Making and decorating a double bed. How to make a metal or wood bed frame For woodworking

The bed for adults determines the appearance of the bedroom interior. And if it is in full view of everyone in a studio or budget apartment, then together with the wardrobe and table it forms a triumvirate, from which the entire design of the home dances. This circumstance influences production and trade markups: for family double beds, they are not exactly ugly, but they could be cheaper. Hence the understandable interest of home craftsmen in homemade beds: it’s not a TV, and it’s not a car. And not even a closet or a chandelier.

Craftsmen make beds of various types and designs. Examples in Fig. cover only the core of amateur bed construction, which still has many bends, side jets and twists. We will stay more in the mainstream.

Making a bed with your own hands is both simple and difficult. Simply because there is nothing technologically complicated about it; A very good bed can be made with your own hands outside of a carpentry workshop at home, right in your apartment. It’s difficult because the bed is one of the most loaded pieces of furniture and perhaps the only one designed for regular (or irregular, depending on who you care) significant alternating loads. The ratios of their values to the load-bearing capacity of parts of acceptable sizes are close to those in industrial equipment or military equipment, but it is not suitable to construct an everyday thing like the bed of a metal-cutting machine or a gun carriage. In order to meet the specified requirements with a minimum of available material, labor and money, it is necessary to make full use of the mechanics of wooden structures and related disciplines. This article is intended to give an initial understanding of the structure of the bed, its main parts and their work in the structure. Illustrative materials can be used both directly and as a basis for your own developments.

From the anecdotal history of beds

The famous Soviet submarine captain Alexander Marinesko once started an affair with a very temperamental Swede from... mmm... a public house in the city where the flotilla was based. The fame of the hero, who in the Kriegsmarine from cabin boys to grand admirals was seriously considered to be the sea devil himself with a team of werewolves, did not particularly impress the lady. But an enthusiastic adoration for Captain Marinesko flared up in her when, during the next rendezvous, the bed collapsed under them.

The fact is that the craft of that person was hereditary. So to speak, a family tradition along the female line. And she inherited the bed from her grandmother. We will try to build a crib worthy of such a couple.

Entry level bed

Beds of a simplified design, in which the backs are included in the power circuit, and the legs are made integral with them, are made only for adults in economy class. And then, the legs are separated from the backs and placed on the side close to them so that an angle is formed that gives the product at least minimal rigidity. But all the same, somewhere you have to install additional supports that rest directly on the floor, which is not optimal, see below. Drawings of a bed of this type, designed for moderately intensive use for 10-12 years, are shown in Fig. The front back/wall differs from the back only in the absence of a decorative extension. The material of the backrests is laminated chipboard, the lounger is plywood; the rest is wood. Assembly using self-tapping screws for wood and steel angles. And we will go further, to beds that can withstand a grandmother with many lovers and her offspring.

Material

It is better to make a bed in the “do-it-yourself” category from wood; it will cost less than laminated chipboard with the same complexity of work, but the bed will last for many decades. Solid furniture will be more expensive than laminated chipboard, but you can get by with timber without defects if you take it from a closed heated warehouse. Lumber stored under a shed or in the open air is suitable for furniture only after a long period of drying at home, and due to warping, a lot of waste is generated. You can still make a baby crib, bedside table, chest of drawers or coffee table from such wood, but it definitely won’t fit on an adult bed with its heavily loaded parts.

A bed for several years, until you have enough money for quality furniture, can be made from simple sanded chipboard, not laminated. Along with painting/varnishing or wood-look self-adhesive covering, it will cost no more than wood. The problems of shrinkage and warping naturally disappear, but the service life of the bed will not exceed 20 years due to the natural deterioration of the binder. The designs of beds made of chipboard have a number of features, which are discussed below.

But what if it’s an array?

Solid wood furniture is expensive, but just like chipboard, it is guaranteed against warping and shrinkage. And it will go on the bed much less than on the closet. If you can afford such a prestigious pleasure, then for the sample in Fig. a product of German craftsmen: an original double bed made of structural solid wood. Timber and other lumber are not used. The original version with a headboard-blinds is intended to be installed in the middle of the room. Such a headboard against the wall will gather dust, but you don’t have to make it, or make something else, see below. The array frame alone will take a little more than 2 square meters. m; in terms of money for pine it will be about 10 thousand rubles. The cheapest ready-made solid bed costs at least three times more.

About connections

A wooden bed will be most durable if assembled using carpentry joints. The most commonly used are tongue-and-groove, closed and open, and half-tree or quarter-length mortise. Dowels and dowels are used less frequently due to their lower strength. All wood-to-wood joints must be glued.

Carpentry joints gain design strength for some time, up to 2 weeks, and require fairly high production skills, special tools and a separate workshop, because give a lot of sawdust and shavings. Therefore, a homemade bed is assembled using metal connectors. The fasteners will have to be tightened as the wood dries out, but the bed “on steel” will take the full load immediately after production.

In “temporary” and, in some cases, durable beds (see below), it is advisable to use universal thin-walled perforated steel plates. You can use them to bend corners, pockets, or both together, pos. 1 in Fig. In this case, it is better to take the corners with a stamped stiffener, pos. 2.

It is better to assemble a bed “on steel for a long time” using bolts and nuts; the bolt heads in the front surfaces are sealed in the same way as confirmations: with decorative plugs or putty made of PVA or liquid nails on sawdust. But the locking of the nuts in pairs is a steel washer - a spring washer, as in pos. 2, on the tree is a thing of the past. It is better to take shaped nuts with a grooved bottom surface (press nuts) complete with Teflon washers. Elastic, durable Teflon lasts forever, it will keep the nut from coming loose no worse than a screwdriver or flap washer, and most likely you won’t have to tighten the connection at all.

Note: the use of metal in the main structure of the bed is limited. Why and when it is necessary, see below.

About nails

It’s not customary to talk about connections with nails now. Like, it’s antiquated, but a screwdriver with confirmations is cool. But it’s too early to discount nails. In addition to the low cost of fasteners, nails do not require preparatory operations (drilling), special tools, wear-out replacement working parts for them, and do not produce waste. As for the noise, an experienced carpenter “bales” 100 mm nails with a 200 gram hammer so that it can be heard in the next room only if you listen closely.

There are corrugated nails on sale, see Fig., which hold the wood no worse than confirmed nails and also self-tighten as the wood dries. In nodes where the operational load does not tend to pull out the nail, the connections on them are quite reliable, and if the load is along the nail from the head to the tip, they are absolutely reliable. There are enough such units in the bed, at least attaching spacers to the drawers, see below.

Bed arrangement

The adult-style bed frame is a rectangular frame made of boards placed on the edge - a drawer. The frame can be equipped with additional stiffening ribs; it is placed on legs and the front (footboard) and back (headboard) backrests are attached to it. A bed (lounger, lodgement) is placed in the frame, on which the mattress is placed. To ensure that less lint gets onto the floor and less dust from the floor gets into the mattress, the bed is often covered or covered with a mattress pad made of tarpaulin, canvas, etc. technical fabrics A bed made from a solid slab is also sometimes called a mattress pad.

Note: in mattresses on a rigid base (spring and rather expensive orthopedic), the bed and the mattress pad are included in the mattress. But a bed tray under them is still needed for the reasons described below.

Tsargi

The drawers are made of planks or chipboard. Plywood ones are not suitable, because... plywood is very flexible and is prone to delamination over long lengths under dynamic loads. Tsar thickness from 30 mm; width for a bed up to 2.2x1.6 m from 170, but better from 200 mm.

