The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Do it Yourself Discussion! => Topic started by: Linea_Norway on May 16, 2018, 01:04:17 AM
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We need to replace our bed frame, as the current 20 year one has broken twice and repair doesn't seem to be sufficient.
We have 2 slatted bases, each 80x210cm. Those are still well and we want to keep them. Mattress size 160x210 is also to be kept. I think we can reuse some of the parts of the current bed. The bed is standing on a wooden floor.
Our current bed frame is above the floor and supports the slatted bases in the 4 corners with metal plates. It has a metal bar running through the middle from top to bottom It also has a very small metal plate on the side, held by very short screws that have now broken off twice. Then the based sinks down. The current bed also has an extra narrow leg in the middle of the bed for extra support. This always falls down and I have replaced it with a block of wood.
I would like to make a new bed frame that doesn't collect dust under it. And we should be able to move it (take apart) when we move out of this house. What would be a good construction (technical and practical)?
I am thinking about using wooden planks all around on each side, up from the floor to the underside of the mattress. An maybe make an extra wooden plank on the inside of the sides to support the slatted bases over the whole length. And then reuse the metal corners from our current bed frame for corner support of the slatted bases. I think we should use another wooden plank in the middle of the bed from top to bottom, going all the way down to the ground, with another plank laying horizontally on top of it, like: T. This should support the middle.
This closed system should not collect dust from beside the bed under it. I guess some dust would fall down from the underside of the mattress through the slatted base. But could this be a lot of dust?
The bed should of course not wobble of the floor. Wooden planks are not adjustable in height. I guess we should measure whether the floor is straight, but a next house might be less straight. How to make it a bit adjustable?
And I am thinking of putting some strips of carpet underneath the wooden planks to prevent it from scratching over the wooden floor when you turn around in the bed.
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If you are looking for some inspiration, I suggest visiting Ana-white.com. We used plans on her site to build a captains bed for my youngest and it turned out fantastic. Storage all the way around and is basically 4 larger pieces that can easily be moved along with some slats. I will say that the central portion under the mattress where there isn’t solid wood is a great storage area for things like wrapping paper that we don’t use often but it does collect a lot more dust than we expected.
It cost us a good amount of money but it is so much sturdier than what we could purchase for the same amount. We spent about $350 on materials (twin size bed) after we returned a very flimsy $500 bed frame to a furniture store. The frame we built can easily support 450 pounds and includes enough storage that our youngest doesn’t need a separate bookshelf or dresser.
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If you are looking for some inspiration, I suggest visiting Ana-white.com. We used plans on her site to build a captains bed for my youngest and it turned out fantastic. Storage all the way around and is basically 4 larger pieces that can easily be moved along with some slats. I will say that the central portion under the mattress where there isn’t solid wood is a great storage area for things like wrapping paper that we don’t use often but it does collect a lot more dust than we expected.
It cost us a good amount of money but it is so much sturdier than what we could purchase for the same amount. We spent about $350 on materials (twin size bed) after we returned a very flimsy $500 bed frame to a furniture store. The frame we built can easily support 450 pounds and includes enough storage that our youngest doesn’t need a separate bookshelf or dresser.
Thanks, good idea. I like the platform bed, but maybe made a bit higher. Currently we have enough storage space, although this could change if we ever downsize.
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It'll depend on the available tools, materials, hardware, and how much time, effort, and money you want to put into it.
I build my bed frame from 2x8s, which happened to be the exact height for what I wanted. Basically all I had to do was cut them to length and cut out some notches on the ends so I wouldn't stubb my toes. Mine are in a rough egg-case pattern and open at the sides to allow storage boxes to slide underneath, but you could just as easily make a rectangle. I used angle brackets and screws to hold everything together so it can be taken apart later. Admittedly it is very rough but I just throw a bed skirt over the boxspring and everything's hidden.
I'd probably handle your height adjustability by using shims. If you wanted to get real fancy you could use slotted holes or bolts in the edge of the boards, but that just adds complexity.
Carpet underneath to prevent scratching the floor should work fine, but I would also consider felt furniture pads (like you put on chair legs... look in the hardware section)
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I built a platform bed with the following:
1/2" thickness plywood cut to size for a US king size bed, then divided in two for easier transportation
2x4" pine lumber arranged in a square with the 4" sides screwed into the plywood, and a 2x4" crossbars to reinforce the center:
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This is screwed into four 18"x4x4" posts with L-braces.
Good things:
It's extremely strong, has lasted a decade, provides an extra closet worth of storage, and was less than $100 to make.
Bad things: fairly heavy because of the plywood. We use thin foam mattresses so slats would be too lumpy.