by Rex Coker

Created on: September 11, 2008

Building a platform bed with storage has helped many people over the years avoid the high cost of buying a unreliable bed room suite. People often will compare prices at local furniture stores trying to find a bed that will be sturdy and last for years, yet this can be done by any one that can build a box out of wood.

The concept of building your own platform bed is simple. You only need to know how to use a drill to complete the biggest parts of the beds fabrication during assembly. The use of a tape measure to determine the size you need to build and a skill saw to cut your wood to length and width.

MATERIALS NEEDED TO BUILD A PLATFORM BED:

1) Four 1x15x8 foot pieces of white pine boards.

2) Two sheets of 4x8 foot 1 inch ply board.

3) Four pieces of 1x2 inch 8ft long pine strips board.

4) Four sets of drawer mounting kits.

5) 1 Box of two inch self tapping drywall screws.

6) Four drawer handles or knobs.

7) One quart of stain or paint ( Your preference).

8) One quart of polyurethane if you choose stain.

9) Dowel caps to cover counter sunk screw holes.

10) Two pieces of eight foot 1x4

TOOLS NEEDED FOR PROJECT:

1) Skill saw.

2) Fast square or small L square.

3) Power drill for drilling holes and fastening pieces together.

4) Wood glue.

5) A counter sinking drill bit.

6) Tape measure

7) Pencil for marking cut lines.

8) Paint brushes or staining cloth.

9) Jig saw.

STEPS FOR CUTTING AND ASSEMBLY:

1) The average size for a regular bed is six foot long and five foot wide. You will need to cut two pieces of the 1x15 by eight foot long boards, six foot two inches long for the side rails and the width boards five foot two inches long for the head and foot of the bed rail.

2) Once measured, take the L square and mark a square line on the board you are going to cut. Take your skill saw and line it up on the board and cut to the waste side of the line. Make sure you cut the board square on all pieces. The pieces that you cut off the eight foot piece will be used for the drawer faces so do not throw them away. They should measure 22 inches long after the cut.

3) According to how deep you wish your drawers to be for storage you may have to trim some of the fifteen inches from the face board. I will use a standard measurement of eight inches high by 20 inches wide for the drawer faces. Cut them and lay them to the side.

4) Take the six foot two inch side rails and lay them on their side. Measure ten inches from one end of the board then switch to the other end and measure the same way. This will give

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