In high-quality beds, the frames are connected with dowels or, if an open connection is acceptable due to aesthetics, with a half-timber mortise, a through tenon with wedging, or a dovetail. Keyed connections are not applicable in this case, because do not exclude displacement of the frames along the key, and in this direction the greatest loads occur on the connection. To lay the bed from the inside, support bars are attached to the drawers. They crash into each other at the corners halfway up the tree, on the left in Fig.

In simpler and cheaper beds, the drawers are assembled into a frame using metal fasteners (corners + hardware), and the support bars at the corners do not meet, on the right in Fig. Under the bed on the lamellas (see below), spacers can be attached to them, but not necessarily, separating the nests of the lamellas. They may or may not be on the frames of beds of any class, depending on the design of the slats and the bed as a whole.

Note: if the support bar under the lamellas is placed on the frame assembly, the spacers are nailed to it in advance. If the spacers are placed on the drawer assembly, then they need to be nailed to the board.

About prefabricated sidewalls

A bed in the bedroom on the sides with textile inserts is much more hygienic, because... dynamic loads effectively ventilate the under-bed space. One of the designs of the prefabricated sidewall is shown in Fig. on right. The side drawers cut into the front with a hidden (blind) spike. The fabric insert can be solid, depending on aesthetics, then a spacer is not needed. It is also not necessary to fasten the fabric with dowels in the grooves, as in industrial production; it can be secured with slats nailed from the inside. Then the loops for nails are cut in the fabric in advance, the slats are nailed down so that the material can be grabbed, the fabric is stretched and the slats are nailed tightly. The fabric must be decated, i.e. Soaked and dried 2-3 times.

Bed

If the bed frame has partitions, say, for drawer niches that can act as stiffening ribs, and the mattress is on a rigid frame, then sometimes they don’t make a bed at all, pos. 1 in Fig. below. In this case, a sheet of 8-16 mm plywood with ventilation holes is laid under the soft mattress, pos. 2. But this is far from the optimal option, and not only due to the high consumption of material and the amount of waste.

The bedside not only holds the mattress, but at the same time provides ventilation for it and the space under the bed. It must have a certain elasticity in order to take on those same dynamic loads, and transfer to the frame only what it can withstand from grandmother to granddaughter without creaking. Therefore, the bed of a “real adult” bed is made from loosely laid boards - slats. A plywood mattress pad under a very soft mattress is placed on them, and without slats it will turn out to be something like a pressing punch for the bed.

Lamels

The slats can be laid across or along the bed. Mechanically, transverse ones are better; they dampen dynamic loads more smoothly and more evenly. They also provide the sweetest sleep and everything else on the bed, because... play up and down in accordance with body movements. If the width of the bed is more than 1.1 m, the slats are most often made double, laid in 2 rows. Then in the middle of the frame along its length a support beam of lamellas is installed - a spar, pos. 3. In factory models, the spar is made of steel pipe with sockets and/or a support platform for the lamellas.

Note: don't be surprised by aviation terminology; further on there will also be stringers with ribs. The designers of the first airplanes adopted a lot, among others, from furniture makers, incl. and terms.

The wooden axial support of the lamellas requires additional reinforcement from below, because it accounts for the maximum (antinode, in technical terms) of dynamic loads. For the reasons stated below, any support posts should be avoided. We’ll see in a little while what a home-made man should do.

The slats can be flat or curved upward. The latter are bent in advance; it is impossible to install flat boards in the spacer instead of slats: they will quickly shake the bed, even if they are only sleeping on it. The bent slats of expensive beds are equipped with plastic tips that provide the required gap between the slats (see below) without spacers on the support bars and effectively dampen alternating forces.

Bent slats are designed for fairly expensive mattresses; as a rule, complete or recommended for the bed. Anyone lying on this feels like a boyar on a swan's feather bed, but the mattress is in the middle and lower price segment, incl. orthopedic, on bent slats sometimes it gets confused, and bed neighbors in their sleep roll down to the edge or fall on top of each other.

It is better for a home craftsman to make do with flat slats. Firstly, any mattress will lie on them; those for the royal-boyar down jackets are also designed for a flat bed. Secondly, the lamellas can then be made solid, and the spar can be replaced with 2 stringers, pos. 4. The antinode of the dynamics will be in the free space, and the stringers will use timber from 75x50, placed on the edge. True, l’amour le trois on such a bed will not be very pleasant, but we will hope that readers do not suffer from a tendency to deviations in the intimate sphere.

Finally, the bed of a bed with drawers also needs to be spring-loaded for sleep comfort and durability of the product. A spar embedded in the partitions of the drawers will not only limit their capacity, but can have an unpleasant side effect, see below. In this case, there is nothing to do - you will have to lay longitudinal slats, pos. 5.

What not to do with lamellas

First, there is no need to nail the lamellas to the frame and/or “reinforce” them with stringers if there is a spar, pos. 6. The power structure of the bed is designed so that the slats take on the dynamic loads, and the frame takes on the static load. With the lamellas tightly fastened, they will exchange one and the other, which for the person lying down will clearly be expressed in a bad dream. As for the stringers, they simply won’t feel anything in this scheme and will only wonder why they were installed? For the sake of extra labor and material costs? If you are going to make a stock on stringers, then without a spar, see above.

The second mistake is too frequent and/or wide lamellas with small gaps, pos. 7. Ventilation deteriorates and a too-hard spring bed turns into the same punch. The norm for installing lamellas is 6.5+0.5 pcs. per meter of bed size perpendicular to their long axes. Material – board (100-120)x(20-25) or plywood (100-120)x(10-12).

And a completely unforgivable mistake - a dull hard bed, pos. 8. There can be only one justification for the presence of such beds in production and sale: they look “cool” without a mattress on the sales floor. And for the home craftsman there is another minus: why put expensive decorative material where it won’t be visible?

Slats and racks

There are beds with a flaw in the design, sometimes necessary for budget models, but still annoying: the presence of support posts that transfer loads directly to the floor, see fig. on right. Let us remind you that in a proper bed, only the frame should interact with the floor through the legs. And in this product, 2 fatal defects are not necessary, but possible:

The floor is very hard, for example, laminate on a backing without lag on a self-leveling leveler. Depending on the location of the bed in the room (it is impossible to read or accurately simulate on a home computer), even the involuntary movements of the sleeper through the posts will be reflected back, and the Princess and the Pea effect will arise in the dream.
The floor is on joists. Due to the different mechanical characteristics of the flooring and the bed frame, although it is absolutely sound and not at all loose, it will turn out to be creaky. Especially at the most inappropriate moments for the perception of such sounds.

Legs, floor and frame

The legs of the bed, like the slats, work in two ways. Even threefold, if you take into account the possibility of its movement. But in a bed that stands in its place inviolably, they not only hold the frame. It is in the legs that both the remnants of bed dynamics and its impact from the floor are extinguished. The interaction of loads opposite in the direction of propagation promotes resonance; This is one of the possible reasons why the bed squeaks and creaks, no matter how you move it or tighten it.

To avoid resonance, the bed legs must, in addition to general strength, have a low mechanical quality factor. Therefore, legs made of boards or L-shaped chipboard are bad, they ring well. They are also known to break easily when moving the bed. So its legs need to be made of timber; preferably coniferous species. A cross-section of 50x50 will be sufficient for both strength and vibration damping. Thicker, of course, won’t hurt, especially if the tree of the legs is dense deciduous, then it is advisable to take from 100x100.

