If you know anything about home furniture or home decor, you probably heard of or seen a trundle bed.
Even though these beds look fun in the store, many homeowners brush off these versatile beds because they don’t see them as a worthwhile investment. Since trundle beds can often get rather expensive, many homeowners become worried that they may not get great use out of a troubled trundle bed and steer clear of purchasing one.
The bottom line is trundle beds have a variety of uses and often extend their usability far past what people initially think.
Trundle beds are great for extra sleeping and storage spaces, but their usability extends far beyond those two benefits. They also help enhance family time, create more space for playtime, and offer versatility and dynamism in multipurpose rooms Additionally, they’re great for caring for sick family members and pets, and can even help you earn passive income when used correctly.
Here are all the best ways to maximize your trundle bed. We listed our favorite uses for trundle beds. Read on to learn if a trundle bed is right for you.
What Is A Trundle Bed?
A trundle is a platform on wheels that fits underneath a standard twin bed to save you space. The large platform has built-in room for an additional mattress, so you essentially get two beds in one.
The trundle is typically built with wheels on the bottom to allow users to pull out and put away the bottom section with relative ease.
A trundle is typically a twin bed-sized frame, although some variations deviate from this model. For example, some trundles are in bunk bed form (so that you now get three beds for the space of one) or larger bed sizes, such as full or queen.
Though they excel at saving space because the pullout section must fit underneath the main bed when stored, the bottom chamber must have a thinner mattress. As a result, the pullout sections of a trundle aren’t the most comfortable. A typical trundle mattress is around eight inches thick.
What Is The Use of a Trundle Bed?
By now, you’ve probably figured out that the primary use for a trundle bed is for sleeping. Trundle beds are an excellent investment if you’re strapped for additional sleeping space but don’t have room for an extra bed.
Not only are they designed for extra sleeping space, but they also give you the most space and storage possible. For example, frequently trundle beds come with extra drawers to store bedding, clothes, sheets, and comforters.
Additionally, if you purchase a trundle bed just for extra storage, you can opt not to buy a spare mattress and use both the built-in drawers and the pullout section as storage. There you can fit as many extra belongings as you could on a regular twin mattress.
Trundle Beds For Kids
One of the best uses for a trundle bed is if you have a home with many children. Trundle beds are specifically designed to maximize space, so they are great for squeezing many children into a small home.
In this way, trundle beds are a far superior option to bunk beds because not only do they fit an extra person in the same amount of space, but they also have lots of storage for all of your kids’ clothes, toys, and books.
However, trundle beds are much more useful for improving your kids’ lives than simply adding storage and serving as an extra bed. Here are more ways that trundle beds can be useful for you and your children.
Sleepovers
The best part about summer nights is letting your child host a massive slumber party with all of their friends. But what if you have so many kids visit that you don’t have any room for them?
This is why having a trundle bed is such an excellent option for families. Not only do you have a lot of space, but you’re able to host many more people so you are the fun home in the neighborhood.
Adult Beds
There comes a time in every child’s life to transition from sleeping in a crib to sleeping in an adult bed.
Although this is a necessary transition, many children struggle with moving to a bed without a railing. As a result, not only are they fearful of sleeping alone in an adult bed, but they also can injure themselves when they roll off the bed in the middle of the night.
Of course, this is hazardous, but it also creates a lot of anxiety with parents because children can get injured while adjusting to sleeping in their new beds.
Many parents don’t realize that trundle beds are the perfect remedy for this problem and can help your child’s transition.
The trundle bed design offers extra security and comfort built right into the sleeping arrangement. If your child has issues with rolling off the bed in the middle of the night, all you need to do is pull out the bottom trundle bed section to create a padded landing spot for them.
Adding this extra layer of security is helpful in terms of safety and precaution and will also help your peace of mind and make the transition less stressful for both them and you. Plus, it makes their sleeping arrangements a little bit more fun.
Wetting The Bed
It’s a fact of life that most children wet the bed. Even when children get older, they still have difficulty holding their bladder throughout the night.
If this is a problem that often happens to your child, you may consider purchasing a trundle bed as they have great use for helping children who wet the bed.
When kids have accidents, they need to be able to get to a clean space faster. Since most accidents happen in the middle of the night, they may be afraid to wake you to alert you of their accident.
With a trundle bed, you don’t have to worry about poor hygiene conditions as they can simply move to the spare bed. Additionally, it’s nice for you to have a backup mattress that your child can use while you have the soiled one professionally cleaned.
If your child has issues with bedwetting, you may find a trundle bed to be very useful for both of you and your child.
Nightmares
Another problem many parents face is that children often have nightmares.
Often, children want us to come into their rooms and fall asleep with them as they’re afraid of monsters under the bed, closest, or they want you there for an added sense of security.
Yet, it is tough to get comfortable when you’re sharing a bed with a child.
Not only are twin beds uncomfortable to begin with, but cuddling up next to your child can hurt your back, neck, legs, and the rest of your body.
