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A bunk bed with a desk underneath often goes by the name of a ‘high sleeper’ or a ‘loft bed’ if the bed is up high near the ceiling. They’re usually called a ‘cabin bed with desk’ or ‘mid-sleeper’ if the bed isn’t quite so high.
They’re a good way to make the most of a small bedroom and tend to be popular with older children and teenagers. Some of them are robust enough to be used as a bunk bed with a desk for adults.
We’ve picked out five of the best bunk beds with desks underneath by looking at specification, value for money, customer reviews, warranty length and anything else useful.
Prices and review scores are correct at the time of writing. We’ll try to update this guide as those things change.
1. Nöa & Nani Thomas Bunk Bed With Desk – £259
Nöa & Nani offer this simple Thomas bunk bed with a desk underneath in white. When I checked, it was scoring about 4.4/5 on their own website, and a slightly lower score on Amazon.
They also sell what seems to be the same bed without the desk called a Texas which was scoring 4.7/5 on the Nöa & Nani website or 4/5 from about 60 reviews on Amazon so that gives a rough idea of customer satisfaction. The Nöa & Nani brand scored 4.2/5 on TrustPilot when I checked.
It’s one of the cheaper bunk beds with a desk available on the UK market so it doesn’t come with drawers and cupboards. You can also remove the desk if you decide you want more space. The ladder is at an angle which makes it a bit easier to climb than one which is completely vertical.
What’s it made from?
It’s made from pine which is a softwood which is commonly used for furniture. That’s the same as the Argos bunk bed with desk mentioned later in this guide – see #3. A lot of people prefer real wood like this to the cheap fibreboards which are used in a lot of flatpack furniture.
Some health concerns have been raised about the use of fibreboard furniture. A study by Brown in 1999 tested furniture in labs and found that ‘Formaldehyde emission factors for all products were approximately double European low-emission specifications and did not decay to the latter for several months.’
Solid wood does also emit Volatile Organic Compounds. However, Adamova et al explain in a 2020 study that panels made from wood are an issue because they combine the wood with other materials. They said ‘the adhesives and additives that are essentially applied aiming to adjust the panels’ properties is…enriching this cocktail of chemicals’.
Need a mattress with your bunk bed?
You’ll need to use a standard single mattress which is 16cm deep or thinner with this one. There are quite a few on the market including:
- Happy Beds Theo bunk bed mattress (15cm deep, £129, uses pocket springs which are the best type of mattress springs). For the money, this model offers a lot. I would really expect to see a mattress with either a basic foam design or ‘open coil’ springs for this price.
- Silentnight foam bunk mattress (14cm deep, £129). A simple foam mattress like this one is nothing fancy but Silentnight is big name brand.
- Simba Hybrid bunk bed mattress (16cm deep, £199, Simba scores 4.4/5 on TrustPilot). This model uses synthetic materials. Its main appeal is that you get a trial period so you can send it back if you don’t like it.
- John Lewis & Partners bunk bed mattress (15cm deep, £250, pocket springs, posh brand). It’s not the cheapest model but you get the John Lewis brand and reputation. Also, the use of pocket springs is a positive compared to the cheaper alternative of open coil springs.
Pros of this bunk bed: easier to climb ladder than some designs, good value, removable desk, pine rather than fibreboard
Cons: some brands get higher review scores on TrustPilot, no additional storage, requires a shallow mattress
Our Value Rating: *****
(We give our own rating based on whether we think an item is good value. Five star items are ‘exceptionally good value’ in our opinion. Four star means ‘very good value’ and three star means ‘good value’)
2. Julian Bowen Pegasus Bunk Bed With Desk – £549
The dramatically named Julian Bowen Pegasus bunk bed with a desk manages to cram a huge amount of space into one unit. It has a more grown-up look than a pretty bunk bed with stars and hearts. I reckon it might be popular with a teenager.
It comes with an above-average 5 year guarantee and gets quite good customer reviews (3.9/5 on Amazon, 4.6/5 on Happy Beds). As a brand, Julian Bowen was scoring a very good 4.6/5 on TrustPilot when we checked.
As well as the desk, there are several cupboards and drawers including some extra space cleverly squeezed into the steps up to the bed.
