"Rustic" king size bed frame I completed last fall
#5
While not "fine woodworking", it is a project off the list. Our old house was a story and a half with a very low wall in the bedroom which prevented pretty much all standard bed frames from fitting. I had build up a crap frame out of 2x6 just to get the mattress off the floor a little, but it was what it was.

When we moved to our new place, LOML found lots of beds she liked. I think the cheapest was about $1,200. I knew I could do something cheaper so I talked her into letting me build one and she agreed. Over the course of 5 months or so, I collected pallets from work and broke the boards down and popped the nails out. Once I thought I had enough, I designed how I wanted to make it and proposed a couple of ideas to her. She wanted something rustic but also wanted "nice" (her words). Here's what I came up with. My version cost me less than $150 with all boards/glue/paint/ply.

The entire bed is made of pallet boards with a few exceptions. It is probably 80% oak with the rest being maple or walnut. The four corners are pine 4x4 skinned in pallet boards. The side rails are 1x10 pine boards also skinned in pallet boards. The boards on the headboard and footboard are attached to 2x 1x4 pine boards spanning between the bed posts. I tried to mix board thicknesses to give some additional texture to the eye. I made the bed cross rails out of 2x4 and topped with 3/4 OSB.

All of that holds our ridiculously comfortable new Stearns & Foster mattress. I would have NEVER paid retail for it (personally) but my friend worked for Mattress Firm at the time and I couldn't beat the discount. Happy wife, happy life.

The headboard and footboard skins are glued and brad nailed, as is a lot of the other stuff that is non-structural. The top pieces on the headboard and footboard were not originally designed that way but I presented the option to her before I did it the other way and she loved it. They definitely give the project the proper scale IMO. Rails are attached with some Rockler bed rail hardware.

Finish is a black enamel paint in eggshell that was sprayed on after I took care of any loose wood or otherwise overly "fuzzy" areas.

Overall it came out really well. It is heavy duty and the wife loves it. I also made the night stands out of pallet wood. Nothing fancy on those, but much of the same construction.










Jason Woodford

I happen to have a full set and once they had one bad winter of moisture they never real look good again. - Scott Whiting 6/24/10

I live in a constant state of horny. She's very obliging. Why mess with it? - Snipe Hunter
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#6
Very well done and good use of pallet boards. As long as the wife is happy, life is good. Good to see you back to woodworking and posting.

Mel
ABC(Anything But Crapsman)club member
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#7
I like it regardless of the price, the price just makes it that much better.
"Links to news stories don’t cut it."  MsNomer 3/2/24
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#8
Nice work. Really like the look.
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