<p>My son will be a freshman this fall, so this is all new to me. (I never lived in a dorm when I was in college and neither did my husband.)</p>
<p>Son got his housing and roomate assignment today (he moves in about a week.) They have a floor plan of the room you can see online which is helpful. My question is, the room plan shows 2 separate beds, 2 desks, 2 dressers, 2 closets. Cool. The info on the housing website says the beds can be bunked, although they aren't shown that way on the floorplan.</p>
<p>I'm wondering about my son being able to loft the bed, but not really bunk it over his roomate's. Does anyone have experience with how that might work? Bed risers can ceate a little more space underneath, but what about lofting to create a lot more space underneath? Do the beds need to be specially built to loft them, or are there some handy lofting devices I have never heard of before?</p>
<p>I would recommend you contact the university's housing department and ask them. In my experience, different schools have different policies regarding what can and cannot be used to bunk and/or loft beds.</p>
<p>Check with the school, some do not allow lofting or only allow it if they do the work. And check the ceiling height - if the room does not have A/C it can get pretty hot up near the ceiling.</p>
<p>Also, your son should check with his prospective roommate. Maybe the roommate would prefer to bunk the beds to create additional floor space in the room. Lofting really only creates extra storage space, not extra moving-around space.</p>
<p>On the other hand, some people are vehemently opposed to bunk beds. If your son's prospective roommate feels that way, it might be a good idea to find out about it now.</p>
<p>Both of my Ds lofted their beds to get a lot more room underneath. The beds were easily 'loft-able' without needing to do anything other than hanging the bedframe a few notches higher on the end-rails. The beds are designed for this. It'll depend on what type of beds are at your S's dorm.</p>
<p>Lofting can create a great and convenient space for storing things in an otherwise tight room.</p>
<p>Lofting is like bunking without the bottom bed so it does create extra floor space. You can make a sitting area underneath or put a dresser or desk. D's college has a recommended company for the lofting kit that can or rented. D really wanted to do it but her room mate didn't and although one could, she decided to just used risers instead for extra storage. Here is the website of the company recommended by D's school - you can see pictures of what lofting is all about. You have to have a school code to see the ones that are rented but they are metal rather than wood. </p>
<p>Those look so unappealing to me, but what do I know. I can see putting dresser storage underneath, maybe a few trunks, and freeing up space, but wouldn't you be creeped out by sitting at a desk underneath the bed? I would think it would feel like the bed would fall on you at any minute!</p>
<p>It's also surprising to me that some enterprising company hasn't developed an all-in-one where a dresser and / or desk automatically have a built-in bed above, for use in dorms.</p>
<p>^^ The bed won't fall. One of my Ds had her desk under her bed - not as weird as having your desk under someone else's bed or someone else having their desk under your bed.</p>
<p>The other times my Ds lofted beds it wasn't all that high. Just high enough for about a 3 foot space underneath.</p>
<p>Son's college had loft kits to raise the beds. They did not have enough for everyone though and it was first come first served. That was one reason he wanted to be there first thing in the AM to move in.</p>
<p>Check with the housing office or the college website</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. I'll email the housing office and ask for specifics. My son doesn't want to bunk his bed right over his roomates, nor does he want the roomate bunked over him. He was just thinking if he could get enough space under the bed to move the dresser there and maybe his laundry hamper and stuff like that, that it would really help. We'll see what's possible. I appreciate the feedback!</p>
<p>S1 and roomate rented the lofts through the university. They were metal and much easier to handle than the old 2x4 built in the garage kind. The lofts created a lot of usable space for them. They put a futon under one and a dresser and TV under the other.</p>
<p>S2's school does not allow lofting so he will be bunking to make room for a futon.</p>