Thickening the timber legs also provides design advantages: in an expensive bed, or a homemade one for a long time, the frame drawers cut into the legs without any problems in any way, as on the left in Fig. This will not only strengthen the bed, but will also reduce the likelihood of squeaking to nothing, and will also allow you to make a strong headboard, incl. oblique, see below. And in a simple bed “on steel” the same legs ensure high strength of the corners of the frame; therefore - the entire bed, in the center in Fig.

Finally, the side drawers, unloaded by powerful legs, will make it possible to make a bed such that a Swedish grandmother could not even dream of. Namely: strengthen the frame with transverse stiffeners - ribs, on the right in the figure, from boards placed on edge that are half as wide and thick as the frames. They put ribs under the bed, they don’t replace it! They are attached to the drawers either by cutting them with a through tenon (not halfway through or into the middle!), or using metal pockets. This is one of the cases when metal in a bed is better than woodwork; for another, see below.

Bed and podium

The bed and the podium have been friends for a long time: for respect in a luxury bedroom, pos. 1 in Fig., for zoning space in a studio apartment, pos. 2, or, conversely, in a cramped one-room apartment, pos. 3. However, not a bed with a podium, but the bed-podium itself as one product, exists mainly in three forms. The first is a bed that pulls out from the podium in the same one-room apartment, pos. 4, or children's, pos. 5, which allows you to save useful area equal to that of the sleeping place. If the ratio of the length of the room to its width is no more than 4/3, then the corner podium bed, pos. 6, has little effect on the ergonomics of the room, you just need to think carefully about the layout.

In an ordinary home, a bed, structurally combined with a podium, pos. 7, is used mainly for hygienic purposes: both the floor under it and the mattress from the floor almost do not collect dust. But this solution is used quite rarely, because the podium resonates easily. Much more often, a bed-podium is placed in a niche, which in itself dampens sounds well, and is equipped with drawers, pos. 8, which allows you to turn an uncomfortable nook into a cozy alcove and save space for a linen closet.

Podium

The podium for the boxes is assembled on the corners with box-shaped hardware from timber from 40x40, on the left in Fig. The maximum size of the horizontal mesh is 400x600 mm. There is no point in increasing the thickness of the timber beyond 50x50, because... the maximum permissible mesh size grows much more slowly than the cross-section of the tree, which increases material consumption without significantly adding strength to the podium.

You can’t make a box-shaped podium for a pull-out bed, unless the bed is floating, complicated and not very reliable. In this case, the upper lathing above the bed niche is assembled with a mesh of up to 300x400 mm, and the transverse links are placed offset, on the right in the figure, or in a checkerboard pattern.

Bed for him

The pull-out bed to the podium is the same frame made of drawers of reduced height. In order to absorb excess loads for weak boards, the support belt is made reinforced, and the corners of its beams are necessarily connected by a half-wood cut using glue and reinforced with pairs of diagonally screwed-in screws, see figure; dimensions – in cm. Glue – PVA or “Express” (liquid nails); fastening with hardware is carried out within no more than 5% of the time of complete hardening of the glue.

Note: This bed rolls out across. To roll out lengthwise, it is enough to turn the clip with rollers 90 degrees horizontally.

Design examples

With drawers

From a hygienic point of view, under-bed linen drawers are, generally speaking, not the best option: things are constantly in stagnant air. In addition, over 90% of indoor dust is kept in a layer of about 20 cm above the floor; This, by the way, is also a weighty argument against pull-out beds. But sometimes there is nowhere to go, there is simply no space for a linen closet or a stationary bed.

The design of beds with drawers faces a number of difficulties, mainly due to the direct interaction of the partitions with the floor. There is no way to fully take into account the mechanics of either gender! You can get around them by constructing a bed in a non-traditional way for furniture, namely, by calculating the spar in a similar way to the backbone frame of a truck, in the form of a powerful beam that can take any load and effectively dampen vibrations. The loads will be transferred to it by all the elements “splayed” to the sides. In the Tatras, this approach made it possible to use independent wheel suspension, which ensured excellent smoothness and cross-country ability, and a bed with drawers on a backbone frame would make it possible to vary their sizes, number and design of the bed as you wish, without thinking about the overall strength and creaks - the backbone will demolish everything .

Note: in production, spinal load-bearing structures are labor-intensive, material-intensive, low-tech and unforgiving of design errors. But this is not a hindrance for a persistent and skillful homemaker.

The spine of the bed is, of course, made not from a large-diameter steel pipe, as in a dump truck, but from a pair of 100x50 beams. The remaining parts of the supporting system, including the inserts between the beams (lengths) of the ridge, are made of 100x100 timber. The backs and drawers, which in this case are simply decorative overlays, can be anything, even cardboard. The dimensions can be taken from the figure, knowing that they are multiples of 10 mm and the overall length of the bed (including the thickness of the headboards) is 2550 mm. Too much? The bed on the ridge can be increased to 3x2 m. Tumble around as you wish, there was only enough living space.

The beams of the supporting frame at the corners must be cut into half the tree using glue and dowels - wedged through bosses, see Fig. The wedges of the dowels are placed crosswise, because they should be positioned perpendicular to the grain of the wood of the attached part. If the beams are thin-layer hardwood, the wedges are placed crosswise diagonally, as in Fig. The frame with the ridge is attached to the legs with screws using an envelope. The contact of the partitions with the floor does not matter; the ridge will absorb vibrations. You can not bring the partitions to the floor.

If you don’t trust innovations, then the bed with drawers will have to be assembled on a rather complex frame that requires no less material. Dimensions and diagram are on the next page. rice. This differs from standard designs in that it allows the installation of transverse slats, incl. bent.

About mattress clamps

What is that there in the ridge - “the location of the mattress clamps”? These are round or square bosses so that the mattress does not rub when fidgeting on the bed, see fig. on right. Wooden ones with glue and nails go to the mattress frame on a hard base; felt ones can be sewn to a soft one. The size and location of the mattress clamps are chosen so that they fit into the grooves or holes of the bed and do not allow the mattress to move.

From chipboard

Chipboard is widely used in inexpensive beds, but almost always in combination with wood. The fact is that generally durable chipboard really “does not like” concentrated loads; it is fragile at the ends, edges and edges, and in small parts it often delaminates during sawing; Chipboard bears alternating loads even worse than plywood. Therefore, in beds made of chipboard, at least the legs, the support belt of the bed and the spar are made of wood; drawings of this type of bed in Fig. Please note that the crossbars made of 40x40 timber in this case are not lamellas, but ribs! There is no stock in the drawing!

However, beds made entirely of chipboard are also found: a panel structure on a supporting cross, see fig. on right. There are no small details; the cross with pads dampens the dynamics from both the stock and the floor. The thickness of the slabs is from 30 mm. All edges are edged with T-profile edging for table tops. It is advisable to use a propylene edge, then you can do without plastic legs if the floor is flat. You can put boxes. A disadvantage, in addition to those common for chipboard, is that if the bed is against the wall, half of the under-bed space disappears, because Under no circumstances should the symmetry of the cross be violated.

A pallet made from building materials is good as a bed base not only and not so much because it is cheap. Firstly, the pallets are made from fairly high-quality wood and, until they are worn out and sold, it will shrink and dry out no worse than selected solid wood. Secondly, the pallet experiences the same loads as the bed, but stronger: they carry bricks over bumps on it! So, as they say, you don’t have to worry about the strength of a bed made of pallets, just sand them, assemble them with long screws as much and as needed, and finish them.

