Do-it-yourself double bed

Recommendation points

• We disassemble the sleeper device
• Case manufacturing options
• Wrought iron and solid headboards
• DIY orthopedic grill

Traditionally, the bed remains one of the most expensive pieces of furniture in the bedroom. It is unrealistic to make a good mattress for her, but the base body and the headboard are quite. Let’s figure out how to build a double bed with our own hands, and what materials will be required for this.

We disassemble the sleeper device

In an ordinary double bed, there are no complex parts and assemblies, but for even greater simplicity, we will break the structure into a number of even simpler modules. We will agree that the bed will be assembled for a specific size of the available orthopedic mattress.

The latter, by the way, in width can be conditionally divided into three standard-size groups:

• one and a half – 150 or 160 cm;
• full double beds – 180 mm;
• double “Euro” – 200 cm.

The length is also unified for all. Double and euro mattresses, as a rule, are released in two meters, and those that are already have a length of 190 cm.As you can see, there is nothing difficult in foreseeing the length of the mattress in advance, but this, recall, is of decisive importance when calculating the size most parts.

The bed base includes an orthopedic lattice. Its task is to provide the mattress with a sufficiently rigid but elastic base. To make the stand you will need:

• profile pipe 25x25x4 mm;
• maple plywood 7–9 mm thick in strips 40–100 mm wide or ready-made bed slats;
• factory furniture legs with screw adjustable bushings.

Profile pipe is an ideal structural element

It is best to use ready-made bed slats. They already have the required curved profile, strong and resilient

It is better to choose adjustable legs for the bed

Of course, all the technical details of the structure are very unsightly, so they are hidden by a seemingly deaf casing around the perimeter of the frame, which has an exclusively decorative value. Any material can be used for manufacturing – from lining and plywood to plastic sheets. As a special case, we will consider laminated chipboard: this material is not only publicly available, it supports itself, which means that there is no need to build any frame.

Among the laminated chipboard, a huge selection of colors and textures is provided

The base is the most stable and durable structure, so it is advisable to attach heavy headboards to it. Especially if the decorative belt is made with light thin sheathing. But, as elsewhere, there are exceptions. For example, if the visible pseudo-bearing structure is made with a massive board of 50×200 mm, a high forged headboard can be attached directly to it. It is also possible that you will want to combine all the elements into one body, avoiding metal parts. This is perfectly acceptable, but the bed will be difficult to transport if not assembled from several smaller and lighter modules..

Case manufacturing options

Collecting a rectangular box at confirmations does not seem to be a particular problem. For this purpose, the boards should be of such a height that a 50–70 mm side is formed above the net, protecting the mattress from slipping. With a standard height of furniture legs of 250 mm, the height of the decorative box will be about 300–350 mm. The length of the side walls should make it possible to move the walls of the box back for a tighter abutment to the wall and hide the headboard attachment parts. The width of the front wall is generally equal to the width of the net (mattress), although it is recommended to make a small allowance of about 5 mm.

w, d, h – width, length and height of the main body elements; w1 – the length of the side wall, matched to the width of the mattress; d2, h1 – dimensions of the niche for the drawer

Perhaps you are interested in making side drawers for bedding – there is nothing complicated about that either. For this, the walls of the body kit must be connected with two parallel crossbars not higher than the bottom of the grille. In the space between them there should be no legs on which the net is installed.

h is the height of the front panel of the box, the optimal size is 200 mm; w – box width, up to 700 mm; d is the length (depth) of the box; h1 – the height of the main profile of the box, it is better to take equal to 150 mm

Rectangular cutouts are made in the side walls from the bottom edge, the resulting fragments are used as the front of the box. By design, the box is the most common, the bottom is lined with thin plywood on self-tapping screws.

Confirmates with decorative plugs are used to connect body elements made of chipboard. 1. Confirmation. 2. Cover cap

There is only one problem in the hidden storage device: the side walls cannot form a stubborn side for the front plate. Therefore, the closed box must be aligned with the facade, and then fasten the stop bar behind it with confirmations. An interesting effect can be achieved by making rectangular protrusions of 50–60 mm on the inner crossbeams with an offset of 300 mm from the edges. The entire body kit will rest on them, thus, the bed will “float” above the floor.

Wrought iron and solid headboards

The simplest options for the headboard are curly trimmed lacquered furniture board or chipboard board. In the first case, even custom-made interior milling is possible, which will visually lighten the headboard and allow you to play with the general style of the bed. The simplicity of the option from sheet materials is that no additional fastening is required, the part is simply inserted and fastened with confirmations like the back wall of the body kit. If the bed is floating, move the drawers towards the back to maintain balance..

Forged elements provide additional style variability, but such a headboard turns out to be heavy, and you need to attach it to the frame of the orthopedic lattice. At the same time, one must not forget that forging should be repeated in other decorative frames. Regarding the lattice itself, it is important that its legs (2 or 3) have a square section, that is, the lower part of the frame, hidden under the mattress, is best made from a square bar or shaped pipe. How to prepare a lattice frame, let’s look at it after a couple of paragraphs.

DIY orthopedic grill

The base of the lattice, like other details of the bed, is extremely simple: a rectangular frame made of professional pipes, welded with a 45 ° cut at the corners and adjusted diagonally. From below, under the corners, triangular scarves of 2 mm sheet steel with legs of about 150 mm are also placed. The weld is best positioned on the inside.

1.2. The width and length of the bed frame for the mattress are taken equal to the dimensions of the mattress with a small margin of no more than 5 mm. 3. Half the width of the frame – the place of installation of the longitudinal headroom to strengthen the frame

The frame from the profile pipe should be reinforced with triangular gussets at each angle

The frame rests on the legs, from below to the plane of the kerchiefs. Here is a very important point: even inexpensive legs are quite stable and will withstand at least a dozen jumping children, unless they bend over. Therefore, for rigid attachment to the frame, they must also be strengthened with gussets of 80-100 mm, which anticipate the inclination of the supports in two perpendicular directions.

1. Leg of the bed. 2. Gusset plate to strengthen the angle. 3. Side rests of the legs

With the hind legs, things are a little more complicated. The gussets are attached to the bottom of the frame along its outer edge. They converge with legs at the corner, giving it high strength. On the back side, two or three sleeves of 150 mm each from a square pipe are welded to the frame and the kerchief, the internal clearance of which is as close as possible to the thickness of the headboard legs. If during insertion a gap of more than 1.5-2 mm is formed, drill two holes in the side of the sleeve and cut a thread in the walls for the pressure screws.

The rear legs are welded from the inside of the reinforced corner. At this stage of the assembly, you can cut the steel pipes with a grinder, thus lowering the bed down to the level of the podium with a total height of 250-300 mm. After installing the four side legs in the frame, you need to add another longitudinal tube. On it, with an indent of 300 mm from the edges, two legs are installed to unload the middle part of the bed, they also need to be strengthened with kerchiefs at least in the longitudinal direction.

At the end of the installation, plywood strips are laid out over the frame in two rows with an indent of 20–30 mm between them. Choose the method of their fastening yourself: self-tapping screws, 6 mm plowshares, rivets with washers and, finally, fasteners from a furniture store.

In conclusion, let’s briefly describe the process of assembling the bed:

1. We twist the front and side walls of the body kit.
2. Add transverse beams with tabs on the bottom.
3. We fix the guides and stop strips, insert the boxes.
4. From above we insert the lattice frame with legs, fasten the flexible slats.
5. We put the headboard in place.
6. We put a mattress in the formed niche.

Enjoy your stay!