Make Your Bed!

Making a bed can be a simple project, and if well planned, it can be done over a weekend. Not to mention the money you can save compared to actually purchasing one. I made this picket fence bed for my daughter about six years ago and she still sleeps on it today. I looked through several magazines to get some ideas on how I wanted to construct it (actually, my wife gave me a picture of one and said, "can you make this?"). If I remember correctly, most novelty stores wanted somewhere around $600 for similar items. I spent about $200 for the wood and paint, and constructed it in one weekend.

The bed posts are actually just newel posts (for stair railing) that I purchased as a shelf item from Lowes, and the pickets are just 1x popular. I laid everything out on my workbench, spreading the pickets with 3/4 inch spacers. Then I drew an arch on the spaced pickets and cut the tops off with my jigsaw. The pickets were all glued and screwed on to a top and bottom brace and the brace was mortised into the newels. The bed rails were also mortised into the newels as well as anchored with some angle brackets.

Here is a bed that I made for a client who wanted a Pottery Barn Bed but wanted it to be customized to meet her needs. The beds have the same storage underneath as the Pottery Barn Bed, but the head board/box was customized to serve as a toy storage box. The top has two lids that open at both heads and the lids are supported with piano hinges so that slamming does not occur. The mattresses rest on a full sheet of 3/4" plywood. This deletes the need for a box spring and allows for a lot of accessible storage underneath. This bed took a little longer than a weekend to construct, but was still easy enough for a novice woodworker to build.

So, if your looking for an easy and fun project to do this weekend, why don't you start by making your bed.