The dimensions of a standard pallet are 100x80 cm, so 4 of them make just a double bed, pos. 1 in Fig. The extra half of the boards is enough for fastening, a headboard, or even a bedside table; the rest will play out the dynamics just in moderation. Under a soft mattress, it is better to cut bars inside to create a bed with a recess, pos. 2; the trimmings will be used for legs or other crafts, the wood is good. And from pallets you can, without further ado, assemble any podium, position. 3.

Finally, the dimensions and shape of the pallet roughly correspond to one of the structural modules of the furniture. Whether amateurs know it or not, there is no shortage of homemade furniture made from pallets. Unfortunately, even a cursory review of it requires a separate publication.

Headboard to bed

A homemade headboard has its own meaning: there are much cheaper mattress beds without headboards on sale; their frame is designed to withstand additional loads. Hobbyists make a variety of headboards on their own. Traditional hard wooden, pos. 1 in the figure is not bad and hygienic, but feeling it on the back of your head or the top of your head is not always pleasant. You can give the back some elasticity by making it on a woven veneer frame, pos. 2, or, in the rustic version, made of wicker, but the wicker back does not fit into every interior and is still not soft. Patchwork back, pos. 3, is quite soft, its aesthetics are determined by the fabric used and therefore can be adapted to any room design. The pads of the patchwork back are made on plywood panels approximately 300x300x(4-6) mm using the soft headboard technology, see below, but simpler: because the fabric is stretched evenly, double padding of the edges is not necessary.

However, the best results are achieved with a classic upholstered headboard. For an amateur who does not know all the intricacies of working with upholstery fabrics, so that the upholstery does not wrinkle, does not stretch, and the filling does not get confused, it should be done with double quilting along the contour, as in pos. 4. Compare pos. 5 and 6. The latter not only wrinkles unsightly, but will soon rub through the scars. The soft headboard of the bed is made in stages as follows, see next. rice:

Foam rubber with a density of 35 or more is glued to the base, covered with batting (preferably padding polyester) and pinned along the edge with a furniture stapler. A strip of pure wood (plywood) with a width of 150 mm or more is left at the bottom for attaching to the bed frame;
Decorative fabric is also attached to the bottom with a stapler;
It is also used to outline the curves, attaching them to the underside of the back with a stapler with an indentation from the edge of approx. 10 cm;
The corners are cut with notches. For beginners, it is better to do this together: one in front monitors the tension, and the other in the back forms scars, cuts them and attaches flaps (festoons);
Decorative trim along the edges is covered with furniture nails;
A much better technically and aesthetically pleasing effect is achieved by a special decorative chain – furniture tape;
Using a homemade thicknesser from a square and a piece of chalk (option - soap) the outline of the second row of upholstery is outlined;
Along the inner contour, the upholstery is roughly fastened with a stapler, because it is the inner row that keeps the entire skin level;
A decorative stitch is applied with the same furniture tape or nails.

Homemade exclusive

An inclined, and even more so a curved headboard is not only more comfortable, but also an indispensable attribute of luxury beds. Meanwhile, it is not difficult to make it yourself: from a board 150 mm wide (thickness from 30 mm; for plywood from 10 mm) comes a headboard with an inclination from the vertical of more than 10 degrees, pos. 1 in Fig., and even more than 20 degrees, pos. 2. From the same blanks, a very beautiful bed with a curved headboard is obtained, only its lathing needs to be done more often, but from thinner, 25-30 mm, slats, pos. 3.

The backrest is attached to the frame and/or legs of the bed with corners. Its back side is sewn with a 4-6 mm fiberboard sheet to hide the fasteners and for rigidity, the blue dotted line in Fig. If the entire bed is in sight, decorations are being made on it. On the front side, you can put the same shield with soft covering or decor on it, a red dotted line on pos. 4. Or you can, having widened the sidewalls for strength and abandoned the front sheathing, sew up the back fiberboard from the face and place a completely soft headboard in the form of a pillow (pillows) in the resulting pocket.

Note: For a curved headboard to maintain the style, it is better to cover the face and back with fiberboard, paint it and complement it in an oriental style with a mattress/mattresses with tassels.

What about single?

A single bed is approximately 1.5 times narrower than a double bed. This seriously changes its mechanics with acoustics, so the design of a single bed is simpler and allows more amateur liberties. A wide variety of design options are possible here, just like for a children's bed. For example, how to make a single bed over the weekend, the materials for which will cost about 1000 rubles, see.

Video: do-it-yourself single bed (under a 190×90 mattress)

From timber

A bed made entirely of timber will cost more than one made from planks or laminated chipboard; its manufacture will require special tools and a carpentry workshop. If you can do all this, you will end up with a lot of benefits:

Square and round timber, when dried along the length, almost does not warp, which facilitates the selection of material.
You can, without fear of loss of strength of the product, use hidden dowel connections, see fig. on right.
The bed will give a solid, prestigious look to even a very simple interior, pos. 1 in Fig. below.
Possibility to make a bed with floating bedside tables, pos. 2. In amateur conditions, only a massive timber frame will give them reliable support.
The opportunity to fully express yourself creatively in any variety of rustic or country design, poses. 3-5.
And not only in rustic styles: a bed made from scraps of small timber, pos. 6 is labor-intensive, but fits into any interior, and a connoisseur will appreciate it on a par with antiques.

Metal in the bed

The “Soviet” dorm and barracks iron beds with armored mesh are of bad memory; thank God, almost all of them have sunk into oblivion. Modern metal beds are either handcrafted, forged, costing thousands of dollars, or their frame is made of a profile pipe coated with plastic, which is not freezing, not ugly, and not traumatic. But the fundamental drawback of metal beds cannot be eliminated: a complete mismatch in mechanical and temperature characteristics with wood and materials based on it. Therefore, in modern metal beds, wood is used only in the form of decorative overlays.

The second serious disadvantage of metal is corrosion, and the third is ductility. That is, the welding seams of steel beds in general consumer segments sometimes crack, and the frame elements bend. Apart from the mounting plates mentioned above, the only case where it is difficult to do without metal in a bed is the frame of the lifting mattress made of metal, see fig. A wooden one, no matter how happy the product of its creator may be at first, soon becomes loose.

All? No, not all.

The world of beds is vast and diverse and, unfortunately, it is not possible to cover it in one publication. For example, you probably know wardrobe beds, sofas and armchairs. But did you know that the folding headboard of a partially extendable bed can also be a coffee table? And that there are accordion beds that regularly serve as bedside tables while waiting for a guest in the family? What about beds without a mattress? In an apartment - not in an apartment, but at the dacha it will be useful, and the savings on a mattress alone are at least 10 thousand rubles. Or, say, a bamboo bed. It looks most luxurious in an exclusive interior, see fig. But, at least technologically, it is quite accessible for self-production.

Well, let's hope that we will have another opportunity to talk about them and various others, and for you to make the bed of your dreams.

The bed frame is responsible for the solidity of the furniture structure and is the main element, since it affects the service life of the product. The box has a rectangular shape - for a slatted bottom and a mattress. Frames are made of metal, wood, thin and massive, low and tall models are produced; the quality of the products also differs. In addition to factory production, it is possible to make a bed frame with your own hands, taking into account the author's design.

Which frame is better in which case?

The choice of material and design of the box is influenced by the design of the room, requirements for bed size, comfort and quality.

A beautiful and stylish option is a metal bed frame. Forged elegant designs become valuable interior items. Exquisite models must be complemented indoors with details of a similar design. These can be wrought-iron sconces, floor lamps, night tables, etc. For making an iron bed yourself, a frame made of a profile pipe is available.

