High Platform Bed

This is a bed I built for my younger son about 8 years ago.

I wanted him to have a unique bed and to make good use of his room space.

So there is room under the bed for a desk or some cupboard, and at bed level there is a room at the head of the bed and a platform where to put comics, books, an alarm clock, etc.

As I built this years ago, I cannot show the assembly steps in detail.

However, as I try to design to minimize work and for easy assembly, I hope that the pictures and instructions will suffice.

You will see that the whole bed in made of identical 22x120 mm section pine woodplanks.

I recommend that you get all planks already cut to size in the shop.

The dimensions below are for a standard (European) 900mm wide bedspring.

What you will need to buy ([amount] - thickness x width x length in mm)

• For the 5 vertical posts: [15] 22x120x2080
• Long side: [4] 22x120x2400
  Noted (a) on the enclosed picture of my manual plan.
• Foot side: [1] 22x120x950
  Noted (b) on the enclosed picture of my manual plan.
• Head side: [2] 22x120x1600
  Noted (c) on the enclosed picture of my manual plan.
• Small side: [2] 22x120x800
  Noted (d) on the enclosed picture of my manual plan.
• Small side: [2] 22x120x650
  Noted (e) on the enclosed picture of my manual plan.
• Support bars for the bedspring: [2] 27x27x2400
  You may have to cut it a little to fit between the posts.
• Support bars for the planks of the small platform: [2] 27x27x606
• Planks for the bottom and head of the bed [4] 22x120x906
  You will have to cut some corners to fit the posts and the shape of your selected bedspring.
• Planks for the small platform: [5] 22x120x800
  You will have to cut some corners to fit the posts.

Then mostly screws:

• Maximum 60mm long for the assembly of the posts and sides.
• Maximum 40mm long for the assembly of the support bars.

As tools:

• Pencil
• Tape measure
• Drill/driver
• Jigsaw
• Safety equipment !

Step 1: Building the Bed Posts

Each of the 5 bed posts is made of 3 planks glued and/or screwed together.

Cutting the planks

• The outer plank (22x120x2080) is without any cut.
• The middle plank (22x120x2080) of 3 posts have 2 120x90mm rectangular cuts through to the edge:
  120mm high to allow 2 planks to slide in during assembly.
  90mm deep for both cuts.
• The middle plank (22x120x2080) of the foot-side posts have 2 different cuts:
  120mm high to allow 2 planks to slide in during assembly.
  68mm deep for the top one.
  90mm deep for the bottom one.
• The inner plank (22x120x2080) of 3 posts have 2 120x22mm rectangular cuts inside the plank:
  120mm high and 22mm wide to allow 2 planks to slide through during assembly.
• The inner plank (22x120x2080) of the foot-side posts have just 1 cut:
  120mm high and 22mm wide to allow 1 plank to slide through during assembly.

The first cut of both the middle plank and the inner plank start at 170mm from the top.

The second cut of both the middle plank and the inner plank start at 420mm from the top (170+120+130).

Gluing and/or screwing the planks

When the post planks cuts have been made, they can be assembled by 3 (outer+middle+inner) to form the 5 posts.

Pay attention to assemble them right so that the insertion spaces for the horizontal planks created by the cuts face the correct side when the posts are positioned like they will be in the bed !

You can polish all the corners and angles of posts to eliminate splinters and make it all smooth. Easier to do it now rather than after final bed assembly.

Step 2: Assemble the Bed Frame

Once the 5 bed posts have been assembled, the full bed can be assembled.

Pay attention that due to its size it should be assembled in the bedroom as it will not pass through a door !

Assembling the bed is a simple matter of:

• First inserting the horizontal planks that go through the cuts of the inner planks and fixing them with 2 equally spaced long screws (60mm).
• Second inserting the horizontal planks that go through the cuts of the middle planks and fixing them with 2 equally spaced long screws (60mm).

I recommend screwing these second planks from inside the bed so less screws are visible from outside.

As for the posts, uou can polish all the corners and angles of planks to eliminate splinters before final assembly.

Step 3: Fixing the Side Supports & Sizing the Platform Planks

Once the frame of the bed is assembled, there is a couple easy steps:

• First is fixing the horizontal bars that will support the planks of the platform, the planks at the head and foot of the bed, and the bedspring.
  Just make sure that you align the bottom of the bar with the bottom of the side planks to which they are affixed.
• Second is placing the planks and making the small corner cuts to fit the bed posts and your selected bedspring.

When all is done, the bed is ready for sanding, polishing and varnishing.

Step 4: Finishing Touches

Polish all the corners of the bed to eliminate splinters and make it all smooth for your child's little fingers.

Then varnish it. I used a water-based transparent vitrifying varnish that is also used for stairs. It is reasonably cheap and very resistant.

Further options

You can see that I also built a ladder to access the bed. Really simple to build: 2 broader inclined planks (~900x27mm) for the sides and horizontal steps made of cuts of a ~68x27mm plank.

For younger children, to avoid that they would fall off the bottom of the bed during their sleep, a plank can be added simply mounted on a garden hinge and a simple sliding lock.

Enjoy and sweet dreams...