New project I plan to start

Aaron Beaver

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Missouri
My next project which will be the most involved and biggest that I have tackled to date will be a bed. I am either going to make a Arts & Craft Style or the Country bed like the ones shown here Mission Style Country Style

My question: I plan on making it a Queen size bed and do not have a mattress and will not get one until the bed is done so what size would you allow for the bed. I can adjust dimensions to accomadate any size bed but Queen sizes vary from manufacturer. Should I just take an average and go with that, take the largest?

Its kind of like buying a new mattress for an old bed you have, if we were going to we would just make sure it fits in the frame, but it wouldn't have to be exact.

Thanks
 
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Queen size is 60" wide by 80" long. Any variation would be due to covering, pillow top, etc. AFAIK. The matress should 'set' easily into the frame. That is, it should not be wedged in. My frame and LOML's queen at her place seem to have a good inch on all sides to allow for bedding to be wrapped around and tucked in. Hope this helps.
 
If you will be using slats, you have some leeway, but there's still some risk. Can you visit a store and take measurements?

Don't forget that you will have to plan for the height of the mattresses, too. Seems like every year they get thicker. I made the Wood mag country bed and found the rails to be placed too high. I'm 5'8" but would need a stepladder to get in bed if I had placed the rails where the plan showed. If your current mattress is a comfortable height, you can work from that to plan where the rails should be.

Its almost like talking about religion - lots of strongly held conflicting views out there - but personally I don't like bed bolts (as shown in your plans). They are awkward to put it and tend to work loose (a real pain in the a** to tighten). I have had better performance from the metal connectors that are mortised into the parts. Worth thinking about...
 
Check out Woodbin for some really good guide lines.

Just did a bed and I STRONGLY recommend you decide on a mattress and measure it. I measured ours and still messed up! We talked about this and decided to allow 1" on all sides of the mattress for bedding. Put it up in place and it was HUGE! It just looked like the mattress was too small for the bed. You wouldn't think 1" would make that much difference but it did.

It was a big job to repair this but I did get it done. We allowed maybe 1" total on the width and 1" total on the length? But it made a huge difference and really happy with it now. So my advice is plan the size carefully! Nothing like having to take a saw to your finished work. :eek:
 
I'd also suggest picking out and measuring the mattress too, even if you don't buy it right away. I think 1/2" to 1/4" clearance all around is a good guideline for width, but height is going to be a matter of preference, as Jesse says. Typical chair height is around 18", so I wouldn't put it any lower than that, but I tend to like them a bit higher myself, up to 30".

Bed bolts are good for tall posted beds, but I've never had trouble with the mortised in knock down fasteners for beds that are no taller than a doorway. Just make sure they're tight in the mortises.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions and tips.

We thought about measuring and we still might but figured by the time I got the bed done they would make that stye anymore. :rofl:

I was informed by my other half (just after I posted the first message) that it will be the Mission Style so it will have slats underneath it, but I will try to keep the gap to 1/2" all around.

Height is something we will have to talk about, but this bed is going in the guest room, so the height of it I can play with.
 
60" x 80" is standard size for Queen size mattress, but mattresses can vary by as much as 1" in either direction on the width and as much as 9" longer. Thickness will play a role in your proportions, and the trend these days is to make mattresses almost twice as thick as the 6-7" standard it used to be. My very serious advice, from experience, is to buy the mattress first and build to it's measurements. I wouldn't allow any more than 1/8" - 1/4" all the way around, or you risk a very sloppy looking fit. Bedding doesn't take up that much room and squishes nicely, and any puffy, frilly stuff usually goes on the outside. Hope this helps.
 
I can see where everyone is coming from when they recommend buying the mattress first, but what's the life span of the mattress vs. the lifespan of the bed ?

I mean isn't it likely that a new mattress will be needed in 5 - 10 years ?

If you size the bed for a specific mattress will the new one fit later ?
 
Its almost like talking about religion - lots of strongly held conflicting views out there - but personally I don't like bed bolts (as shown in your plans). They are awkward to put it and tend to work loose (a real pain in the a** to tighten). I have had better performance from the metal connectors that are mortised into the parts. Worth thinking about...

I think I have heard Stu talk bad about bed bolts as well. I know Rockler sells them plus a few different latch types, any preferences?

I can see where everyone is coming from when they recommend buying the mattress first, but what's the life span of the mattress vs. the lifespan of the bed ?

I mean isn't it likely that a new mattress will be needed in 5 - 10 years ?

If you size the bed for a specific mattress will the new one fit later ?

Your reasoning is why we are not getting the mattress right now, because say this bed was already built and we need to replace the mattress we would find one that fit it the best, so that's how we decided to treat it. I know it may not be ideal or the prefered method but we don't want to buy the mattress until we have to.
 
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