Do you have an hour and about $30 bucks to burn? Because that’s all it took for my latest project. This build was actually never on the list – it was a last-minute-fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project because I wanted to get my son’s new mattress off of the floor. Amazing what a little Mom Guilt will do to a girl, right?
We recently transitioned our son from his toddler bed to his big-boy bed and I’m in the process of building him The Most Epic Bed Ever – but it’s not done yet, so until it is, this DIY twin platform bed will have to do for the time-being.
I followed Ana White’s plan for this twin platform bed. This build was super easy, super quick, and super inexpensive – three of my favorite things!
First step was to build a simple box with 2x4s. Easy breezy cover girl. I didn’t even break out my Kreg Jig for this – I just drove some Spax screws in. I love these construction screws because you don’t have to bother with pre-drilling pilot holes.
Then I attached the 2×2 cleats and 1×3 frame around the box.
Next, I flipped the whole thing over, screwed these metal corner brackets on, then screwed the feet on.
This bed cost about $30 to build, but that’s not including the furniture feet and brackets. I had those on-hand from a past project that never came to be, but I think I paid about five or six bucks for the feet and I can’t remember the cost of the brackets… probably a couple bucks or so. You could just as easily use some scrap wood for the feet if you wanted to. I just happened to have these laying around in my shop because I was too lazy to return them. If you were to include the cost of the feet and brackets, I’d guesstimate your cost to be closer to $60.00.
And because I am a giant nerd, I timed myself. It took me 54 minutes and 6 seconds to build this bed from start to finish – except I didn’t actually finish it – I just left the wood unfinished because this is only a temporary fix until I’m done building his real big boy bed.
Then I lugged the thing in, set the mattress slats in place, then dropped the mattress on it.
Stupid simple, right? Yeah. I wasn’t about to spend a whole lot of time and money on something that would end up in the scrap pile in a month or so.
So tell me, do you suffer from Mom Guilt as much as I do? My husband thinks a mattress on the floor is perfectly acceptable. What do you think?
Thanks for reading, friends. I hope your weekend is full of sawdust!
If you’re interested, here’s a source list (with affiliate links):
Pin for later!
Confession…my 16 yr old sleeps on a mattress and box spring on the floor. It’s his choice not mine but you pick your battles. When we moved into our house a couple yrs ago we went to set up his bed and said he didn’t want it on the frame, figured he’d change his mind later but so far he’s happy and content so far.
What are the exact supplies I need to build this twin bed?
Thank you!
The pillow! Where did you find the pillow? LOVE.
Thanks Jill! I bought the pillow here (affiliate link): https://rstyle.me/+tufMEVOvKSdscUhemeny9Q
Thanks! Came in the mail this week. Love it!
Did you make the Wild & Free sign or buy it? I’m just long into how to make one.
It looks like it’s no longer available, but here’s a link: https://rstyle.me/+UddGpbezbGDgTI0Q9UEwew
Do you mind sharing where you got the bedding? That’s exactly what I need for my sons bedroom.
Hi Elizabeth,
I updated the post to include a source list. Hope that helps!
Do you have a box spring in there too? Thanks!
No, the mattress sits directly on the mattress slats.
I love this! It’s so simple! What did you use for the slats, and how far did you space them apart?
Oops! I see in the notes 1×3…but how many?
What is the paint color for the room? I love you neutral paint colors for the house but can’t find them listed anywhere. Thanks!
Hi Crystal, my son’s room is painted in Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray.
Haha. I was just thinking why not a mattress on the floor for a month?!
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this outstanding blog!
I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will share this
blog with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
Aw, thanks so much! I do sell a few of my building plans here: https://gumroad.com/jenwoodhouse Thanks so much for your support!
Jen, this is fantastic and so simple. I have 2 questions.
1) The dimensions of the Twin mattress is ~75″x~38″. According to your design from what I could gather the width seems ok @39″ from your slates, but the length of your internal part seems to be under 74″ (doing approx math here 76.5-1.5-1.5). Did the mattress fit fine or was it tight? I don’t have the mattress yet, just reading online about twin mattress dimensions and don’t want to build this to not fit.
2) Where did you get the furniture feet and brackets? I just spend 1 hr on home depot and they don’t carry either.
Tnks
Hi Eduardo,
Yes, our mattress fit just fine with the dimensions listing on the plan. I bought the feet and brackets from Home Depot – they usually have the furniture feet in the hobby wood aisle. Hope that helps!
I see your materials list…would this be accurate for a queen size? 2-2×4@81 1/2″; 2-2×4 @ 60″; 2-2×2@ 75 1/2″; 2-1×3@ 80″; 2-1×3 @ 65″; slats 1×3 @ 60″?
Hi Stephanie,
I’m not sure about those measurements, but here are a couple of queen size platform bed plans:
http://www.ana-white.com/2015/09/free_plans/rustic-modern-2×6-platform-bed
http://www.ana-white.com/2012/09/simple-queen-platform-bed
Hope that helps!
How bout for a full size bed ? I need the measurements for a full size 🙂
Do you know of any for King bed with 2×4 or 4×8 platform I don’t need a head board
Hi, that was great idea, simple and creative. I wonder where did you find that metal corner brackets at? I plan to make one similar for queen size (of course the measurement will be different.)
Many thanks,
Hi Gray,
I got the corner brackets from Home Depot. Hope that helps!
I think this project is awdome… but i just moved to a smaller place and my two teenage girls share a room nowand that looks perfect but would i be able to add a cube shelf as a footboard for storage……
Thanks for this post. Do the mattress slats sit below the 1×3 edge? Or is everything level flat across? From the pictures, it looks like the mattress would be recessed a bit. Cheers.
Maybe I missed something but why was it going in the trash after a month?
Its because it was a full in bed till the better bed she has for her son was made
Thanks for the idea. I will be building this today. I’m going to take the router along the outer edge to round off the corners a bit more. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Couldn’t agree more. My hubs also thinks it’s perfectly acceptable. Ummm…no. Thank you for this!
how many slats do you have to have
Yeah just looked today they’re about $3 each and the feet are about $7 each. I looked on Amazon and found the brackets for $2.50 each but I’m going with a square foot to match the bed better found a set for feet and brackets for $20