New spare bed project

Last month J and I decided it was time to do something about our spare bed. The metal "hollywood frame" was bent, and even the new mattress we got this fall couldn't make up for that. We started pricing metal frames again, and then checked out Ikea. We found a pine frame that ended up being less than half the cost of a metal frame.

Image from Ikea.com

We bought the fancy Ikea Sultan flexing bed slats instead of a box spring to reduce over all height and add comfort.

Image from Ikea.com

We decided to raise it so we could continue to store all our camping gear under it. Before we were using cinder blocks, but I suspect that is why the first frame bent. We looked into the cone lifts, along with other styles, but they looked really tacky. I talked J into just messing with the pieces we had and making a few new ones. What we ended up doing was screwing the longer headboard legs on upside down and that gave us 19 inch legs. We moved those to the foot of the bed and for $2.50 ea we bought and cut and drilled new longer boards for the head. Sounds confusing, but it turned out well.

We sanded and painted each piece.....

... and it ended up taking us most of two weeks to get it done because of the rain then windstorms we were having.

But in the end it came out great! The picture is from a low angle so you can see all the storage space, it really looks taller than it is. It is just a little taller than a normal twin bed on a hollywood frame with a box spring. We added some extra supports between the legs at the head and foot, along with some gussets for extra support. 19 inch legs are really tall, but as you can see even our camping mats fit just right. I picked up 4 round wood knobs that I am going to put on each of the corners to give it a more finished look. We have been waiting for better weather to try painting again. The day we finished it Mom came into town and she got to try it out. She said it was very comfortable and stable. In the end we figured it cost about $90 total with paint, saving us at about $170. So now that we have a new twin bed (and really good foam camping mats as yet another bed) you are all welcome to come visit! We are 10 minutes from the airport and very willing to pick you up and show you around Portland.