A design made of natural wood will suit classic interiors. Valuable species are durable, complement the design of the room and are suitable when choosing environmentally friendly compositions. The frame can be made with your own hands from wood or selected from factory products.

A budget option is a structure made of particle boards (chipboard, MDF, etc.). The material is common due to its low price, but is less durable. Structures made from wood panels can be covered with veneer.

Frames are divided into 2 types. The first option has 2 supporting backs and 2 side panels. In another case, the box consists of 4 drawers and hanging backs. Furniture designed according to the latter type is often placed on 4 legs or on a podium (platform).

There are design options without a slatted bottom or full-fledged models with a backrest, footboard, base, bed legs, and storage drawers.

A separate box is suitable for those who intend to select the components of the bed themselves - for the project. You can complement the box with a classic flat or orthopedic base - with slats. If necessary, storage boxes are built into the design. You can do the finishing yourself.

Full-fledged designs are suitable when selecting a ready-made option. The models are of high quality and are optimal for people with heavy weights, as they are equipped with a metal frame at the base and securely fastened slats.

The designs differ in the number of lamellas, the type of their fastening, and the distances between parts. The most durable option is one in which the plates are spaced at a distance of 10 cm and the fastening system is made of rubber. The optimal height of a box with lamellas is 20-30 cm.

The finishing and upholstery of the box play an important role. The body can be equipped with a soft, comfortable backrest with textile upholstery and is suitable for Art Deco interiors. In high-tech and classic styles, laconic forms are harmonious.

The bed frame with a lifting mechanism is designed with a spacious drawer for storing bed linen. The material used is solid wood or particle boards. When choosing a frame, it is necessary to take into account the dimensions of the structure, which affect the strength of the lifting device.

Design

Before making a bed frame with your own hands, you need to prepare drawings indicating the dimensions of the elements and how to connect the parts of the box. It is necessary to draw up a plan and make calculations for raw materials. When designing, a general view of the product and a cross-sectional configuration are drawn up.

A diagram of the headboard, footboard and side parts of the bed is made separately. The drawing indicates how to design the base - from lamellas or furniture panels. For massive beds, it is necessary to provide for the placement of a central partition at the base to prevent the frame from breaking.

The diagrams show the dimensions of the furniture and mattress. The sizes of a single, one-and-a-half or double bed are determined. The dimensions of the frame and sleeping bed may vary in width and length in accordance with the design project, the presence or absence of an orthopedic base. The difference can be small (up to 6 cm) or large (from 10 cm).

If you design it yourself, you can plan a bed with drawers for storing things. In a design with a lifting mechanism, the drawings indicate the installation of the system and the dimensions of the blocks in the lower part.

Selection of materials

Frames are made of wood, iron, chipboards, etc. The materials differ in the characteristics of strength, environmental friendliness, durability, and comfort of use. The base box can be supplemented with orthopedic slats.

The most durable structures for beds are made of metal. The material is durable, can withstand large body weights, and is resistant to mechanical damage. Only the orthopedic base can fail in a structure. Steel frames are suitable for Art Deco, Provençal, classic, etc. styles. For interiors decorated in a country style, it is better to choose artificially aged or chrome-plated metal frames.

Solid wood structures are reliable. The most durable are oak, ash, beech, and cherry. The price of products made from natural wood is high. Budget design options are made of pine and birch. The material has a beautiful texture and is comfortable to use.

Particle boards (MDF, fiberboard, chipboard) are also used to create the frame. The material is affordable and comes in a large number of color variations. They produce slabs painted to match the texture of wood, as well as white, black, red and other shades. The quality of the material is inferior to models made of metal and solid wood. Common structural problems include cracks in fastening points and loosening of furniture.

Required Tools

When assembling the frame, you will need a set of tools: an electric drill, a screwdriver, a belt sander, a Phillips screwdriver, a square, a plane (electric or manual), a power saw, a hacksaw and a jigsaw. You also need sheets of sandpaper, glue, varnish, putty, self-tapping screws, a pencil, a cutter, and a measuring tape.

Preparatory work

Frame parts are prepared according to the drawings. Boards or particle boards are placed on a flat surface. The frame elements are marked using a pencil, tape measure and ruler. Sheets or boards are secured with clamps and parts are cut out. For elements of the same size, it is optimal to make a template. The cut is made using a cutter or jigsaw. Sawing can be done independently or to order.

Elements corresponding to the diagram must be processed before assembly. It is necessary to remove irregularities and cracks. The work is carried out using sheets of sandpaper of different sizes (coarse-grained, medium-grained, fine-grained). The end boards and headboard are cleaned with an electric planer to level the surface. The parts are refined by finishing the edges with edging tape.

Assembly and installation of the bed frame

Work on the manufacture of a bed frame begins with the assembly of the front and rear walls of the box. The countersunk miter joint technique is recommended, as the holes must be drilled at a slight angle.

The side parts of the frame are attached to the rear and front sections. The boards are fixed in the required position using clamps, then fastened with screws. Triangular steel fasteners are mounted in the lower part of the corners of the box, which prevent deformation of the product.

Each bed consists of a frame and a base laid on it. Everything else is secondary - legs, if the design provides for - a footboard, a large headboard. The design of the bed frame is a closed rectangle or square box with a slatted bottom. It is supported by legs (or it stands directly on the floor surface). Additionally, the frame performs a decorative function and can be made of wood, metal, plastic, chipboard. They can be thin or thick, low or tall, the variety is simply huge - for every taste and budget.

You can also have a good night's sleep on a comfortable orthopedic base with a mattress attached to the legs. But a “naked” bed will not be comfortable or attractive in appearance. For this reason, a bed frame has several significant advantages and minor disadvantages:

Aesthetic function is the most important for any frame. It disguises the frame of the bed (one might say the metal base), and is capable of hiding drawers intended for storing certain things;
On the frame there is a base where the mattress is placed. It is not designed to withstand the weight of the mattress and the person lying on it, does not transfer the load to the floor, and it does not have orthopedic qualities, but without it the bed will not be a full-fledged one;
Frame 160x200 cm can be used as a horizontal cabinet;
Sometimes it is made soft, this is important for families with small children;
If necessary, it can be replaced, for example, if it is damaged, or you can choose a product with a different design. Everything else - the base and the mattress laid on it - does not need to be changed;
This is the shell of the bed – her face, it is made of any material, it can have the required color, or be made of fabric (upholstered in textiles). A bed without a frame is not without its drawbacks.

People can save some money and buy a good comfortable bed 1600x2000 mm, without a frame with a slatted bottom or mesh and a reliable metal or aluminum frame, but such a design cannot be a full replacement for a familiar bed with a beautiful finish.

When we say “frame”, we mean the safest design for a person - a leg or hand will not be able to get through and get stuck between the individual slats of the bottom, various (often necessary) objects will not be able to roll under the base, and the entire room with such a piece of furniture will sparkle with new shades.

Existing options

Conventionally, beds are divided into separate frames (without a slatted bottom) and models with a full structure. A separate frame of 140x200 cm has a big advantage - you can use any base suitable in size - classic flat, orthopedic, and focus on the place for the mattress, and on its design. You can build into the design boxes suitable for storage or make a non-standard frame, taking into account the characteristics of the person (for example, if he weighs a lot or is tall), select materials that suit you (use solid wood rather than chipboard) or simply save a certain amount of money on this acquisition.