It is useful to purchase a trundle bed in these cases as you can set up camp next to them while still having your own space. Sleeping next to your child gives them added security and happiness while also gives you a little bit more space to stretch out.
Movie Night
What better way to spend a Friday night than with a movie night? Movie nights are critical to bringing the family together and sharing quality moments that you will look back on years later with joy and nostalgia.
If you have a big family, sometimes the couch isn’t enough. When you want to enjoy movie night in a more intimate setting, you may opt for different at-home movie night options.
A trundle bed is instrumental in these situations because it allows people to enjoy the movie, cuddle up, and get close. In addition, the extra mattress provides that much more space, so even if you have a big group, you can still enjoy the movie together on one bed.
Extra Play Area
Are you looking for an extra play area for you and your children? For example, maybe you have a lot of snow days and love to make play forts. Or maybe your child loves to transform their bedroom into a magical fort kingdom castle with many different levels and play areas.
Your child has an extra space below their bed with a trundle bed to create a better fort and more imaginative play area.
Adult Uses
Many of you may be wondering: can adults sleep on trundle beds? Of course they can!
As an adult, extra living space is paramount towards a happy home. With so many young adults living with roommates or squeezing their lives into cramped studio apartments, trundle beds have many uses beyond simply existing for children.
Long Term Guests
Whether it’s backpackers, foreign exchange students, or in-laws, homeowners end up hosting people at their homes. Sometimes these short-term visitors turn into long-time guests.
Instead of assigning someone to an old air mattress, show your guests you care about their comfort by letting them sleep on a trundle bed.
However, you may want to limit the guest age to those visitors who are a little bit younger. Trundle beds are low to the ground and have pretty slim sizes.
A great example of this would be backpackers. Known for their thick skin and tough attitudes, if you live somewhere where you host many backpackers or visitors from different countries, a trundle bed is a perfect fit for those adventurous folks.
Holidays
Nothing says the holidays like packing your house full of loved ones, friends, and extended family members.
What happens when you realize that you don’t have nearly enough space to accommodate all these people? Extra sleeping space is hard to come by, and no one likes having to spend all night on a lumpy couch.
That’s why it’s great to have trundle beds readily available. Not only can you host all of your family in your home, but it also creates more bonding time for those who get paired up in trundle beds.
With a trundle bed, you never worry about lack of space for holiday fun ever again. And with that worry gone, you’ll have time to get back to what really matters: celebrating your family.
Studio and Apartment Living
Trundle beds have great use if you live in tight spaces. As more and more young people become city dwellers, finding space for yourself and your belongings is tough. Especially living in a studio apartment, many young people have difficulty finding different places to store their items.
Trundle beds are such an ingenious design because they allow you to maximize the space you have while creating an organized, peaceful, clean living area when you’re working with the smallest of spaces.
What’s awesome about trundle beds is you can fit clothes, spare bedding, towel, and anything else that would typically go into a closet or dresser. Fit those items underneath your bed so you have more space in your room.
Trundle beds have an innovative design, so you can easily access all of these items. On the other hand, you can also hide them away quickly, so your room always looks nice and well kept.
Another way that apartment dwellers can utilize trundle beds in small living spaces is to bunk with their roommate in a trundle bed and not have the hassle of having an extra bed that takes up extra room.
Multipurpose Rooms
An intelligent design technique to elevate your home is to create multipurpose rooms to please everyone in your family.
This is especially the case with families with lots of children or singles trying to maximize their space. If you are a parent who has to share your office space with your family, a trundle bed is an excellent option for you as it is beneficial in helping to convert multipurpose rooms.
When you have guests over, pull out the trundle and add bedding to accommodate sleepers.
Air Mattress Alternative
Let’s be honest, air mattresses are rough.
They’re tough on the body and they deflate easily (even when they’re fully inflated). Additionally, even when air mattresses are working correctly, they still feel off because that hard plastic is miles away from the soft plushness of an actual bed.
Not only that, but as a host, sometimes you feel bad forcing your guests to sleep on air mattresses.
When you have a trundle bed, you never have to worry because you can always store a spare spot for guests to crash.
If you rarely host guests, use the trundle for storage, but keep a twin-size air mattress handy when you need the extra sleeping space.
Throw away the air mattress! We promise all of your guests will thank you.
Airbnb
We all love earning extra passive income. Nowadays, a lot of people make most of their income through side hustles and side gigs.
If you’re up in the real estate world at all, you know one of the most popular ways to earn extra passive income is through a spare property.
It’s never a bad idea to purchase a property in a bustling tourist area and rent it out through Airbnb or any other renting site. A big problem some renters run into is not having enough space for their guests.
The key to having a property that generates a ton of cash is to ensure that those big tourist groups who book for big chunks of a time can book their stay at your place. And that means you need as much sleeping space as possible.
If you own an Airbnb, adding a trundle bed would be a worthwhile addition. A trundle bed on your property allows you to host more guests for more prolonged periods. Since they’re traveling, they probably don’t expect the comfiest furniture.
