Are Loft Beds Childish? (And Should You Even Care)

So you found your perfect apartment, and everything is perfect. You can’t believe you landed a great deal on a space that pretty much ticks all your checklist.

You’re thinking about upgrading your furniture, starting with your bed. You go on Pinterest and look at decor inspiration, and you think to yourself, you know what, a loft bed in my new space might be cool.

So then like any 21st-century person, you start looking at potential loft beds, starting with good old Google. And as you get into a loft-bed rabbit hole, you discover that many people search for whether or not loft beds are childish.

At first, you don’t really think much of it, but then the search terms keep coming up and you start thinking, maybe it is true. Then images of children’s bunk beds come up and you start to think twice about getting a loft bed.

When I was researching loft beds, I was surprised by how often this kept coming up in suggested searches. My husband joked I should write about it, and I initially laughed at him. But then I realized that well, then maybe it’s worth me writing about it if that many people are resorting to the internet to answer this question.

Before I go on my rant, let me just answer the question as I see it. It.Doesn’t.Matter.

If you want to get a loft bed, get a loft bed. Plenty of adults have them. If not, there wouldn’t be a whole marketplace full of them (and frankly, this website or article wouldn’t exist).

Related: Loft bed ideas for low ceilings and small rooms

The meaning of childish 

First, let’s unpack the idea of something being childish in the first place. The Merriam-Webster defines childish as follows:

• Of, relating, or befitting a child or childhood 
• Marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise
• Lacking complexity (a.k.a. Simple) 
• Deteriorated with age, especially in mind (a.k.a. Senile)

Now I don’t know about you, but to me, loft beds don’t really fit into any of those definitions.

For starters, I didn’t have a loft bed as a kid. I didn’t even have a bunk bed, which people (and bed retailers) sometimes use interchangeably with loft beds because the structures and design can overlap.

Also, I’m willing to bet that most kids who did have bunk beds didn’t get it because they asked their parents for bunk beds. Their parents probably decided it for them. 

Also, let’s also consider who you’re worried about impressing, and then consider how many of those people will actually see your bedroom.

Then narrow that down even more to how many people will sleep in your bed, and how often. If it’s a friend or relative who occasionally crashes at your place, and you’re letting them do that from the goodness of your heart, well, chances are, you having a loft bed isn’t going to impact their quality of life.

If they continue to tease you about it, then just stop inviting them over or letting them crash at your place!

But what if it’s your sleeping partner? Well, in that case, it probably warrants further conversation.

I will say though if they don’t like loft beds, and they’re telling you that it’s because they think it’s childish and nothing else, there might be deeper issues going on that you should probably talk about. 

Loft beds and safety 

Now, it is essential to mention that while people’s opinions of what your bed looks like shouldn’t be a factor, if they are going to be sleeping in it in some capacity, then you need to be sure that it’s safe. 

Now, loft beds are just as safe as any other beds, and beds often have a weight limit. Make sure that if you are going to be sharing it with guests, you get a loft bed with a high weight limit.

As we’ve previously written in our loft-bed size guide article, adult loft beds typically support anywhere between 200 to 500 lbs. There are options for heavy-duty ones that can handle more than 500 pounds, but they tend to be less common

Also, consider safety from a design perspective. A high loft-bed might look quite cool, but if it’s a b*tch to get in and out of (as in it requires concentration), you might want to consider a more user-friendly design.

I don’t know about you, but I personally take about an hour in the morning to fully wake up (longer if I haven’t had my morning coffee). I’m also super clumsy, so I personally would opt for a loft bed that isn’t difficult to get in and out of. 

Do what you want 

Ultimately, this article is a massive long rant to get you to do one thing—whatever the hell you want!

Personally, I don’t really understand why people would consider loft beds childish (nor have I ever heard anyone refer to them as such). Then again, I can’t speak for what other people might think. All I know is that Pinterest is full of loft bed inspirations on very adult-looking homes and spaces.

Get a loft bed if you want to get a loft bed. Or don’t. But whatever you do, don’t look to the internet to validate your feelings. Or you’ll end up going down a rabbit hole reading more ranty (and let’s face it, pretty) pointless articles like this.