The finished bed, which includes both a 180x200 cm bed frame and a base, can be made from almost any material, they can be combined into a design. The upholstery can be soft, this will add coziness to the bedroom, and the body can be made of wood, which improves the environmental friendliness of the design. The advantage of fully equipped beds is that their design already includes all the necessary parts, and there is no need to fuss around looking for a separate element. In addition, ready-made models can often be used by massive people, since they have a durable full-fledged metal frame, a suitable base and well-fixed slats.

Without slatted bottom

Dimensions

The standard dimensions of this product are calculated taking into account information about the average weight and height of a person. For a restful sleep, you need the size of the bed to be at least 20 cm larger than your height. The width is personal for each person, but the rules require that the bent legs do not hang down, and there must still be at least 15 cm from the back to the edge. The average height is 170 cm, so the length must be at least 190 cm. The width may vary depending on how many people the bed is designed for and the country of origin - standards differ in different countries.

In furniture stores there are examples that use frames wider than 200 cm. Such products are proudly called “royal”.

There are several types of large “royal” frames:

Californian - 152x213 cm;
Olympic - 168x203 cm;
Oriental – beds 200x200 cm.

Sometimes individuals find it difficult to find a suitable design due to the nature of a unique bedroom layout. You can buy a custom-made bed taking into account the characteristics of the room. You will need to spend more money on it, but you will get a bed that suits your bedroom and fits harmoniously into the layout.

Single

Double

One and a half

Bunk

Materials

Array

People have been making wooden furniture for centuries, and now this material has not lost its popularity. Luxury home furnishings manufacturers often use mahogany or teak wood and similar expensive materials. The raw materials are a little simpler, but no worse in quality - solid ash or oak, but in terms of cost, these frames are also not the cheapest. The most inexpensive materials among natural wood species in our country are birch and pine; they make it possible to produce an environmentally friendly, reliable and beautiful bed frame.

Wood differs from other materials used in the manufacture of furniture in its beautiful texture, can have a rich finish and it can give the bedroom the warmth of a natural material. Manufacturers often turn pine and birch into an imitation of expensive wood by painting, or products made from these materials are finished with natural veneer. Externally, these decorated beds 120x200 cm (and other sizes) will look like an expensive product made from valuable wood.

Chipboard and MDF

Pressed wood is also often used in the manufacture of frames. This material is characterized by its low cost and a rich range of colors - here you can find black, white, red, and the familiar “wooden” colors.

The disadvantage of MDF and chipboard is that this material is made using glue and chemical compounds that contain formaldehyde. For this reason, when buying a bed in a store, ask for a quality certificate and additionally try to evaluate the smell that comes from the bed, because it will smell like that for a long time, which can be irritating during rest.

Chipboards are loved by both buyers and manufacturers. The noble appearance of the surface, which is obtained by covering the slab with laminate or veneer, turns 80x200 cm beds from an ordinary piece of furniture into a modern solution for decorating a bedroom. This same decorative layer “locks” any unpleasant odors from the binder.

Metal

Metal beds 160x200 cm, 180x200 cm, 200x210 cm have found their place in modern interiors due to the fact that they last a very long time. A metal frame is the most reliable of all possible designs for such furniture. Only the mattress needs to be replaced. Furniture with chrome parts or artificially aged products, with a frame covered in eco-leather or fabric, and a soft back, look good in a classic design.

Often, home craftsmen independently make a 160 by 190 cm bed from materials that are easy to obtain. This makes it possible to save a lot of money. For example, a reliable podium is made from plasterboard, which serves as a bed frame with space for laying a mattress. A bed with a frame is made from ordinary boards or plywood, and only then it is finished using additional materials. The base is made from a profile pipe and similar “cold” materials, followed by decorative finishing.

The bed body is made soft or only the back is finished. Soft upholstery will add a little coziness to the bedroom by hiding the “skeleton” of the furniture.

Non-standard

Now in retail outlets you can find many models of beds with non-standard and unusual frames:

An angular bed with a square frame will fit perfectly into a simple interior. Such products look harmonious even in rooms with a small area. Often such furniture is chosen for studio apartments. Often such interior elements are used for bedrooms designed with a minimalist design;
Beds with round, semicircular and oval frames attract attention. They can liven up a room, but such models cannot be used everywhere. Round-shaped products are usually large in size and require space for their installation, for this reason they can only be used in large bedrooms;
Nowadays, functional beds without a headboard have become popular, which have spacious drawers suitable for storing rarely used items. With the help of such additions, the room is freed from bulky and unnecessary furniture in the bedroom, because now many things can not be put in closets, but simply hidden in the bed. Basically, such simple storage niches are installed at the bottom of the furniture. And for products with a lifting mechanism, you can make spacious boxes where you can put even large items;
Designs with a curved frame boast an elegant appearance. Usually, these are beautiful products that seem to bend like a wave, with high headboards, and with smooth slopes of the frame as a footboard. Furniture of this type is perfect for use in fashionable and modern ensembles. But for classic interiors, curved beds should not be used, they will not fit into them. Often in such designs there are barely noticeable small legs made of different materials;
Sliding structures are also common; when folded, they are used as single beds, which are easy to fit into any room. And if such a product is unfolded, it will be almost a king-size bed;
Multifunctional beds made in two or three tiers are in demand. Such furniture is very useful for families with several children. But this furniture is not only intended for children; now furniture factories have begun to produce products with durable frames that can also be used by adults. It should be mentioned that such beds are often equipped with functional storage areas, and additionally sliding bookcases, tables or sofas.

Such examples for bedrooms can combine several functional areas. For example, using such a piece of furniture, you can separate a table for preparing homework and a bed in the children's room.

Making a bed frame with your own hands is not as difficult as it might seem. Any person with minimal carpentry skills can cope with this task, just purchase the necessary tools and materials. The decision to make a bed on their own is made by those who want to reduce the financial costs of purchasing furniture or who dream of equipping their bedroom with a unique product that no one else has. You also have to assemble the frame yourself for a mattress of non-standard sizes.

Preparatory work

First of all, you need to decide on the size of the mattress, because the dimensions of the bed will depend on it. You also need to think about the design of the future structure, its shape, height, and size of the backs. Then you should calculate the amount of materials required. It is imperative to prepare drawings and indicate the dimensions of all elements of the future bed. If desired, you can use ready-made drawings, adapting them to your own needs.

To work you will need the following tools:

electric drill, drills;
jigsaw;
construction knife;
hammer;
scissors;
Screwdriver Set;
furniture stapler, staples for covering the frame or paint brushes (depending on the preferred method of decorative processing of the product).

The mother also needs to purchase materials. If the base of the bed is made of wood, then for a standard mattress measuring 2000 by 1800 mm you will need:

2 boards 2070 by 300 mm for the sides;
2 boards 1810 by 300 mm for the front and rear walls;
slats 20 by 80 mm for making lamellas;
a sheet of plywood (it will help strengthen the bottom of the product);
self-tapping screws, confirmations, metal corners for connecting structural elements;
stain, varnish, wood glue, putty, upholstery materials for processing and decorating the finished product.

It should be remembered that when determining the size of the frame, it is necessary to add 10-15 mm to each side of the mattress. The best material for making the base is a well-dried calibrated board with a thickness of at least 30 mm. Its strength is sufficient to withstand heavy loads.

Making a rectangular box

To make the base of the bed, you must first make a rectangular box from boards. To do this, you need to lay out a rectangle on the floor, checking the evenness of the corners between the sides. Under no circumstances should distortions be allowed to occur. To align the corners at 90 degrees, it is recommended to use a construction square.