As a result, trundle beds have great use in extra properties.
Caring For a Sick Animal
It’s terrible when a pet that you have loved for many, many years suddenly falls sick.
Unfortunately, pets getting sick is a natural part of life, and pet owners need to prepare for the day when your animal needs a lot of care.
Surprisingly, trundle beds are an excellent way for us to be near our animals when they need us most.
Trundle beds are so low to the ground, so they’re easily accessible for your pet if they have a hard time moving or getting around. Additionally, that extra mattress is much more comfortable than hard wooden floors and tore up dog or cat beds. Resting on the bottom portion of the trundle bed may be an excellent alternative for your beloved animal.
Furthermore, having a trundle bed helps them emotionally because you can sleep next to them. You are only an arm’s length away without you having to sacrifice your comfort. That way, you’ll be right there should they need you, and you can provide them with extra comfort, security, and love.
Caring For a Sick Family Member
In the same way that trundle beds are beneficial to care for sick pets, trundle beds are also great ways to care for ill family members, friends, or loved ones.
When you have someone in your home who is not well and needs round-the-clock care, you want to consider investing in a trundle bed. Since your sick loved one is sleeping in the primary bed, you can sleep in the pullout portion of the trundle bed. This way, you can keep a close eye on them but are also available at a moment’s notice should they need you or any of your help.
Add Style
Are you looking to add some extra flair to your home? Then look no further than the trundle bed.
Trundle beds are not only functional, but you can also use them to elevate the decor and the aesthetic of your room. Some trundle beds are designed very well and bring a lot of attractive design features to your home in addition to functionality.
Proper Trundle Bed Care
For all the uses that trundle beds have, they certainly are great investments, especially if you have a big family, if you usually have many guests over, or if you’re trying to maximize space or storage.
If you’re thinking of purchasing a trundle bed, it certainly is a worthwhile investment.
However, you need to properly care for your trundle bed to ensure it has a long life and that it works for you and your loved ones for many years.
One big problem that can occur to trundle beds is warped mattresses. This happens especially to people who live in warmer climates. When you keep a mattress locked under the trundle bed for long periods, in humid weather, the mattress can warp because it’s not getting any air.
So, if you live in a humid area, you need to make sure that you don’t keep a mattress permanently in the bottom section of your trundle bed. Instead, make sure to air out the mattress every once in a while to release the build-up of humid air. Alternatively, you can keep the second mattress in a different area and only put it on the trundle when you have guests over.
You also must make sure that you get the correct mattress for your trundle bed. The bottom pullout section has to fit correctly.
Most bottom mattresses are much thinner than people are accustomed to. However, it’s essential that you purchase a mattress with the proper dimensions, as if you buy a mattress that is too large, shoving it into the bottom section of your trundle will damage both the mattress and the bed frame.
To avoid situations like this, make sure that you pay special attention to the dimensions of the trundle bed and the user manual to purchase the correct mattress.
Adding Extra Comfort To Your Trundle
The biggest hurdle to overcome with your trundle is that sometimes the bottom mattress isn’t as comfortable as you may want it to be. This is because the mattress must be extra thin to fit underneath the main part of your trundle bed.
Thankfully there are steps you can take to add extra comfort to your trundle, so you get the best of both worlds of not only functionality and extra space but comfort, too.
Below is a list of steps you can take to make your sleeping arrangements a little more pleasant.
- Lock Casters
- Firm Mattress
- Store Extra Bedding
- Extra Cushions
When you lock your casters in place, this prevents your trundle from moving around while you’re sleeping, which is one of the most significant ways to become uncomfortable when using a trundle bed.
While the casters offer access and ease of use (because they are the piece that helps the trundle quickly move back in place), they can easily disrupt your sleep in the middle of the night if you roll over too hard.
By locking the casters in place, you’ll guarantee that you won’t move the trundle bed by accident.
It also helps to get a firm mattress to give you added support since the six-inch bed won’t have much support.
Lastly, you must have as much extra bedding, cushions, and plush blankets around to give you as much additional support as possible. If you cuddle up in comfy blankets and pillows, this will help tremendously in terms of adding comfort to your trundle experience.
Final Thoughts
While many people have seen or heard of a trundle bed and are therefore familiar with the concept, most people are unaware of just how many uses a trundle bed has.
Of course, their two main benefits are extra sleeping spaces and extra storage. Because of this, trundle beds are excellent to have if you have multiple children, if you host a lot of slumber parties, or if you have guests staying at your home for long periods of time.
Because they optimize space, trundle beds are also great to have if you live in a small space with few storage options. If you have a rental property, trundle beds can also increase your potential to earn extra income.
And if you often care for sick family members, or if you’re looking to spend a little bit more quality time with your children, trundle beds are an excellent way of achieving those things.
Consider purchasing a trundle bed today to benefit from its many uses and alleviate many nuisances in your life.