What is a cabin bed?

Cabin beds are sometimes known as Captain's beds and are beds that are slightly raised with drawers or storage compartments built in underneath.  The term comes from the type of bed that was used aboard ships to add additional storage in a place where space was at a premium.  Cabin beds were fixed down to the floor and all storage units had to be firmly fixed to the walls or other furniture to ensure it didn't get thrown around in bad weather.

The ideas behind the on board cabin beds were found to be a convenient addition to beds on dry land and the cabin bed has become a popular choice to add extra storage space beneath beds, not just in children's rooms but in adults rooms

Types of Cabin Bed

Many modern cabin beds offer the look of a traditional "storage" cabin bed, but offer different options underneath.  The most common of these nowadays is a cabin bed with stowaway / pull-out bed underneath.  These are great for keeping a handy guest bed hidden away neatly that can be used easily and at short notice.

And you often get storage drawers in these beds as well.  The Hornblower bed from Julian Bowen is an example of this type of cabin bed and is available in natural pine or stone white and has three drawers beneath the pull-out bed.

Another example of this type of cabin bed it the Kipling Captains bed available in white with white, pink or blue features.

The other type of cabin bed is one where there is no pull out bed, but the raised area is used for cupboards and shelves - extra storage.  An example of this type is the Stompa Solo 2 bed, which uses modular components to create "fitted" under bed cupboards.

The traditional cabin bed would be slightly higher than this to provide more storage, but it shows the general idea and also the practicality of this design.

In the modern world a more common type of bed is the midsleeper bed, and these are often called cabin beds, though they are higher.  They are great to create even more storage space underneath.  But whilst a normal cabin bed can be used for young children as they are only slightly raised, a midsleeper is higher so should only be used by children who can safely climb up and down a ladder.