To connect structural elements, it is advisable to use metal corners; they are secured using confirmations or self-tapping screws. For reliability, the joints must be coated with wood glue before assembling the frame. To make the product quite aesthetically pleasing, the heads of the screws need to be slightly recessed into the wood. It is advisable to treat all places where wooden parts are cut with sandpaper or a grinding machine before starting to assemble the structure.

The holes for confirmations at the ends can be made slightly larger than on the plane of the wood, this will increase the reliability of the fastening. The length of the self-tapping screw should not exceed the total thickness of the parts being connected, otherwise the tip of the fastener will come out when screwed in and ruin the appearance of the product. In addition, the protruding end of the screw can damage the upholstery of the bed or even cause injury to a person. If the size of the bed is large (double bed), then for reliability you need to make a central partition.

Assembling the base for the bed

To make a base for a mattress, you need to take wooden slats, cut them to the length of the side and end elements of the frame, and then screw them with self-tapping screws to the box from the inside. Slats will then be attached to these slats. The recommended seating depth of the mattress is 50 mm, to this depth you should add 20 mm (thickness of the slats), you get 70 mm. Accordingly, you need to measure 70 mm from the top of the workpiece and attach support bars at the marks.

The slats can be made from the same slats that were used to make the support beams, only now the slats will need to be cut not to the length, but to the width of the bed. The slats are attached to the support strips with self-tapping screws from above, with a pitch of no more than 150 mm. If the lamellas could not be found, then they can be made from plywood with a thickness of at least 20 mm.

To ensure that the load distribution during bed operation is uniform, it is advisable to lay a plywood panel on the slats and place a mattress on top of it. Another practical option is to attach the slats to the base with maximum frequency, that is, in increments of 10 to 40 mm. In this case, you can do without using a plywood panel.

Installation of legs, decoration of the product

The height of the finished bed, including the mattress, is about 350 mm. If a person prefers to sleep at a higher distance from the floor, then the bed should be equipped with legs. To do this, you will need a beam of 50 by 50 mm; it should be cut into fragments of suitable length and attached to the bed body using confirmations or self-tapping screws. If the bed is double, then the legs must be attached not only to the corners of the frame, but also to the longitudinal partition, which was installed in the middle of the base.

If desired, you can make wooden stands at the foot and head of the bed. They can be simple, rectangular, or figured - it all depends on the wishes of the owner of the future product, as well as on the skill of the furniture maker. When everything is ready, all that remains is to putty all the joints of the structural elements and technical holes.

One of the serious problems of small-sized apartments is the lack of space for things, so many owners tend to buy or make beds with drawers for clothes and bed linen. It is not difficult to make such a design, but for it you need to purchase drawers and retractable mechanisms. Another popular option: equip the frame with lifts. In this case, the mattress can be raised and the space underneath can be used for storing things.

Now it's time to start decorating the product.

The easiest way is to level the surface of the wood with fine-grained sandpaper or a sanding machine, treat it with stain and varnish in 2-3 layers (the next layer is applied only after the previous one has dried, this will avoid cracking of the coating).

If pine boards are used to assemble the product, then there is no need to use stain. Due to the high resin content, pine may change its appearance - called tiger stripes will appear on it. It is enough to treat wood of this type with varnish.

If the master plans to upholster the bed with soft fabric, then for the work he will need the appropriate material, a furniture stapler, and staples. It is advisable to place thin foam rubber under the fabric and attach it with curly nails. You can cover not only the external, but also the internal elements of a wooden structure with fabric, this will reduce the likelihood of contamination of the mattress.

Alternative option for assembling a bed frame

Here's another easy way to make a bed frame at home.

For work you will need boards and slats 2400 mm long, as well as consumables:

2 boards 50 by 100 mm;
4 boards 50 by 150 mm;
13 slats 25 by 75 mm;
self-tapping screws 60 mm;
screws for countersunk connections, 40 mm and 60 mm long;
paint, wood glue, putty.

The work begins with the manufacture of elements of the future structure. The figure shows possible options for the dimensions of the future product; cutting of wood parts is carried out in accordance with the chosen option.

At the first stage of work, you need to make the front and back parts of the frame. Assembly should be carried out using an oblique and flush joint. To do this, you will need a special mechanism that allows you to drill holes at an angle.

Then the sidewalls are attached to the front and rear sections. To secure parts of the structure in the correct position while screwing in screws, it is recommended to use clamps.

Triangular inserts should be placed in each corner; they will make the structure more reliable and prevent its deformation.

After this, at a distance of 50 mm from the upper edges of the sidewalls, it is necessary to install supports for the lamellas, secure them first with wood glue and then with screws.

Parallel to the installed supports for the lamellas, you need to attach a support block that will connect the front and rear walls of the frame. The lower edge of the bar should be located at the same level with the bottom of the bed, and the upper edge should be at the same height with the supports of the slatted bottom.

If a double or single bed is being made, then an additional leg can be attached to the support bar; if the bed is smaller, then an additional leg is not required.

Then you need to make a slatted bottom. The first and last slats should be attached to the end parts of the frame, and the remaining slats should be distributed evenly between them. The distance from one rail to another should be about 100 mm.

At the next stage, the headboard is attached to the frame using L-shaped brackets and long screws. Then all joints of elements, as well as all cracks and holes, are treated with putty. Then the product is sanded and coated with paint or varnish. All that remains is to put on the mattress and make the bed. The bed is ready!

You can make a bed frame with your own hands in just 3 days. The first will go to finding the necessary materials and tools, and the remaining two will go to assembling the finished structure. Thanks to correctly selected sizes and a hand-created design, it will delight its owners for decades. And it will also allow them to save a lot of money.

Making a wooden frame

It’s easier and faster to make a bed base from solid wood

The easiest way to make a bed base is from solid wood. It is non-toxic, easy to process and perfectly complements any interior. And a sufficient number of varieties of wood allows you to choose the best option in terms of price and quality for yourself. Among them you can choose budget options - pine or birch.

In the first case, the finished bed will delight you with a pronounced wood texture, which can be emphasized with stain and safely installed in a room with high humidity. In the second, you shouldn’t hope for a chic pattern, since the fibers of birch are less pronounced than those of pine. But the frame from it turns out stronger and lighter.

In the middle price category, preference is given to cherry, hazel or oak. The latter is especially popular due to its good quality characteristics and noble texture. The elite class includes exotic species - teak and wenge. They are used to make beds designed for bright, modern interiors, often based on contrast and play of colors.

Tools and materials

The dimensions of the future bed are determined by the dimensions of the mattress

The amount of materials needed depends on the dimensions of the future bed. And those are determined by the size of the mattress. It is better to purchase it in advance at a furniture store or make it yourself. Based on the available data, a drawing is drawn up. When creating it, tolerances of 1-1.2 cm on each side are necessarily added to the dimensions of the mattress so that it takes its place at the base.

There is no point in putting off searching for a mattress until later, since they are produced in standard or individual sizes, which are almost impossible to guess.

The selection of materials is carried out based on the received drawing and personal preferences. For a standard double bed you will need:

2 boards measuring 200x30x3 cm (for side walls);
5 boards (160x30x3 cm) for the front, back walls and headboard;
6 bars (200x5x5 cm) - they are used as support and load-bearing elements;
22 slats (160x5x2 cm) for the base under the mattress and fastening the headboard;
3 boards (200x30x3 cm) for making legs and an intermediate support bridge;
self-tapping screws;
ribbon;
wood glue;
stain;
beeswax or varnish for treating wood and protecting it from adverse environmental influences.

