How to Make Your Own Wood Bed

A wooden platform bed is a stylish addition to a contemporary bedroom. You can make your own wood platform bed with minimum building skills. You can make it even easier by having your wood cut to size at the time of purchase, and then assembling the components at home. Select hardwood boards and plywood if you plan to stain the bed frame; staining brings out the natural wood grains. Paint-grade wood or medium density fiberboard (MDF) is less expensive and is all you need if you plan to paint your wood bed.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Measuring tape
• Seven hardwood boards
• Saw
• 10 L-brackets
• Pencil
• Drill & drill bit
• Wood screws & screw driver
• ¾-inch thick sheet of plywood
• Iron-on edging
• Iron
• Light grade sandpaper
• Stain or primer and paint
• Sponge or brush and tray

1. Measure the length and width of your mattress. Measure the available space in your bedroom to determine how large you can make your wood platform bed. Consider making a 2- to 10-inch rim around the perimeter of your bed that you can use to increase the aesthetic appeal of the wood platform.

2. Cut five 8-inch wide by 2-inch thick hardwood boards to fit the overall width of your wood platform bed, including the added dimensions for the rim. Cut two 8-inch wide by 2-inch thick boards to fit the overall length of your platform bed.

3. Layout the structure for the wood bed frame by placing the two length boards opposite each other, face to face. Separate the length boards by one width board on either end. Stand the four boards on their 2-inch edges. Connect the two width boards to one of the length boards where they meet at a 90 degree angle with an L-bracket. It's helpful to drill pilot holes into the wood before you try and sink the screws to attach the brackets. Do not attach the remaining length board yet, you need to add your braces for the platform.

4. Measure the halfway point along the attached length board of your platform frame. Attach an L-bracket 2 inches beneath the top rim of the wood board. The L-bracket should be positioned with the smallest leg of the L facing up.

5. Measure halfway between the L-bracket and the width boards attached to the end of the length board. Place an L-bracket at each halfway point, 2 inches from the top rim, small leg facing up. Make sure that the three L-brackets are level with each other.

6. Attach one end of the three remaining width boards to the three L-brackets you just installed. The width boards should have the 8-inch sides facing up. Your wood bed frame now has three sides and three support boards.

7. Attach L-brackets to the underside of the open ends of the three width boards you just attached. Attach the remaining length board to the three L-brackets. Attach an L-bracket in the two remaining corners to join the length board to width boards on each end.

8. Cut a sheet of 3/4-inch plywood to fit on top of your wood platform. Cut strips of iron-on edging and iron them onto the raw edge of the plywood.

9. Attach the plywood to the support frame with wood screws around the perimeter and across the support boards. Countersink the screws to keep the top flush.

10. Sand your wooden platform bed before you apply stain and polyurethane for a decorative finish.

References

• How to Apply Edge Banding

Resources

• How to Countersink a Screw