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Step 3Dimensions and Major Components
Mattress Rise
It really helps knowing what mattress you'll be using. Ideally, you don't want no more than 8-12 inches of mattress exposed and no less than 4 inches. Bo Concept used 8 inch thick mattress with 4 inches above their bed rails and it looks excellent. This of course is personal preference and may be constrained by your materials. My mattress happens to be double sided, 17.5 inches thick and rises up 9 inches above the rails.
Mattress Fit
You also NEED to know the dimensions of your mattress. An X-long will not fit in a Normal platform and visa versa. I have a US standard dimension queen - that is 60" by 80" but check your mattress as mfr's can vary.
King
US Standard Queen: 76" X 80"
Olympic King (wider): 82" X 80"
California King (Longer): 72" x 84"
Queen
US Standard Queen: 60" x 80"
Olympic Queen (wider): 66" x 80"
California Queen (longer): 60" x 84"
Full
Standard: 53" x 75"
Full XL (long): 53" x 80"
Twin
Standard: 38" x 75"
Twin XL (long): 38" x 80"
Because my mattress is double sided, I need to flip it every few months. Not a big deal for me, but it means I need to leave a little more free area on the sides of the bed to allow this to happen. If you have a single sided - you can go for a tighter fit. Also keep in mind that if you use a fluffy comforter, you want a little extra space on the sides and bottom of the bed. Otherwise the comforter will drape over the sides of the rails and the "platform" effect is gone. It looks like a frame less bed.
As for which is better - double or single sided? I like double sided because I can rotate and flip my bed like I do with my car tires. The foam wears evenly without developing impressions. If I was an older lady, I probably would prefer single sided so I wouldn't have to deal with lifting a rather heavy mattress every three months.
Ground Clearance
I need space to store things. Old bike tubes, tools, failed experiments, cleaning supplies, books et. al. I decided that I wanted a 7" high storage bin to fit under the bed. For more comfortable access and accounting for any fluffy carpet thickness, we shot for 10 inches of clearance. It settled at 9.5" which is just enough to fit my toolboxes too :)
Some Platforms have no clearance --- they sit on the floor. Typically this design has wide rails that require the support.
Head Board
This is really personal preference. I combined a mish mash of designs from Bo's catalog. I also wanted to give a bigger room feel. So horizontal lines were the way to go. You can go simple, complicated, extravagant, whatever. My design was for something rather tall - taller than any of Bo's designs (no more than 40" tall). This really bit me in the butt when it came time for transport - but I'll get to that later ;) If you're going to be transporting your bed somewhere, keep that in mind.
Rail Width
I was constricted by my materials on this one. My rails are 1 3/4" wide but you don't need to follow that. If you want a 12" rail - go for it ;) Integrate a night table if you want. Wider rails will require bottom support so you may loose some under-bed storage space unless you build drawers into the bed.
Modularity is key. Ask yourself
# Can I take this apart
# Can I lift each component by itself
# Do the modules fit together easily and more importantly, safely
# Is it better to make a separate piece of furniture instead of integrating into this one
Legs
My bed is supported by 5 PVC legs. While my headboard goes to the floor - it is not a supporting member. PVC pipe does not seem like a first choice - but aluminum tubes of the same thickness were cost prohibitive. The legs are short, so I'm not worried about buckling. The load is typically 100% axial compression - shear loading is minimal (say jumping onto the bed or anything that wants to make the bed move forward/backward or left/right. The legs are made of three components.
1. 4" PVC Pipe
2. 4" to 2" PVC reducer (to make feet)
3. 4" Flange - bolted to the bottom of the bed
The legs were cemented together and then painted silver and then clear coated gloss.
Modularity
My bed is made of 3 modules. Everything bolts/screws into each other and everything can be carried by 1 person (1 piece at a time).
