How To Loft A Dorm Bed (In 5 Simple Steps)
One easy way to get some extra space in your dorm room is to raise your bed. Here are 5 simple steps for how to loft a dorm bed.
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Dorm rooms are notorious for being super tiny. So it’s important that you get creative with how to maximize your storage space when living in your dorm room.
And one of the best ways to get more storage space in a college dorm is to loft your bed.
In a hurry? Here’s a quick overview for how to loft a dorm bed:
- Safely turn the bed frame on its side
- Securely attach frame leg extensions
- Test how secure the extensions are
- Flip the bed frame back up
- Add furniture underneath
In this post, we’ll go over the exact steps you need to follow to loft your dorm bed, as well as some expert tips for making the process as smooth as possible.
How to Loft A Dorm Bed (In 5 Easy Steps)
Here are the steps you need to take to loft a dorm bed:
Step 1: Get a Lofting Kit
In order to loft your dorm bed, you’ll need to purchase or rent a lofting kit.
Your university will typically rent these kits out per semester or year. Or they may have you purchase your own kit elsewhere.
Make sure you check with your dorm rules before you purchase your own lofting kit. You may need a specific type of kit for the beds that they provide.
If you’re unable to get a lofting kit for some reason, you can always buy bed risers to give yourself some extra storage space in your dorm.
There are lots of different styles and sizes of bed risers, but the ones linked above are the tallest we could find. They provide an extra 20.5 inches of storage space under your bed!
Step 2: Remove The Mattress And Turn The Bed Frame On Its Side
The next step is removing your mattress and turning the bed frame on its side.
It’s a good idea to bring the bed to the center of the room to do this. You don’t want the corners of the frame hitting your walls and causing damage.
More importantly, it ensures you have enough room to work on the bed frame with your lofting kit.
Depending on the size and weight of your college dorm bed, you may need someone to help you with this step.
Step 3: Attach Lofting Pegs / Bed Risers To The Bed Frame Legs.
The process will be slightly different depending on whether you’re using a loft conversion kit or bed risers:
- With a conversion kit, the leg extensions will fit your dorm bed precisely.
- Bed risers sold online are typically marketed as “universal”. They will come with securing screws that you need to tighten.
Either way, the overall process is the same: you just add the risers or extra legs to the original legs.
With a lofting kit, you will need to tighten the peg. And if you use standard bed risers, you’ll need to fasten the tightening screws until the leg extension is securely attached to the bed.
Repeat this process with all four legs.
Step 4 – Test the Strength of the Bed Extension
While the bed is still on its side, apply downward pressure on the bed riser/extension.
If the extended leg is wobbly, the peg isn’t tight enough or isn’t the right fit. If the extension doesn’t budge, then it is secure.
Step 5 – Turn The Bed Upright And Test It One Last Time
This is the final step in raising your dorm bed to a loft height. Simply turn it back upright and carefully place something heavy on top to see if the bed riser buckles.
If it doesn’t buckle under an object half your weight, you can climb on top and test whether it can carry your weight.
Now all that’s left is decorating your newfound space! Not sure what to do with that space? Check out this article on under-bed dorm storage ideas.
Lofted Dorm Bed Inspiration
Now that you know how to loft your dorm bed, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to decorate.
If you’re stuck on what to do with your space, here are some lofted dorm bed inspiration pictures to help you out:
Frequently Asked Questions About Lofting a Dorm Bed
Here are some of the questions posed most often by people looking to loft a dorm bed:
How High Can You Loft a Dorm Bed?
You can typically loft a dorm bed to 6 feet before it is too high to be stable.
Many dorms have a maximum limit for bed height that goes slightly above 4 feet.
Are Lofted Dorm Beds Safe?
Lofted dorm beds can be unsafe if the bed risers are made with weaker material than the bed frame.
Aside from the risk of toppling over, bed frames may also put you close to your ceiling fans. That said, you can safely loft a dorm bed with the proper precautions.
How Much Weight Can a College Loft Bed Hold?
A college loft bed can hold anywhere between 500 lbs to 1000 lbs depending on the weight of the bed frame and the mattress and the maximum carrying capacity of the bed risers.
You can subtract the weight of the bed and the mattress from the carrying capacity of the risers to figure out the capacity of your lofted bed.
How do You Avoid Falling Off a Lofted Bed?
You can avoid falling off a lofted bed by adding a safety rail to one side of the frame and pushing the other against the room’s wall.
Still, if you fall off a regular bed often, you should not loft your bed.
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