If you are short on space in a room that more than one child occupies, you may find yourself wondering how to furnish the room. You can't have two twin beds taking up all of the space in your children's room all the time, but you certainly can't expect them to share a bed. Youth bedroom furniture should be appealing to the kids' taste but should also be practical.

Bunk beds may provide one solution for you and your family. Rather than taking up excess floor space, these modular pieces of furniture stack on top of each other, taking up half the space and providing a separate sleeping space for each of the kids in the shared room. Of course, you may want to consider the safety factors and the age of your children prior to opting for bunk beds. There are inherent risk factors with very small children when installing this type of furnishing. For example, bunk beds can cause injury to the head of the child occupying the bottom bunk if he or she is not careful when sitting up. Also, there have been numerous incidents where very young children without a clear sense of balance have fallen from the ladder that accesses the top bunk or from the top bunk itself.

If your children are too small or too young for you to feel comfortable with bunk beds, you might want to consider trundle beds as an alternative. Frequently used as youth bedroom furniture when a shared room is too small for two beds to occupy floor space, these are rollaway beds that store easily, much like cots. However, trundle beds expand into full height and width beds, complete with mattresses. Their frame replaces the box spring, but otherwise, it is a complete bed ensemble. At night, trundle beds are brought out and raised into position for one child. However, during the day, it collapses and rolls away under the other child's bed. This is especially handy for use with a daybed or other specialty type of youth bedroom furniture.

Limited space doesn't have to make the job of furnishing and decorating your children's room difficult. There are plenty of youth bedroom furniture options to assist you in building a space appropriate design that meets the needs of both children and appeals to their taste, as well as yours. Bunk beds are a classic feature of children's rooms, and trundle beds are an alternate should your children be too young to be safe with bunks. Either way, you have accomplished the goal of accommodating the needs of your family within the confines of the space provided.