How to Build a Platform Bed

My wife and I were looking for a new king mattress the other day, and we saw some platform beds in the showroom that she really liked. When we got home, I started looking around for these beds and I decided that I could build one of these myself, save a lot of money, and still make it look great! I settled on a design that looks similiar to the IKEA MALM bed design. It is a simple platform bed with a headboard and footboard. The reason I chose this design is because you could optionally add the headboard or footboard to suit your room decor. Here's how to build your own platform bed.

Things You'll Need

• (10) 2 x 4 x 8's
• (6) 2 x 8 x 6's
• (2) 1/4 x 4 x 8 plywood
• (2) 3/4 x 4 x 8 hardboard
• (1) box of 2 1/2" deck screws
• (4) L-Brackets
• scrap 1/4 plywood
• miter saw / circular saw
• power drill
• Carpenters-Square
• framing square or corner clamps
• wood glue
• OPTIONAL: pipe clamps

Instructions

1. 

   NOTE: This article is composed of two sections. The creation of the platform bed base, and then the creation of the platform to support the mattress. I needed to create a platform bed that could support a king sized mattress, so the dimensions within this article are for a king sized platform bed.

2. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Here is a picture of the base of the simple bed base we will be building in Part I.

3. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   First take four (4) 2x8x6's and cut them to 68 and 7/8" long.
   Now take the last two (2) 2x8x6's and cut them to 65" long.

4. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   We are going to assemble these just like we would an interior wall - with a header and a footer and joists in the middle. See the picture for reference.

5. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Take the two (2) 65" 2x8x6's and lay them on the floor of your shop as a footer and header board (top and bottom). Then lay the four
   (4) 68 and 7/8" 2x8x6's parallel to these boards like the studs of a wall. This will be your mock layout. Be sure to keep the header and footer on the outside of all of the middle joints, meaning that all of your butt-joints end on the header and footer. See picture for reference.

6. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Take your framing square or corner clamp, and square up the ends of the 65" 2x8x6 with one of the ends of the 68 7/8" 2x8x6. This will form a butt-joint and the first corner of the base. Put a level across the joint to make sure that the joint is even.(see picture)

7. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Take two (2) of your deck screws and secure these pieces of wood together at the butt-joint. You should create a level, tight-fitting joint. Now repeat this process three more times until you form an overall box. (see picture for reference)

8. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Excellent. Now just need to secure the middle joists. Position these last two joists so that your box is evenly divided into thirds now - or three equal rectangles, and secure them to the header and footer using two deck screws.

9. 

   PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

   Now we want to add stabilizers to one side of the frame to keep it steady and from twisting when you bring it up into your room. To do this, simply cut scrap 1/2 plywood into 8 trinagles and position them over the last two boxes as shown in the photo. Nail these into place using finishing nails. We are only putting these one side of the frame, and this side will be the bottom.

10. 

    PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

    No go inside and remove your old bed and any furniture, laundry, or clothing that is on the floor. Get out your vacuum and throughly clean the entire floor.

11. 

    PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

    Now carry your frame into your room, and position the bed frame into place. Remember to put the side with the stabilizers down on the floor so that your base top is clean and level - here is a picture of the frame being positioned.

12. 

    PART I: BUILDING THE BASE OF THE BED

    Remember to put the side with the stabilizers down on the floor so that your base top is clean and level - as shown in the picture.

13. Good Job - you are now done building your bed frame. Part I is complete for now and you can now start working on Part II to get the platform built and in place.

14. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Take six (6) of your 2x4x8's and cut them to 79" long.
    Take two (2) of your 2x4x8's and cut them to 82 1/2" long.

15. PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Similarly to building the base in PART I, we are going to want to build a frame in the same method that we would build a wall - header and footer on one end, and joists in the middle. To do this, lay your two 2x4x8's cut to 82 1/2" inches long on the floor of your shop as the top and bottom (header and footer). Now lay the 6 2x4x8's cut to 79" long parallel to them equidistant apart. This will give you a mock frame with 5 equal rectangles.

16. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Repeat the same steps you did for building the frame by taking your framing square or corner clamp, and squaring up the ends of the 82 1/2" 2x4x8's with one of the ends of the 79" 2x4x8's to form a butt-joint and the first corner of the frame. Put a level across the joint to make sure that the joint is even.(see picture) Screw in two deck screws to make the joint tight and secure.

17. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Repeat step 16 three more times to build a frame, then screw in the middle joists equally apart from each other. Bring this frame up and lay it on top of your base. Your final frame should like something like the one in the picture shown (it is offset in the picture).

18. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Lay the platform on top of the base and center it on the base. You will see that my base and my platform frames run in parallel to each other. This gives me enough clearance on the sides so that I do not stub my toe on the base. See picture for reference.

19. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Now, we are almost done, but we will still need to create cross-supports for the frame to help equalize the weight and support of the bed. To do this, take your scrap 2x4x8 cut-offs and position them on the frame similarly to what is shown in the picture and screw them in place using two deck screws.

20. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Excellent, so now you have a nice looking platform frame, it has its cross sections, and it lays nicely on the base. You are now 98% of the way done, and all that is left to finish is the top of the platform and secure it to the base. For illustrative purposes only, my helper and I threw the mattress on the frame and the base in its current state to show the importance of adding a top to the platform. The platform top keeps the mattress evenly supported and prevents sagging (see picture of my helper showing sagging).

21. PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    To cut the top, simply lay your measure your overall length and width of your platform top and cut your (2) pieces of 1/4 x 4 x 8 plywood equally to fit on top of the frame. You will get a bit of excess wood doing this, but at least you will have two equal sections of wood instead of one big piece and a little strip of plywood forming your top. You now have a top, but I recommend that you add the hardboard to the top of it to finish it and make your top smooth.

22. PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Also cut your (2) 3/4 x 4 x 8 pieces of hardboard equally in the same dimensions as you cut your plywood, and then glue them to the your plywood top pieces.

23. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Bring the top pieces up to your room for final assembly of the base and platform top. Also Secure the platform to the base using (4) L-brackets at this point.

24. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Now lay the top pieces onto your platform frame and then screw them down. (the image shows me measuring the top, so please excuse the over-hang)

25. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Now throw your mattress back on top, put your bed sheets back on, move your furniture back into your room and admire your good work!

26. 

    PART II: BUILDING THE PLATFORM OF THE BED

    Now take a nap!

Resources

• Woodworking Blog