 57.25 Inch

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Little Seeds Monarch Hill Haven Bed

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

On the other hand, if you’d rather prefer a modern-looking loft bed that also has a chic design, this seems like a great choice. It would look lovely in a small study, a child’s bedroom or even in a guest room. The frame is white with a few touches of gold for a chic look. The bed is at the top, accessible via a ladder. It has guardrails and fits a twin-size mattress.

white
Little Seeds Monarch Hill Haven Bed
Little Seeds Monarch Hill Haven Bed

At the bottom there's an open space which is perfect for a desk or a storage unit.

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ACME Limbra Full XL-Queen Bunk Bed

Modelina apartment with loft bed for adults

There’s also the possibility that you might need not just one but two beds in which case a double bunk bed is the perfect solution. This one is quite special because because it’s a full/queen size combo. It also has a strong and sturdy metal construction with full-length guard rails for the top bunk and 2 built-in ladders allowing the upper section to be accessed from each side.

space saving
ACME Limbra Full XL-Queen Bunk Bed
ACME Limbra Full XL-Queen Bunk Bed

It's a really great fit for small shared bedrooms and could be a cool option for an unconventional guest room as well.

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