I hope wherever you are, your day is just as beautiful as it is where I live. These are difficult and scary times, but please look for the beauty and blessings in each and every day.
Last Saturday, Gary and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! Due to the pandemic, we celebrated at home with New Orlean's style BBQ shrimp, home-made sour-dough bread, Cesar salad, sangria, and Frosted Animal Cookie gelato! The food was DELICIOUS!!! Of course, it was also quite indulgent and fattening. But, it was worth it!
Hubby and I ordered a new, and for the first time, king-size mattress last week as an anniversary gift to each other. We're so excited!
It's not that I don't want to sleep near my sweet hubby any longer, it's just that an intruder called "Menopause" has decided to also share our bed. As you can guess, when she lets her presence be known, my side of the bed heats up considerably and nothing can touch me until I begin to cool down. Couple that with my need to sleep with three various-sized pillows, and I feel like I'm sometimes intruding upon my hubby's side of the bed. He's much too sweet to complain, but he does not seem to be disappointed that we're going up a mattress size!
Anyway, our queen-size bed frame won't work for a king-size mattress. Being a do-it-yourself kind of gal, I decided to a save a bit of cash and build a platform bed. The whole project only took three days and was easy enough for anyone with basic knowledge of measurements and tool usage! The total cost was less than $200.
I looked online for inspiration and found it at: https://wendiy.blog/2018/03/28/build-a-platform-bed-in-an-hour/ . While I didn't use the measurements listed in these directions or build the bed frame in an hour, it was a great starting point!
Day 1: After drawing out my plans and making a materials list, next up was a trip to Lowe's to purchase building materials. I just love the fact that I am able to use my 2011 Nissan Rogue as a truck to haul lumber up to 10' long! Loading and unloading the lumber during the heat of the day had me dripping with sweat.
It began to cool down a little bit around 5:00 PM, so I proceeded to cut the 2"x8"x8' and 2"x6"x8' pine boards for the bed frame, 4"x4"x8' cedar post for the legs, and sanded the ends. The board faces were smooth and didn't require additional sanding.
There was just enough time to stain the outer-frame boards and legs before the sun went down.
Day 2: I assembled the outer frame and inner frame using braces and deck screws.
Day 3: After attaching the bed legs with brackets, I went ahead and put furniture slides under the legs, as the bed will be quite heavy when completed, and we're sure to have occasions to move it around.
Next up, I cut and placed the 2"x4"x1 1/4" support boards and screwed 1"x3"x80 1/4" support boards on top of the 2x4s in two places on each board.
Finally, in order to prevent any damage to our new 2-sided, reversible mattress, I tacked a sheet on the 1x3s so the mattress would slide easily.
Materials:
1 4'x4'x8' post - - cut four at 10 1/4"
4 2"x8"x8' boards - - cut two at 83 1/2" and two at 76 1/2"
4 2"x6"x8' boards - - cut two at 78 3/4" and two at 71 3/4"
7 2"x4"x8' boards - - cut to 76 1/4" and space evenly
21 1"x3"x8' boards - - cut to 80 1/4" and space evenly
12 corner braces
1 1/2" screws
2" screws - - used to connect corners prior to attaching inner frame
Stain
Tools used:
Chop saw (circular saw or jig-saw could be used instead), battery-operated drill (electric drill works just as well), speed square, hammer, tape measure, drill bits.
We are very please with the way the platform bed turned out! Our old queen-sized headboard isn't quite big enough anymore, so maybe that will be my next DIY project.
Don't be afraid to try something new! This project was completed with a minimal amount of tools, so there's no need to sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into purchasing expensive equipment. The feeling of accomplishment you get when completing DIY projects adds to your self-confidence and self-esteem, even if things don't go perfectly. Find a DIY project to tackle, and go for it!
During this difficult time in our history, please remember that kindness has the power to change the world!