Twin Bed Frame with Storage from IKEA (Review)

A while ago, Fred posted about my sisters’ house fire, last October 31st.  Since that event, Amy (the homeowner) has lived at Jocie’s and Ethan’s and Lori has lived with us.   Well, nine months later, the reconstruction is still not complete, but we have other friends coming to stay with us while they find housing in the area.  Realizing we had a double-booking for our guestroom in August, we decided to clear out our office (4th bedroom) and give that to Lori, so she could start buying her replacement furniture… thus making the actual guestroom available for the guests who were hoping the bed was included.

So for the last week or so, I’ve watched Lori slave over a hot Internet, looking for furniture that was inexpensive but functional, suitable to her minimalist tastes, and available on short notice.  She settled on a handful of top contenders, visited them in stores, and finalized on the IKEA ODDA twin, a platform bed with a flip-up frame and a storage compartment underneath.  Price: $199 plus tax.

After a second trip to IKEA – this one involving me with my minivan – she brought it home and spent the afternoon assembling it.  For what it cost, she made an excellent choice.

IKEA ODDA Twin Platform Bed

The bed is really quite sturdy.  The only parts that seem a little flimsy are the wooden cross-supports (shown on the right).  They’re joined (glued) slats, not solid pieces.  But they will probably hold up just fine since there are 15 of them sharing the weight; and if one did need to be replaced, it would be very easy and inexpensive to do so.

The hinges on both sides hold the bed in the open position, and there are two straps on the frame that allow you to open and close the storage unit easily and gradually (so you’re not slamming it or pinching your fingers).  The entire storage unit is self-contained – ie. it has a “floor” - and thus protects stored items from dust, bugs and whatever else.

Lori opted to buy her mattress elsewhere, and the unintentional (I’m sure) benefit to this bed’s design is that it does not require a box spring.  The top-frame and cross bars support the mattress adequately on their own.

Of course, the lack of boxspring in addition to the already-low-profile of this bed means that the whole thing, bedding and all, stands only 18″ high.  So this would not be the best bed for an in-law suite (unless you WANTED your mother-in-law to get stuck there – haha!).  But, it is a terrific toddler-bed-alternative for a young child.  No way she’d get hurt even if she did roll off accidentally.  You wouldn’t have to replace it till she hit her teens (and not even then, if she stayed as small as my sister still is).  And you could store all her out-of-season or “she’ll-grow-into-them” clothes right there in the bottom.

One caveat: you would want to make sure your child understood that it would not be funny to try to close it while someone was leaning in to retrieve something from storage.  I’ve already had that conversation with our two boys, just so I know they’re clear.  Aside from that safety item, it’s a great bed for a kid.

In a guestroom, it could easily take the place of a day-bed, with a few large pillows added along the wall for the “sofa” look.  And extra blankets, linens, and the like fit nicely inside.

As Lori has discovered, the single-unit storage area gives a great deal of versatility for what she can store, since she’s not confined to the measurements of dresser drawers.  And while her dresser hasn’t arrived yet, she’s managed to tuck away most of her things without it.

So, yes, well worth the price she paid.  And if IKEA is still stocking this bed by the time our next child needs one, it’s at the top of my list!

Related Link:

• Ikea’s ODDA Twin Bed Product Information Page

by: Kim | July 31, 2008 | filed in: General
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