My most asked question in the past week: Why build a DIY bed frame instead of buying one? Before every project, I tend to ask myself why I am doing it myself instead of buying something. After reflecting on this recently, I came to the conclusion that I simply enjoy the process of DIY! It pushes me to try new things (especially things I’m uncomfortable with), stretches my creativity and problem solving skills, and it always results in personal growth.
Other than that, there were some practical reasons I wanted to build my own bed frame…
- We have a California king size bed, which you’d think is common. However, many of the more affordable bed frames I liked do not come in this size!
- I can make my bed a custom size and color to fit our room exactly as I want.
- My final reason is that I wanted to make our bedroom as toxin free as possible. I’ve put a lot of effort into purchasing only quality products that reduce the number of toxins we are exposed to (see my post on Designing a Bedroom to Promote Healthy Sleep). So, building it myself gives me control over the products I build my bed with.
So, now that you know WHY I’m building a DIY Upholstered Bed Frame, let’s get down to the details…
Catch up on my previous updates here:
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
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How to Build a DIY Upholstered Bed Part 1: Building a Bed Frame (California King)
Before we get started, I just want to say, this is not the first bed I’ve built, yet it still felt intimidating to start this project! In fact, my first ever furniture build was this slide-out twin-to-king daybed that I made for my first One Room Challenge. You’d think after that I’d be going to this one with all levels of confidence, but nope! I’ve still got nerves. Sharing because I want you to know that it doesn’t matter how experienced you are at something, we all feel those doubts, insecurities, and fears. It’s what you do that truly matters. Confidence comes from taking action and knowing you are capable regardless of your experience or how nervous you feel. So go do it!
Materials Needed:
- (12) 2 in. x 4 in. x 8 ft. stud boards
- 1/8” 4×8 Hardboard (cut to 32″ x total bed width)
- 1.5″ and 2″ Wood Screws
- 2″ Pocket Hole Screws
- 1/2″ Staples
- Brackets to attach sides and legs
Tools:
- Pneumatic Staple Gun (requires Air Compressor) or standard staple gun (don’t bother with an electric staple gun, I tried and they don’t even get into soft pine wood)
- Miter Saw (or have the wood cut for you when you buy your wood)
- Drill and/or Impact Driver
- Pocket Hole Jig
- Corner Clamp
- Measuring Tape
- Pen or Pencil
Okay, here we go!
DIY Bed Frame Instructions:
1. Determine the Dimensions of Your Bed Frame
For my DIY upholstered bed frame, I wanted the headboard and footboard to look more substantial by making them thicker. I also knew I wanted short feet (I don’t like to see under my bed). Below I’ve outlined how I calculated the length of each piece to get the total size of my bed frame.
How to calculate the dimensions of your DIY bed frame:
- Determine the Dimensions of Your Bed (below are general dimensions)
Twin: 38″ x 75″
Full: 53″ x 75″
Queen: 60″ x 80″
King: 76″ x 80″
California King: 72” x 84” - Add 1.5” to each dimension to leave some wiggle room for your bed, plus allow you space to tuck your sheets and blankets. This will determine the total inner dimensions of your bed frame. For my Cal King Bed: 72 + 1.5 = 73.5” Wide and 84 + 1.5 = 85.5” Long
- Calculate the total outside width of your bed frame by adding the width of the side rails to your new width from above. My side rails for my bed are 2” thick, so 73.5” + (2” x 2) = 77.5” total width.
- Determine the total size of each component. The height of your headboard, footboard, and sides are totally up to you. I wanted my headboard to be on the upper end of the normal range. To determine what height I liked, I first looked at beds online that I liked and how tall they were. Then, since I always need a visual, I used painters tape to determine what height I liked best by taping it straight over my current headboard. For my side rails, I went with the same height as my inspo bed, which was 16” and would overlap my mattress by 2”. For my footboard I didn’t really know what I wanted. Initially I planned to make it the same as the sides, but then I thought I might like it a bit taller. I started out with it a few inches taller than my mattress. That felt too substantial, so I lowered it to be the same height as my mattress at 26″ tall and that seemed to be the sweet spot!
My DIY Bed Frame Dimensions:
Headboard (total width x desired height): 77.5” W x 54” Tall
Footboard (total width x desired height): 77.5” W x 26” Tall
Sides (total inside length x desired height): 85.5” Long x 16” Tall
Now you have your total dimensions for your DIY bed frame. The only adjustment you would need to make is if you are adding feet and do not want them to add additional height to your bed. I’ll talk more about this in the next section.
2. Build the Frame for the Headboard, Footboard, and Side Rails
To build the frame for each piece, I used 2×4’s attached by pocket holes. Since I planned to add 1 inch feet to the bottom of my bed, I subtracted 1” from my height for each component.
Cut list:
(4) 2×4 boards cut to your total width minus the thickness of the boards you’re attaching to = 77.5” – (1.5” x 2) = 74.5”
(2) 2×4 boards cut to your headboard height (minus height of feet) = 53”
(2) 2×4 boards cut to your footboard height (minus feet) = 25”
(4) 2×4 boards cut to your total inside length minus the thickness of the boards you’re attaching to = 85.5” – (2” x 2) = 81.5”
(4) 2×4 boards cut to your side rail height (minus feet) = 15”
Once built, you will cut some inner braces to add some strength to your frames.
Building the Bed Frame:
To build your headboard frame, lay it out with the width boards INSIDE of the height boards. For the headboard, I added the bottom board at the bottom of my padded section of my headboard (32” from the top). You will use a pocket hole jig to drill pocket holes into the width boards, then attach them to the height boards with pocket hole screws. I highly recommend using a corner clamp to make sure they are square, or if you don’t have one, you can use a square piece of wood and two clamps, which is what I did. Then, attach the pre-cut piece of hardboard on top using a staple gun – this will add support to lean against the headboard and provide a backing to attach the padding later on.
Repeat this process to build the footboard and side rails. I wanted my headboard and footboard to look more substantial, so I turned the 2×4’s to have the wide side out for those. For the sides, however, I kept the thin side out so they were not as thick. You can do it either way, but this is how I did mine!
Once you have the frames built, you can measure the inside distance and cut some vertical braces to strengthen the frame. I attached these by drilling some countersunk holes into the outside of the frame and screwing straight into the boards to attach them. In theory, you could attach your entire frame this way, but pocket holes are supposed to be stronger, so I opted for that!
I also added an additional support inside both the headboard and footboard in order to attach my corner brackets. I simply cut a piece of scrap wood to about 6 inches and screwed it into the frame from the inside. For reference, I marked the height of the sides and installed this piece about halfway between that and the bottom.
This photo is of the first brackets I tried before I decided these brackets would give me a more sturdy bed!
3. Test Fit Your DIY Bedframe
Once all the pieces are built, the next step is to test fit everything! I did this inside since I wanted to see how it all fit together around my mattress. Plus, this helped me gauge if I liked the height of the headboard and footboard.
To attach the frame together, first move all the pieces into place. Next, you’ll attach each side board to the headboard and footboard using the corner brackets. To do this, I held the bracket in place to get it lined up and marked the holes with a pencil. Pre-drill the holes to avoid splitting the wood, and then attach the brackets! Do this for all four corners.
Once you’ve confirmed all pieces fit properly, your bed frame is built and ready for upholstery!
Stay tuned for next week’s post on upholstering your DIY Bed Frame and follow along with the other room makeovers on the One Room Challenge Blog!
