Building a platform bed

Hey guys,

I’ve been doing research here and elsewhere and am leaning heavily toward the Tuft and Needle queen size to replace my eight year old innerspring mattress that is no longer cutting it. Since I will no longer need a box spring, I am considering simply building a platform to put the new bed on. It seems like a couple of sheets of plywood, some 2x4s for a frame, a 4x4 for legs, and some nice moulding for the edges would make as good a platform as any you can buy, and can be customized to match existing furniture. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with building a platform for a foam mattress? If not, is there any reason this isn’t a good idea? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi xubuckeye,

You are certainly looking at a good quality/value choice.

Carpentry certainly isn’t an area that I am particularly knowledgeable about but if you have a good design there certainly wouldn’t be any reason not to build your own platform bed. There are some links to some DIY platform bed designs at the end of post #1 here that should be helpful or at least give you some ideas. The only suggestion I would have is to use closely spaced slats instead of plywood for the support surface to provide better ventilation under the mattress (see post #10 here).

Phoenix

I’ve slept on a platform for years - and have had trouble with comfort in virtually every bed I’ve owned. recently spoke to someone at Sleep EZ (I’d bought a topper there a few years ago), and he suggested a euro slat frame. I bought one from Amazon, and have to say that the difference in comfort is like night and day. So much more comfortable, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t make the change years ago. I have always thought box springs were kind of a waste - and it’s not like I want one now, but I’ll never go back to a platform - I’ll use a euro-slat base forever.

Hi eloisebig,

Thanks for your comments and feedback … I appreciate them :slight_smile:

Like all flexible components that are used under a mattress (such as a box spring that has springs or even an additional layer of flexible foam on the bottom of a mattress) … a flexible slat base is an “active” part of a sleeping system and can certainly make a difference for some people although it would also depend on the specifics of the mattress and on the person sleeping on it.

While I certainly wouldn’t assume that they would be helpful for everyone (and for some people or with some mattresses they can be detrimental) … there is more about the pros and cons of “active” or flexible slat support systems (either with or without the ability to change the tension/firmness in certain areas) in post #2 here and the posts it links to. They would tend to be more helpful with thinner mattresses, higher weight ranges, some types of innerspring mattresses, or for those that are more sensitive to differences in the deeper layers of a mattress or “sleeping system” and find that the additional depth of the “active” parts of their sleeping system provides a more “bottomless” and “adaptive” feel which would be a better match for them in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).

Phoenix