It started like this: Our first bed was a cheap, €400 bed with an included mattress. Four years are not easy for such a cheap bed, and the Boy and I decided it was time to invest in decent mattresses. Then we decided, as long as we're investing so much money, let's go all out and buy extra-long mattresses (the Boy is over 6 feet tall and his feet hang off the end of a normal mattress). Unfortunately, extra-long also has this tendency to mean "extra pricey". I won't even tell you how much we spent on our mattresses and slatted frames.
Then we started looking at beds to hold our new mattresses. And would you believe we were considering this bed frame for over €600 without the headboard??
It's basically four pieces of wood with four legs attached to it. And it was the cheapest extra-long bed frame we could find.
Which just wouldn't do.
I must admit, I didn't just dive into the idea of making a bed myself. One of my friends gave me a little push in that direction, and I was aware of another friend who had made his bed, which was encouraging. I played around with measurements and made the following drawing on google sketchup to make sure I liked the proportions:
I chose this design because I felt it would be the easiest to construct. After finishing this design (note that it also doesn't have a headboard), I ran across this bed online, which is from the same company as the expensive bed we were considering at first:
Now, doesn't that look familiar?? It's probably more in the range of about €1000. So, finally, here's a picture of the bed when it was nearly finished:
All the bed's parts, including the wood (solid beech), hardware, finishing supplies (sandpaper, wax, etc.), and transport cost just short of €300. So, I saved a lot of money. It took me two and a half weeks' worth of evenings to build. It weighs 60 kg and it stands 60 cm tall. The mattresses are even higher. It doesn't squeak, can be completely disassembled for easy transport, and is built such that two mattresses of different thicknesses appear the same height. The only disadvantage is that the bed seems to slide freely across the floor, despite the weight of the mattresses.
At some point I plan to make an upholstered headboard that hangs on the wall. It will probably end up looking like something from www.headybed.com:
As soon as it's complete, I'll post a picture of the completed bed and headboard! Should anyone be interested in more detailed instructions on how the bed is built, I'd be glad to share!
