So for a very long time I have been planning to build my daughter a bed.
I have been reading anything I could get about bed construction (I really liked “Anatomy of a Bed” from Fine Woodworking), checking out different beds for design concepts, and construction methods, and have been mentally practicing building it for the longest time.
so I finally came up with the following design. frame is all Maple, joinery is Mortise & Tenon and headboard/footboard panels are planned to be Birdseye-Maple – either solid, or Veneered – depending on budget and availability. This is designed as a trundle bed, so there is an extra guest/friend mattress under the bed.
the main difficulty I’ve had with this was the extra length that was needed to ad to the main bed in order to accommodate for the secondary mattress and enclosing box. and since I have zero experience with building beds, it just took a bit longer for the information and ideas to settle in.
here is the planned design:


-- My Drinking Club has a Woodworking Problem...






















4 comments so far
GaryK
home | projects | blog
8541 posts in 515 days
posted 165 days ago
Nice looking design.
You could put big posts and notch them out at the bottom to accomodate the mattress.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Scott Bryan
home | projects | blog
9721 posts in 349 days
posted 165 days ago
This is a nice looking design. I like the idea of incorporating storage space underneath the bed. This is essentially dead space which you are taking advantage of by adding needed storage.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
PurpLev
home | projects | blog
355 posts in 175 days
posted 164 days ago
Thanx GaryK, It’s a good idea, but it wouldnt work for me for 2 reasons:
1. I like simple lines in my work, notching the posts at the lower part would break that clean post line.
2. it’ll be another step that I have to take cutting, and matching pieces – I’m just lazy… I’m kidding – I’d rather spend an extra hour designing the piece to reduce the amount of steps I have to take from start to finish.
all said and done – it IS a definite option.
-- My Drinking Club has a Woodworking Problem...
Grumpy
home | projects | blog
6517 posts in 378 days
posted 164 days ago
Very similar to the one I am making now but it will have drawers underneath & slats between the rails on the head & end.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python