1. Rails -- 4
2. Frame -- 5 legs and two cut boards of plywood (separable)
3. Headboard -- 3 sections
It really helps knowing what mattress you'll be using. Ideally, you don't want no more than 8-12 inches of mattress exposed and no less than 4 inches. Bo Concept used 8 inch thick mattress with 4 inches above their bed rails and it looks excellent. This of course is personal preference and may be constrained by your materials. My mattress happens to be double sided, 17.5 inches thick and rises up 9 inches above the rails.
Mattress Fit
You also NEED to know the dimensions of your mattress. An X-long will not fit in a Normal platform and visa versa. I have a US standard dimension queen - that is 60" by 80" but check your mattress as mfr's can vary.
King
US Standard Queen: 76" X 80"
Olympic King (wider): 82" X 80"
California King (Longer): 72" x 84"
Queen
US Standard Queen: 60" x 80"
Olympic Queen (wider): 66" x 80"
California Queen (longer): 60" x 84"
Full
Standard: 53" x 75"
Full XL (long): 53" x 80"
Twin
Standard: 38" x 75"
Twin XL (long): 38" x 80"
Because my mattress is double sided, I need to flip it every few months. Not a big deal for me, but it means I need to leave a little more free area on the sides of the bed to allow this to happen. If you have a single sided - you can go for a tighter fit. Also keep in mind that if you use a fluffy comforter, you want a little extra space on the sides and bottom of the bed. Otherwise the comforter will drape over the sides of the rails and the "platform" effect is gone. It looks like a frame less bed.
As for which is better - double or single sided? I like double sided because I can rotate and flip my bed like I do with my car tires. The foam wears evenly without developing impressions. If I was an older lady, I probably would prefer single sided so I wouldn't have to deal with lifting a rather heavy mattress every three months.
Ground Clearance
I need space to store things. Old bike tubes, tools, failed experiments, cleaning supplies, books et. al. I decided that I wanted a 7" high storage bin to fit under the bed. For more comfortable access and accounting for any fluffy carpet thickness, we shot for 10 inches of clearance. It settled at 9.5" which is just enough to fit my toolboxes too :)
Some Platforms have no clearance --- they sit on the floor. Typically this design has wide rails that require the support.
Head Board
This is really personal preference. I combined a mish mash of designs from Bo's catalog. I also wanted to give a bigger room feel. So horizontal lines were the way to go. You can go simple, complicated, extravagant, whatever. My design was for something rather tall - taller than any of Bo's designs (no more than 40" tall). This really bit me in the butt when it came time for transport - but I'll get to that later ;) If you're going to be transporting your bed somewhere, keep that in mind.
Rail Width
I was constricted by my materials on this one. My rails are 1 3/4" wide but you don't need to follow that. If you want a 12" rail - go for it ;) Integrate a night table if you want. Wider rails will require bottom support so you may loose some under-bed storage space unless you build drawers into the bed.
Modularity is key. Ask yourself
# Can I take this apart
# Can I lift each component by itself
# Do the modules fit together easily and more importantly, safely
# Is it better to make a separate piece of furniture instead of integrating into this one
Legs
My bed is supported by 5 PVC legs. While my headboard goes to the floor - it is not a supporting member. PVC pipe does not seem like a first choice - but aluminum tubes of the same thickness were cost prohibitive. The legs are short, so I'm not worried about buckling. The load is typically 100% axial compression - shear loading is minimal (say jumping onto the bed or anything that wants to make the bed move forward/backward or left/right. The legs are made of three components.
1. 4" PVC Pipe
2. 4" to 2" PVC reducer (to make feet)
3. 4" Flange - bolted to the bottom of the bed
The legs were cemented together and then painted silver and then clear coated gloss.
Modularity
My bed is made of 3 modules. Everything bolts/screws into each other and everything can be carried by 1 person (1 piece at a time).
1. Rails -- 4
2. Frame -- 5 legs and two cut boards of plywood (separable)
3. Headboard -- 3 sections
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King
US Standard Queen: 76" X 80" <--- S/B "US Standard King", I think
Olympic King (wider): 82" X 80"
California King (Longer): 72" x 84"
Nice ideas, BTW. Got the wheels turning on building one myself.