Converting Your Bed Sheets for Trundle and Bunk Beds

Bunk and trundle beds meet space-saving needs for a growing family. Children love the privacy and play opportunities that both types of beds offer.

These types of beds can pose a problem for mom, who is usually the one making the bed. She may struggle with the daily challenge of making a tidy bed in a space limited by guardrails and ladders. Even though bunk and trundle bed mattresses are usually twin-size, you can also use standard twin sheets and adjust them to the beds.

As an online source for quality bed sheets, pillows and mattresses, we at Buy Bedding Direct like to share articles that help our customers and readers of this blog make the most of their purchases. With that in mind, we’re sharing a few items and simple steps that help you with adjusting your child’s bed sheets to fit on a trundle or bunk bed mattress.

Things You Will Need

• Twin-sized bed sheet set; that includes one fitted sheet.
• Set of four sheet-holder straps. These are elastic straps that look like suspenders with fabric clasps located at the ends. Sheet-holder straps are also known as “sheet suspenders.”

Steps to Adjust the Sheets

• Tie a knot in each of the four corners of the twin flat sheet.
• Lay the flat sheet down over the mattress so each corner hangs over the mattress.
• Tuck the knots of the flat sheet into each side of the elastic sheet-holder straps.
• Pull the sheet up the bed.
• Tuck the side of the sheet that’s against the wall into the bed frame. The front side of the sheet should hang over the front of the bed frame.
• Tuck the front of the sheet between the mattress side and bed frame, pleating the excess material so it fits into the frame without hanging over the frame.
• Place a fitted twin sheet over the sheet with the sheet-holder straps on the mattress.
• Secure the two bottom corners of the sheet with sheet-holder straps.

Additional Tips

• Try to avoid any “deep pocket” bed sheets and mattress covers. These tend to be made for extra-thick mattresses and will have too much material to fit smoothly on the bed.
• If the bottom sheet tends to slip out of place, use sheet-holder straps on all four corners of the sheet.
• When using sheet-holder straps on a bunk bed, it is easier to remove the mattress from the top bunk, then place fitted sheet with the sheet-holder straps on it, and then replace the mattress in the bed frame.

Have you ever used the “sheet suspenders” to convert a bunk or trundle bed? Do you have any other ideas on converting sheets to bunk or trundle mattresses? If you have any other ideas, share them with us. If you are in the market for new sheets, pillows or mattresses, check out our products tab above.