Custom Walnut Bunk Beds, Built to Move Houses With You

I love making bunk beds. There is something about them that pulls you straight back to childhood, to a kind of happiness you cannot quite explain, and I have never been able to shake it. Over my years as a furniture maker I have built them just about every way you can: built in and free standing, queen size and trundle. Every set has shared one thread you do not often see elsewhere. I have been lucky enough to build each one in American black walnut, and this latest set of custom walnut bunk beds is the most detailed work I have ever put my hands to.

These are by far the most intricate pieces of furniture I have made. The whole set breaks down with nothing more than a screwdriver and a bed bolt wrench, so the family can take it apart, move it to the next house, and put it back together. That matters to me. A piece like this should outlast the room it was built for.

Solid walnut and real copper

The headboards, rails, and panels are solid American black walnut. The legs, trundle frames, and slats are solid soft maple, chosen because it carries a load without complaint.

Set into the walnut headboards and the trundle panels along the base is real copper, inlaid by hand into the wood. Walnut grain against copper is one of the most striking combinations I have worked with. The copper catches the light and shimmers as you move across the room.

Library ladders that move and lock

Each bed has its own library ladder, built in walnut to match the rest of the set. The top wheels are half hooks, so the ladder lifts off the rail and slides from one side to the other, or comes off entirely and stores flat when it is not needed.

The bottom wheels are braked. The moment weight comes onto the ladder, the brakes set and hold it still, so climbing in and out of the top bunk stays steady. The rail and the metal fittings are finished in a custom powder coat that will hold up to years of hands and feet.

Trundles that pull straight and stay put

Anyone who has wrestled a wheeled trundle out from under a bed knows the trouble. It pulls out crooked, and once it is out it slides around instead of staying where you want it. I worked the problem from two directions.

Underneath each bed are low profile, high weight, mono-directional wheels that track straight every time. More important are the ultra high strength drawer slides. They guide the bed out the same way on every pull, then lock into place once it reaches its sleeping position. To put it away, you pull the red lever and slide it back home.

No kicking the slats

Anyone who grew up on a top bunk remembers the other downside. The person below can reach up and kick the slats under your mattress all night. Not on this set. The top bunk mattress sits fully enclosed in walnut, so there is no getting at it from below, no matter how determined a younger brother or a visiting friend might be.

This is the kind of piece that gets handed down, taken apart and rebuilt in one house after another as a family grows. If you have a room and an idea for something built to last that long, start a conversation here, or read more about how we got started.