Platform bed Frame with storage

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I set out to replace a simple bed frame (from Ikea) with something more visually appealing and something that will add more storage. After some time sketching ideas and figuring things out, here is bed frame with storage I came up with.

The plan below shows two large cabinets with drawers. The cabinets will be the “sides” of the bed frame and a simple frame/panel will be the bottom section and top section. Then, in the center will be some simple MDF/2X4 supports to hold the mattress. I had to offset the drawers from the end due to side tables being directly next to the bed.

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Materials and Material Prep

The cabinets is comprised of 1/2 plywood (top and bottom), with 3/4 plywood as the vertical supports/dividers. The face frame is made from oak. The large frame and panels are oak and 1/4″ MDF. The drawers are 1/2″ plywood and the false fronts are oak and 1/2″ MDF. The center supports pieces are 1/2″ MDF and 2X4s.

All of my 5/4 oak was resawn to maximize material usage and then milled to final dimension (~9/16″). The plywood sheets were broken down and cut to final dimension on the table saw/miter saw.

Cabinet Construction

The 3/4 ply was very bowed, so this made the construction challenging. It was a simple glue and screw joinery method, so not much to talk about. The only major item of note was I used a spacer to ensure all of the drawer openings were the same size. I also added some pocket holes to attach the face frame and glued/nailed on some “feet”.

Face Frames and Frame/Panel

The next step was to create the face frames for the cabinets and the frame and panels for the foot and head ends. I started with the face frames and laid out each piece on top of the cabinet instead of taking measurements. To ensure each opening is the same I used two spacers of the same size to lay out the vertical members. The face frame was held together with glue and pocket screws.

The frame was laid out to have equal panel sizes, then glued/screwed together. The frame material was not thick enough to have a traditional groove and floating panel. So, I rabbeted out the back side and glued in 1/4″ MDF panel.

Inset Drawers

I attached the face frames to the cabinets with glue/clamps and pocket screws. In order for my drawer slides to clear the face frame, I had to add some packing strips to space out the slides from the vertical dividers. The spacers were just some strips of plywood glued and nailed to the vertical dividers.

The drawers were all made from 1/2″ Plywood with a 1/2″ plywood bottom. They have a pinned rabbet for jointery and since I used spacers to lay everything out, they were all the same size.

I forgot to add hardwood edging to the top of the drawer before the joints were cut, so I did it afterwards with glue and masking tape (as clamps).

The drawer fronts were traditional frame and panel using 1/2″ MDF as the panel and very thick oak as the frame. I wanted the drawer pulls to protrude as little as possible. Also the drawers are inset to keep as much of the bed frame “Under” the bed and not risk stubbed toes. This was my first time using the Domino and it was excellent. So fast!

Drawer Front with large recess to mount pull so it doesn’t protrude out

Back is flush with frame so it mounts securely to drawer

Poly, Paint, and Assembly

There was a bunch of sanding, drawer mounting, unmounting, adding some final touches, like this 2X4 to support the center sections, before I moved onto paint and poly. Notice my sweet jig to set the height.

2X4 support for center sections and fancy jig

All of the drawer boxes received 3(or 4) coats of water based poly to seal them up and then I sprayed 2 coats of primer, followed by 2 coats of paint with 320 sanding in between coats. It was a bit of a juggling act with how large these pieces were, but I could stand the cabinets up and cover them in plastic while I sprayed all of the other components. Once everything was painted it was time take out the old bed frame, vaccuum, and begin the daunting journey up the stairs. These things were heavy. Final assembly went okay. Attaching the foot and head pieces was a challenge due to the really small cavity to work in (oversight).

The thing I wish I would have done differently was plug the screw holes that are in the very far corners. Then paint the top of the cabinet farther back from the edge. The mattress is rounded and you can see the screw heads and bare wood.