Alder and Tweed: Bunk Beds to the Stars

Like many mundane things that have been made “cool” these days (from Haute Dogs to Lobster Mac & Cheese), it’s now possible (as Candy wrote) to have cool bunk beds. I don’t know about you, but if I had the ceiling height, it would be soooo fun to have half the set pictured above in my bedroom. Every night I’d be thinking, “Hmmm, do I want to sleep up or down tonight?”

… and then I could post naughty “pin-up” pics to the underside of the upper bed like when I was younger. (OK, perhaps I’ve grown up at least that much since then … but not much.)

Alder and Tweed is run by sisters Lynsey and Heather Humphrey who come by their design chops naturally with parents who founded the largest lighting company you’ve never heard of. Their firm specializes in creating memorable interiors (translation: house porn) for big-time vacation homes. Many of their clients fall out of the pages of Fortune and People. Their work results in the kinds of interiors most of us slobber over in hopes of finding some trinket we can use in our more modest homes. The Utah-based sister-designers get around with projects and offices in California, Mexico, and of course Utah.

Note the Hermes blanket (Click to Buy)

A lot of their commissions are in ski lodge country where bunk rooms are popular. So popular in fact, they’ve got a nice side niche going as bunk bed designers. After all, part of having a lodge is to fill it up with friends and family, right? A little après-ski aperitif-ing makes MADD happy there’s a nearby crash pad (can I get an “amen?”). Color me shocked, but there’s even rumor that children sleep in them too!

Of course (shhhh … ) there are other uses for a bunk room – no, I wasn’t thinking THAT until I saw that twinkle in your eye. What I meant was if you were supplementing your mortgage with a little Airbnb, a bunk room could transform a room into a family suite – cha-ching!

Some of their designs take a page from old sleeper train cars with privacy curtains to swish across to fend off early morning sun but probably not barricade enough against an annoying younger sibling. There are even cattle bars to keep rough and tumble sleepers from tumbling out … and no plain rails here, very chic furniture elements give these bunks a lot of added “wow” to what’s frankly pretty utilitarian – noggin’ knocking prevention.

In some designs, there’s a chest of drawers smartly tucked under each bed. Were the room pictured above populated by four beds and dressers, there wouldn’t be space to swing a cat. As it is, there’s plenty of play space for all the typical kid junk and roughhousing needs.

Another example of great space allocation, the room above is outfitted with its own media room (and is that a fridge I see under the TV?) in addition to sleeping space for four. Kids would love their own private space (and swankier than building a fort out of blankets) all while secretly serving parents’ (grandparents?) ulterior motive for a little peace and quiet.

Like the first picture, my favorite design has the center “floating” staircase and beds. Folks on the inside lower-level don’t have to crawl over their bedmate for any middle-of-the-night errands. They’re just such a new take on traditional bunk bed ladders … very clean and sophisticated.

Also notice that a lot of these bunk beds aren’t the skimpy twin-sized mattresses of yore, but full and queen-size. The designers note that many of their bunk rooms are designed for adults. This is unsurprising with a Utah-centered business and Mormons known for big families – get togethers are big and multi-generational.

Need some bunk beds or your second chalet decked out? These are the only gals to talk to:

Alder and Tweed
http://www.alderandtweed.com
6440 N. Business Park Loop Road, Ste. M,
Park City, UT 84098
(435) 487 – 8430

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