Set of tools:

jigsaw;
screwdriver;
drill;
screwdrivers;
stapler;
hacksaw;
plane;
sandpaper;
pencil, tape measure, ruler, square and other measuring instruments.

Blueprints

There are a huge number of options for ready-made frames. The latter can be single, one-and-a-half or double, square or rectangular, with podiums and a pull-out bed or chest of drawers underneath, with or without a high headboard and an additional shelf on it, and finally, with or without adjustable moving mechanisms. The main thing is that almost all of them can be assembled with your own hands. The number and dimensions of finished elements, as well as variations of finished structures are shown in the drawings.

Step-by-step manufacturing instructions

Marking the boards for the front and rear walls for fastenings for 3 vertical support bars. The mounting location depends on the desired depth of the mattress. Simple calculations will help you determine this distance. To do this, sum up the depth of the mattress in the box (5 cm), the thickness of the slats under the mattress (2 cm), and the thickness of the supporting longitudinal beams (5 cm). It follows from this that the vertical bars need to be attached 12 cm below the top point of the back and front walls.
Fastening 3 bars using self-tapping screws. They are selected based on the thickness of the walls and the bar. It is important to ensure that the 2 outer bars are 3 cm away from the sides of the back and front walls. This distance is equal to the thickness of the side wall.
Screwing the side walls flush to the front and back.
To the resulting 6 fixed vertical bars, 4 supporting horizontal bars are attached along the perimeter of the bed frame. Moreover, they are also screwed to the walls of the structure with self-tapping screws in order to ensure its strength. Together with the intermediate jumper, they perform a load-bearing function. The jumper itself is screwed to the middle vertical bars of both walls. The joint is joined using a cut with a depth equal to the thickness of the horizontal support bar.
Attaching the planks across the structure to the supporting elements using self-tapping screws. You need to step back from the front and back walls by 2 cm and maintain a step of 5 cm. Additionally, the planks are fastened together using tape and a construction stapler.
Screwing to the side walls from the outside of the legs. Their height is determined individually. The main thing is that their bottom edge is flush with the bottom point of the back and front walls. To do this, it is better to turn the frame over so that the future legs are at the top. The resulting ends are coated with wood glue.
Attaching additional boards to the back and front walls. It is better to treat the connecting longitudinal edges with wood glue.
Decorate the headboard at your discretion by rounding the corners with a jigsaw or giving it a fancy shape. If you have special skills, you can cut out geometric shapes or plant elements on it. Additional strength of the headboard will be provided by 3 slats, which are screwed with self-tapping screws from the outside.
Process the finished frame with fine-grained sandpaper. Particular attention is paid to corners and various irregularities.
Decorating the frame. A stain is applied to it, and after it dries, a varnish is applied. It is better to give preference to quick-drying, polyurethane, or special acrylic. If necessary, these products are applied in two or three layers.

This instruction allows you to make the simplest box for a bed. If you have special skills and the right tools, you can create real masterpieces by improving the stages of work described above.

Video instructions for making it yourself

Nothing can tell you more about the intricacies of making bed frames with your own hands than a visual video:

Gallery of ready-made options

Rich imagination, experience and limited space allow a person to create a wide variety of bed frames. Below is a selection of the most popular:

Making a metal frame

There are a huge number of varieties of metal frames

To make a metal box, straight-seam thin-walled pipes and rods are used, which are made of brass, steel, iron or galvanized metal. Elements of such structures are connected to each other by welding or forging. In the latter case, fantastic frames are obtained, which are designed to decorate the brightest and most unique interiors.

Tools and materials

To make a frame measuring 2 m by 0.9-2 m, you will need steel pipes:

4 things. dimensions 90x2x2 cm for the backrest;
2 pcs. (200x2x2 cm) for its upper crossbar;
2 pcs. (80x2x2 cm) for the bottom;
4 things. (60x2x2 cm) for the foot stand;
1 PC. (168x2x2 cm) for the lower leg crossbar;
2 pcs. (25x2x2 cm) for legs;
16 pcs. square (80x1x1 cm) for the manufacture of transverse parts.

And also steel channels:

4 things. (200x6.5x3.2 cm) for drawers;
2 pcs. (12x6.5x3.2 cm) for the manufacture of central brackets for frames;
4 things. the same dimensions for the side brackets;
4 steel corners (100x4x4 cm) for the end elements of the frame;
2 steel strips (200 x 2.5 x 0.2 cm) for the base for the frame;
6 steel strips (100x2x0.4 cm) for the base under the mattress;
10 steel sheets with a diameter of 2.5 cm and a thickness of 0.2 cm for making bearings for the racks;
4 steel sheets measuring 2x2 cm of the same thickness for the production of plugs for the upper crossbars.

When purchasing material, you can order the service of cutting it into the necessary parts. This is convenient, especially if you have no experience in performing such work. And in this case there will be no waste left. If you plan to cut metal yourself, it is better to take 10% more of it. They will go to trimming.

Set of tools:

Bulgarian;
welding machine;
drill with 9 mm drill bit;
tape measure, special square;
square file;
hard brush for cleaning;
sandpaper;
primer for processing metal structures;
brush, paint, varnish.

Blueprints

There are a large number of drawings of bed frames. Among them, you can choose the best option to suit your taste and budget.

Work order

Marking and cutting metal. It is carried out on the basis of an existing drawing, which, in turn, is prepared based on the dimensions of the mattress.
Manufacturing small and large brackets with tenons for fastening from channel scraps for the frame. In general, 2 central parts and 4 side parts are needed. Metal cutting must be done in such a way that a 5-degree bevel remains for each tenon.
Welding the brackets along the entire length to the back at a distance of 35 cm from the floor. High-quality implementation of this stage is the key to the durability of the structure, since the bracket bears the maximum load.
After finishing work with the back, you can begin assembling the frame. Instead of one, it is recommended to make 2 frames; this will simplify the process of assembling and transporting the finished bed. The frame is made from the channel, and the end parts of the frame are made from metal corners.
Drilling counter holes in the frame for the tenons from the brackets according to the marks made in advance. They need to be carefully double-checked, observing the dimensions, since any inaccuracies will lead to rework. If necessary, the diameter of the holes is increased with a metal file.
Welding steel strips to the finished frame (2 longitudinal and 6 transverse). They will perform the function of a grid.
Welding footrests and caps for bed posts.
Cleaning the finished structure with a stiff brush, processing it with a grinding machine and polishing it.
Treating the frame with a layer of primer for better adhesion of the paint to the surface and sanding it after drying.
Decorating and painting. It is better to do it with an airbrush, and if it is not available, with a brush.

Video guide: how to make a metal frame

The process of cutting metal and assembling the finished structure is captured in this video:

Examples of created products

A real metal bed frame is always fashionable and beautiful. You can verify this by looking at the finished design options.

Which frame is better in which case?

It is worth noting that both of these frames are called orthopedic. The choice of one of them is individual and should be based on personal wishes and the existing interior.

However, the metal frame is considered to be stronger. It is resistant to deformation and negative environmental influences. It does not creak and is great for rooms with high humidity.

At the same time, a wooden frame is made easier and faster. It never goes out of fashion and suits any type of interior. Careful selection of material allows you to extend its service life.

To make a frame for your bed, you can choose either noble wood or solid metal. In any case, accuracy, precision, attention to detail, patience and the desire to create will help transform it and create the design of your dreams.

Experiment, believe in yourself! And then everything will work out for you!