Last summer, when we got married and combined our households, we were left with a lot of overage. One of those items was Sean’s, newish, queen bed. Since it was slightly larger than my 16 year old’s full mattress, we donated that one to my mom and gave Analiese the queen. Since we got rid of all of Sean’s other bedroom furniture, we were left without a bed frame for Analiese, and she really wanted a platform bed, so we promised her one back then and just now got to it. Only 8 months later. Better late than never… right?
Being the tomboy that she is, she wanted a simple wood platform bed. Talk about loving wood. If we could panel her entire room for her we would since she loves natural wood. We found some great instructions for a paneled platform bed and thought, why buy it if we could built it? All in all this project cost us about $130 between the wood and stain. We found the original plans on ana-white.com but modified it a little bit.
So let’s get started on this thing. Of course, all projects like this start at Home Depot.
Shopping List:
- 12 – 2×6 @ stud length (may be able to use less lumber if can haul long lengths)
- 10 – 2×4 @ 10 feet long (slats)
- 5 – 2×4 @ stud length (remaining slat and headboard piece)
- 1 – 1×3 or 1×4 @ 8 feet long
- 2 inch screws
- 2-1/2″ Pocket Hole Screws
Tools Needed:
- tape measure
- pencil
- drill
- miter saw or circular saw
- sander
- stain
Cut List:
Headboard:
6 – 2×6 @ 79″ or length of headboard
3 – 1×4 @ 31-1/2″ – back cleats
End:
1 – 2×6 @ 61″
1 – 2×4 @ 65″
Sides:
2 – 2×4 @ 79″
2 – 2×6 @ 79″
Slats:
3- 2×6 @ 79″
9 – 2×4 @ 58″
After we unloaded all the wood (this is where having a couple strong teens really help!), I got to measuring and marking and Sean started cutting. Having two of us made this project go quickly even though it started raining halfway through the project. Thank goodness our patio where we were working is completely covered. As we cut, we made sure to mark which pieces went with which section of the bed.
We laid out all the wood for the headboard and started screwing the cleats into the 1×6’s. We started with 2 1/2″ screws and quickly found out, that was too long! So, we switched to 2″ screws and were able to move along quickly.
Once we finished with the headboard, we moved to the frame. For this section, it would be much easier if we had a Kreg Jig. We didn’t have one so we just pre-drilled at an angle and used pocket hole screws. For each side, screw a 2×6 to a 2×4 to create an “L” shape.
For the end, center the 61″ – 2×6 to the 65″ – 2×4, screw together. Here it is layed out on the ground. Once you have the three sides finished, you can screw them together.
Attach 2-2×4 (79″) cleats to the inside of the bedframe with 2 1/2″ screws. Center and attached the last 2×4 (79″) with pocket hole’s at the base. Then we attach the 9-2×4’s (58″) to sit on top of the inner frame.
Because this can get a little confusing I created a little animated .gif of these couple of steps.
Because this bed is so heavy because of all the 2×4 and 2×6’s we decided to attach the headboard and frame once it was in the room. If you have any noticeable screw holes, fill with wood filler and let dry. Give the bed a light sanding and wipe down so you don’t get any splinters. Then, start staining. We used Varathane stain Golden Oak and realized it was way too light. We ended up re-staining in Gunstock. It was the perfect medium brown stain. We left it outside for a full 24 hours to let it dry and let most of the stain smell disappear.
Then we were ready to bring it in the room. We loved how it looked in the room, since there was a window above the bed, keeping the bed and headboard low made it fit perfectly. And, more importantly, Analiese loved how it looked.