Several reviewers comment that it was a big challenge to put together – one person said they had a ‘glowing feeling of achievement after earning a black belt in assembling flat pack’. I’d suggest this is two person job and will take some time. One person said it took them five hours, so I imagine it would take me about a fortnight.
If you buy it from Happy Beds you get a five year guarantee. That’s four years more than most bunk beds come with.
Colours and mattress options
It comes in four colours and takes a standard width single mattress. The instructions warn that you can only use a mattress up to 18cm thick, otherwise there’s a risk of rolling over the top. We’ve picked out a few bunk bed mattresses further up this guide. For example, this Julian Bowen bunk bed with desk can also be used with the Silentnight 3 Zone Memory Foam Mattress which is an 18cm deep award winner which sells for about £150.
A similar alternative to this bunk bed with desk is offered by Furniture by JDM (£699). It gets great reviews, although it does require an unusual shaped mattress which is thinner and longer than a standard single mattress.
Pros: much more storage space than other designs, five year guarantee
Cons: quite a job to assemble, flatpack fibreboard material rather than solid wood
Our Value Rating: ****
3. Argos Home Brooklyn Bunk Bed With Desk – £330
Argos has a good range of cheap bunk beds with desks underneath. I’ve picked out the Brooklyn High Sleeper which comes in white or grey.
It’s got a simple design and it doesn’t have the cupboards and drawers that you get with some. However, you can buy matching units and bundles and it get very positive reviews (4.5/5 when I checked). The ladder is fixed and is vertical so make sure your children would be confident climbing up and down.
It’s made from solid pine, which is a relatively cheap softwood which is often used in bed frames and bunk beds. It does the job nicely and you won’t find many hardwood framed beds for children.
The Brooklyn bunk bed with desk comes with a two year guarantee, which is better than the one year offered on most furniture around this price. The weight limit is 100kg or about 15 stone. This one could also be used as a bunk bed with desk underneath for an average weight adult. The thickest mattress you can use with this bed is 16cm deep.
Argos also sell a similar bunk bed with a desk which has a more girly design (or a boy who likes heart shapes, of course).
Pros: good value, choice of colours
Cons: warranty length is a little on the short side, requires a shallow mattress, steep ladder for climbing
Our Value Rating: ****
4. Stompa High Sleeper Bunk Bed With Desk – £499
Stompa is a long-established Scandinavian brand which offers a big range of bunk beds with desks in various layouts and formats. You can get them from John Lewis & Partners as well as other shops.
This one is fairly compact and has an upright ladder. Other Stompa models have desks that slides in and out so they offer a bit more space and might be more suited for a teenager who wants to use it for a TV or games console as well as occasional work when they hear you coming up the stairs.
If you want an upgrade there are also versions with single seater sofas/futons which sit alongside the desk.
This one comes with a generous five year guarantee which is a real plus point.
It also takes a standard sized single mattress which is much simpler than spending another six hours online searching for one which will fit.
Pros: long established brand, good length warranty, options to add seats and desks
Cons: upright ladder rather than sloped, more expensive than similar designs from Argos or Noa and Nani
Our Value Rating: ***
5. Dynamo Mid-Sleeper Bunk Bed With Desk – £349
Finally, I thought it was worth including a bunk bed with a desk underneath, which isn’t quite as high up as the others. These types of beds are usually called cabin beds or mid-sleepers. They are preferable if you’re a bit concerned about children climbing up tall ladders in the dark after a midnight toilet stop.
This Dynamo bunk bed has a desk which slides out rather than being permanently in place as well as lots of storage and glowing reviews (4.7/5 when I checked).
It fits a standard sized single mattress, with a maximum depth of 18cm. It’s made from the usual sort of flatpack material, which is a fibreboard, and has a recommended weight limit of 100kg which is about 15 stone.
Several reviewers say they were able to follow the instructions easily when putting it together, but it did take three or four hours. They didn’t specify whether that included regular tea breaks.
Pros: lower height is safer, offers a lot for the money
Cons: fibreboard rather than wood, requires more space to use the desk, takes some time to assemble
Our Value Rating: *****
Looking for a bunk bed with a desk? We’ve got a guide for that!