Raised platform bed made of Walnut and Cherry

My first real woodworking project completed Christmas of 2010 with the help of my Grandfather. We had been talking about doing this for years. Grandpa had the Amish in Wisconsin saw the cherry into useable lumber. The project is made of Cherry and Walnut. The headboard uses a cleat and it mounts on the wall. I used quarter sawn Walnut in the headboard.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to make this bed. There were a number of dimensions that were critical to me. For example, being a relatively short sized bed (Full) I wanted a tall person to make use of as much of the mattress length as possible. I designed the headboard so that the pilows could sit into the headboard a few inches. A couple inches makes a big difference sometimes…. I was also concerned about the overall length. I have a habit of pulling the sheets out of the end of the bed at night. I wanted to make sure the dimensions supported snuggly fitting the mattress just enough so the sheets wouldn’t come untucked. There are many other little things that I put thought into as all woodworkers tend to do.

I consider this guestroom bed to be a “practice bed”. I am trying to learn necessary skills before I take on the task of making a complete bedroom set for the master bedroom. My wife has had a hard time understanding why I have been focusing so much energy and time on a room that is hardly used and doesn’t really improve our life that much. I think anyone that remembers what getting started in this hobby / profession was like can completely understand my method of approach. Yes babe, the master bedroom is next… I just wanted to make sure that when you kicked me out, I had a comfortable place to sleep (LOL)! Please don’t throw me in the briar patch!

The finish is Waterlox. I used a lot of glue and a mile of sandpaper. The side rails mount to the headboard and footboard with mortised in brackets. All major panels are floating panels. Structural integrity and quietness was the initial primary consideration for the project. There is no box spring. The cat absolutely thinks I made it for him.

I spent 2 weeks completely dedicated to this project. 7am to at least 8 pm. I couldn’t have made it without my grandfathers help. I think we both learned a lot and grew closer on this project.

Thanks for reading and looking at my pictures.

-- Jamie McDonald, Buford GA