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Louver Low Loft Bed With Tent
Basic Facts
- Crafted of solid pine wood
- Dimensions: 78” L x 42” W x 44” H
- Weight capacity: 160 lbs
- Guardrail height: ~14”
- Vertical clearance below the bed: ~28”
- Reversible ladder
- Available in two finishes: white and Antique Gray
- Overall product weight: 72 lbs
Introduction
The Donco Kids Louver Low Loft Bed is an attractive and functional piece of kids’ furniture designed to maximize space and add a touch of adventure to a child’s room. The louvered design imparts a feel of elegance and warmth, and the included tent adds a fun and whimsical element.
The bed is 44 inches tall. Low loft beds can go up to about 50 inches, so 44 inches is actually a bit low in that regard, suggesting this bed is intended for younger kids. The under bed clearance measures approximately 28 inches; for a smaller child, plenty enough space to create a cozy nook for play and relaxation.
The guardrail height is not clearly specified anywhere, and neither is the recommended mattress thickness. From the image above it looks like the guardrail might be about 13, maybe 14 inches high, but that’s just my estimate. The important thing is to have at least 5 inches of space between the top of the guardrail and the mattress top. So, don’t go crazy on the mattress depth. A 6 inch mattress is probably a safe bet, though.
The weight capacity for this bed is specified at 160 lbs. That’s not really anything to write home about, but it’s certainly enough to hold a smaller child this bed is intended for. The mattress support, with its 12 slats, actually looks pretty good.
The ladder on this bed is removable and can be placed at either side of the bed. The rungs are placed vertically, thinner side up. This makes the ladder a little less comfortable to climb, but perhaps also a bit sturdier, capable of withstanding greater load. There are only two rungs, but, given the bed’s low height, that should be enough.
The bed is available in two finishes, white and what they call Antique Gray, which looks to me, from the available images, to be a little weathered or distressed.
The tent comes in a variety of colors: blue, red, pink, camouflage and zebra. Note that the tent does not wrap around the entire bed (3 sides only), so you’ll need to put it against the wall if you want to create a sense of complete enclosure.
What Users Say
At the time of this writing there were hundreds of ratings on this loftbed at both Amazon and Wayfair. On Amazon, the average rating was 4.4 stars, on Wayfair it was 4.7 stars.
Quality Of Build: The reviews are a bit mixed on that. The majority of buyers feel the bed’s build quality is good or great or at least satisfactory, calling it very sturdy and using expressions such as ‘very good quality’ and ‘more solid than I thought.’
However, there are also some bad reports in this regard, complaints about pieces broken after some use, such as slats or rails. These are usually documented with images. It looks especially worrisome when the main rail breaks, as this can result in a collapse of the entire structure. Most of these reports are a bit dated though, so it might be the manufacturer has upped its QA procedure in the meantime.
Some users feel the spacing of the rungs on the ladder is not done right. One of the rungs is quite close to the floor, while the other is placed roughly in the middle of the ladder, which might make it a bit difficult for a smaller child to climb to the bed. It’s not a hard problem to fix, though. If you think it is a problem.
The Velcro that holds the curtain gets some negative mentions as well. It falls off easily, apparently. Some users solved the problem by stapling the tent to the bed frame, others bought Industrial Velcro which reportedly does a much better job.
Design: Users by and large love the look of this bed. There are some who are not happy with the gray color, though, saying it is much darker than the pictures and looks more brown than gray. And I have to say, in most of the images posted by users the bed does look kinda brown. Something to be aware of.
Packaging: This bed gets heaps of praise for the packaging. It is being mentioned very often. I’ve seen several reports from users saying the box arrived in such a bad condition they nearly refused delivery, but it then turned out there was not a scratch on the actual product. Kudos to the manufacturer for that.
Ease Of Assembly: The Louver low loft is not difficult to assemble if we go by the majority of user’s reports. Most say it’s a two-person job, though.
Bottom Line
The Donco Kids Louver Twin Low Loft Bed looks attractive and has gathered a fair amount of good or even great ratings. There are mixed reports on the bed’s build quality, though, so this is something to be aware of. It’s probably best if you go through the reviews yourself before making a purchase, to get a first hand feel for buyers’ frame of mind.