After many year’s of sleeping on a Queen mattress we were gifted a California King Purple Mattress for Christmas of 2018. (You can get a $75 Amazon Gift Card by shopping my link). To this day we still LOVE our mattress and wanted to share with you the steps we went through to build our bed. We were inspired by the beautiful headboard by East Coast Creative and decided to build a bed frame rather than purchase one. Step One was building the frame- and here’s how we did it!
SHOPPING LIST
Boards
(Based of California King Mattress)
SHOPPING LIST
Boards
(Based of California King Mattress)
2 – 2×4 @ 8 feet long
8 – 2×4 @ 6 feet long
3 – 1×8 @ 8 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
1 – 1×3 @ 3 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
1 – 1×4 @ 3 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
2 – Tongue and Grove Plywood @ 84″ by 36.5″ (We had Lowe’s Cut these for us)
Screws
Recommend 1 1/4″ and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws
Recommend 1 1/4″ and 2″ finish nails
CUT LIST
2 – 2×4 @ 84″ Pine
8 – 2×4 @ 69 1/2″ Pine
2 – 1×8 @ 84″ Pine (or wood of choice)
1 – 1×8 @ 73 1/2″ Pine (or wood of choice)
4 – 1×3 @ 21 1/2″ Pine (or wood of choice)
4 – 1×4 @ 21 1/2” Pine (or wood of choice)
8 – 2×4 @ 6 feet long
3 – 1×8 @ 8 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
1 – 1×3 @ 3 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
1 – 1×4 @ 3 feet long (Hardwood of your choice)
2 – Tongue and Grove Plywood @ 84″ by 36.5″ (We had Lowe’s Cut these for us)
Screws
Recommend 1 1/4″ and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws
Recommend 1 1/4″ and 2″ finish nails
CUT LIST
2 – 2×4 @ 84″ Pine
8 – 2×4 @ 69 1/2″ Pine
2 – 1×8 @ 84″ Pine (or wood of choice)
1 – 1×8 @ 73 1/2″ Pine (or wood of choice)
4 – 1×3 @ 21 1/2″ Pine (or wood of choice)
4 – 1×4 @ 21 1/2” Pine (or wood of choice)
TOOLS
Step 1
The bed frame itself was out of pine 2×4’s. John cut the boards to length using a miter saw and then prepped the inner boards using a Kreg Jig.
Step 2
We built the frame for the bed connecting 69 1/2″ boards to the 84″ boards 14″ apart. At each of the joints, we used Kreg joints for support.
Step 3
We attached the Grade A Pine sides by using glue and finishing nails. We attached the 84″ sides first and then added the 73 1/2″ footrail. (We didn’t add a 1×8″ to the end nearest the headboard because it wasn’t visible. If you wanted to finish this side as well you’d need an additional 1×8″). Make sure to attach the nicer wood 1″ above the unfinished pine for the mattress to sit inside.
Step 4
We attached the legs by creating ends flush to each of the sides. Then we added the second part of the leg by creating L-shaped joints flush with each of the four sides. Each of the sides was attached using wood glue and nails.
Step 5
We applied two coats of Minwax Espresso stain before adding two coats of polyurethane.
Step 6
Since we decided to get a Purple Mattress and didn’t want to purchase typical box springs, we decided to add a Plywood base underneath our mattress.
Optional Extra Support
We decided not to add them, but you could add additional pine board in the middle of the bed at 13 1/2″ each for extra support.
Now that you’ve read about the bed itself you’re sure to be excited about the headboard!
Thanks for reading!
Be sure to pin this post for when you start your build!
