One kids’ room becomes two! Iina found a way to divide the schoolkids’ room with a customized bunk bed
When her children who shared a room wanted their own personal spaces, Iina Hyttinen—known for her Instagram account @iinalaura—found a brilliant solution to the problem on Pinterest.
Iina, who is in your family, and what kind of home do you live in?
It’s me, my husband, and our children aged 11, 9, 5, and 1. We live in a 100-square-meter half of a semi-detached house in Helsinki.
How do you divide the rooms of your house?
Even though our house is fairly new, it fortunately has large bedrooms. There are three of them. One bedroom is for us adults, the younger children share one, and the older ones share the third.
The way we’ve divided the rooms has worked really well. Our children like spending time together. Even though each of them now has their own space, I’ve noticed that they’re often together.
This is what the schoolkids’ room looked like before the makeover:
What kind of DIY enthusiasts would you describe yourselves as?
We’ve always enjoyed changing things up and figuring out the best ways to utilize space. Since we moved into this home just under three years ago, we’ve become very enthusiastic about DIY. And we have plenty of room here to carry out our projects.
We’re interested in a more sustainable lifestyle: you don’t always have to aim for something bigger and better, but rather think about how to make smart use of what you already have. I also believe that when you don’t invest all your resources into your home, you can do all sorts of other fun things.
How did you come up with the idea of dividing the room with a bunk bed?
Our school-aged kids use Pinterest a lot. They enjoy finding craft and interior design ideas there, and they had seen solutions where a room was divided with an IKEA Kallax shelf. They wondered if they could divide their room in a similar way, so they could each paint their own side in their favorite color.
The kids didn’t want separate rooms; they love being together. However, they each have their own style. I understand that and want to support them in expressing it.
We realized that a Kallax shelf and two separate beds would take up so much floor space that neither side of the room would have much personal space left. So we started thinking about whether there was a smarter way to divide the room. In August, I saw a picture on Pinterest where someone had done a similar but slightly more minimalist bunk bed setup. I showed the picture to the kids, and they got really excited about it. For them, it was a big deal to be able to decide entirely on the decor of their own side.
“As a divider for the upper part of the bed, we chose a slatted wall, which lets the light through.”
How did you carry out the transformation?
My husband was the one who carried out the project, and I was the designer. I looked into various options and acquired the necessary materials, and he built the bunk bed.
The kids didn’t participate in designing the bed, but they decided which furniture and rugs they wanted. The 11-year-old loves pastel colors, so their side of the room featured plenty of them, as well as houseplants. The 9-year-old wanted their favorite colors—black, black-and-white, and gray. They also decided between themselves who would sleep on each side.
We hunted for the right kind of bed frame on Tori.fi for a couple of months, and even went to see a few. However, they had been modified in ways that wouldn’t have worked for our needs. When we couldn’t wait any longer, we went and bought the wooden Mydal bunk bed from IKEA.
Practicality determined which way we built the bed. Since the room only has one window, we chose a slatted wall as a divider for the upper part of the bed, allowing light to pass through.
We wanted to use materials efficiently so we wouldn’t have to buy anything unnecessary. For example, we repurposed leftover parts from the bunk bed, like the railings. Since not all of the parts were needed because of the wall structures, we made the steps out of them.
For lumber, we preferred domestic glued laminated timber. After the bed was in place, we measured and calculated how many boards we needed. My husband sawed them to the right size at our kitchen table.
After comparing different fastening solutions, we decided to use sturdy angle brackets. We probably used more of them than was necessary. However, the most important thing was that the bed would be safe, stable, and durable.
How did the project go?
My husband wasn’t very enthusiastic about such a big project at first: we didn’t know if we had all the necessary tools or how best to carry out the transformation. Still, he boldly went ahead because he thought the end result would be so good. He did an amazing job and surpassed himself in many ways.
We didn’t really encounter any problems. Assembling IKEA furniture is a piece of cake for my spouse, and his precision with calculations certainly helped in getting the measurements right the first time.
The entire transformation—dismantling old furniture, painting the walls, and building the bed—took about a week. Just building the bed would have been a two-day job if we’d done it straight through.
“The kids have enjoyed that they can both have a friend over for a sleepover at the same time. Before, there was only floor space for one extra mattress.”
How has the room division worked in practice?
The project was completed a couple months ago, and so far the solution has worked super well. The kids enjoy their own rooms and are happy with their choices. Currently, our three older children often hang out together on our 9-year-old’s side of the divided room. He’s put a curtain on the lower bed, making it like a fort.
Additionally, the kids have enjoyed that they can now both have a friend over for a sleepover at the same time, and there would even be room for a third friend. Before, there was only floor space for one extra mattress, but with the new arrangement, there’s room for three mattresses on the floor.
As a nice bonus, the school-aged kids have kept their room much tidier than before. Keeping it clean is probably more enjoyable when the room only has their own belongings. Neither has to get annoyed about the other messing up the whole room. The storage solutions might also be better now.
I’m happy that the kids are so pleased with the solution. We all like this home so much that we wouldn’t want to move anywhere. So it’s great that we’re coming up with solutions that work right here in this home.
