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Farmhouse King Size Bed with Storage

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

The master bedroom is almost finished. If you’ve been following along, I decided to give our bedroom a makeover when we upgraded our mattress to a king size. That decision has resulted in a few “give a mouse a cookie” decisions. Every time we needed a new mattress, we discussed whether it was time to upgrade to a king. Each time we decided to stick with our queen. Besides the savings, I was attached to our oak leaf sleigh bed. The wrought iron leaves are my favorite part of the bed.

MasterBed1

Farmhouse King Size Bed with Storage

This time as the mattress buying decision loomed, I did extensive research and discovered Savvy Rest’s Serenity latex layered mattress. Who knew that this DIY mattress would last us for decades! (You have to read about this mattress, it will probably be the last mattress you ever buy!) Given the length of time we’d be sleeping on it, we decided it was finally time to make the switch and move up to a king. But, I have to admit, I was sad about saying goodbye to the oak leaves. A few sleepless nights later and I had formulated a brilliant plan of how I could use my beloved oak leaves in the new bed:

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

I ended up altering Ana White’s Queen size farmhouse bed with storage drawers plans by sizing it for a king-sized mattress. Plus, I altered the headboard design to incorporate my beloved oak leaf wrought iron.

Ana’s plans are great, so I’m going to send you to her site to download the basic plans. Then, I’ll give you the details and show you the modifications I made.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Building the King Size Farmhouse Storage Bed:

Cut List: (alterations to Ana White’s plans denoted in red)

Headboard:

*1 – 3/4″ Plywood @ 26″ x 69″
2 – 1×4 @ 69″
1 – 2×2 @ 69″
1 – 3/4″ L shaped corner moulding piece cut to 69″
2 – 4×4 @ 60″

2 – 2×4 @ 69″
1 – 2×4 @ 76″
1 – 2×6 @ 78″

Footboard:

*1 – 3/4″ Plywood @ 15″ x 69″
2 – 1×4 @ 69″
2 – 4×4 @ 19″
2 – 2×4 @ 69″
1 – 2×4 @ 76″
1 – 2×6 @ 78″

Storage Boxes:

*4 – 3/4″ Plywood @ 15 1/2″ x 80 1/4″
*8 – 3/4″ Plywood @ 15 1/2″ x 13 1/2″
*2 – 1/4″ Plywood @ 79 1/2″ x 15″

Support Center:

3 – 2×4 @ 80 1/4″
4 – 2×4 @ 10″
2 – 2×4 @12″
13 – 2×4 @45″

Drawer Boxes:

12 – 1×10 @ 23 1/4″
12 – 1×10 @ 14″
*6 – 1/4″ Plywood @ 24 3/4″ x 14″
*Plywood cut into 9 1/2″ strips can be substituted for 1x10s, use at least 1/2″ plywood, for direct conversion, use 3/4″ plywood

Drawer Faces:

*6 – 3/4″ Plywood @ 25 1/2″ x 13 1/4″
12 – 1/4″ hobby stock, 2 1/2″ wide @ 8 1/4″
12 – 1/4″ hobby stock, 2 1/2″ wide @ 25 1/2″

* I used PureBond plywood for the plywood lumber because I didn’t want to be sleeping on wood glued with formaldehyde. 

General Instructions:

Download Ana White’s plans for the basic (and easy to follow) plans to build the bed. Then come back here and I’ll show you my alterations.

Preparing the Wrought Iron Oak Leaves:

I removed all the wrought iron pieces from our queen-sized sleigh bed (headboard and footboard pieces.) Then I laid out all the pieces and cut one of the iron sections to add enough width to our new king size headboard. If you don’t have wrought iron laying around, head to a salvage shop or get creative. You could use reclaimed boards in the void or cut a fun pattern into thin plywood with a jigsaw (band saw or scroll saw.) Or add an upholstered panel. Get creative and make your new bed your own!

To cut the wrought iron, use a metal cutting blade on a vibrating multi-tool to cut through one of the oak leaf sections.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Build the headboard panel as described by Ana’s plans, but slide the top 1×4 piece up 1″ to create a lip:

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Use the table saw (or router) to cut out a 3/4″ notch out of the  2×2 board to create a channel:

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Your headboard construction will accommodate the wrought iron pieces as shown below (view from the backside):

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Line the 2×2″ board up with the top of the 4×4 posts. Measure the height of the wrought iron and mark the top of the plywood headboard. Secure both the 2×2 and the headboard using pocket hole joinery.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Follow the rest of Ana’s plans to build the storage boxes and the footboard.

Before securing the wrought iron, prime and paint your headboard.

While you are waiting for it to dry, you can add some glam to the wrought iron with a little Rub n’ Buff:

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

The gold highlighted the wrought iron and makes it show up better against our dark bedroom walls.

Gold Rub n' Buff leaves | Pretty Handy Girl

Working from the back of the headboard, use small wood screws (ideally you salvaged them from the old head board) to secure the wrought iron into the headboard.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Set the piece of corner moulding over the bottom of the wrought iron.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Tack it in place using small brad nails.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Moving right along….secure the storage boxes as instructed by Ana’s plans.

One of the requirements for maintaining the longevity of our latex mattress is to allow for breathability underneath. If you don’t buy a box spring with your latex mattress, you can use a platform bed. To allow for more air flow to our mattress, I drilled holes through the top of the storage boxes with a forstner bit.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

To avoid fatigue and multiple battery charges, use a corded drill with a handle. Brace yourself because the drill will spin if you aren’t ready for it.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

To create the inner support for the king mattress, I beefed up the center with one 2×4 beam attached with pocket hole screws to the headboard and footboard. Be sure to position the beam 1.5″ lower than the top of the storage boxes to accommodate your cross slats. Support the center beam with two 12″ 2×4 legs distributed in the center.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Attach the remaining two 2×4 studs horizontally to the back of the storage boxes. Position them 1.5″ below the top of the storage boxes. Drive screws from the inside of the box out if possible.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Add two 10″ tall 2×4 legs under each horizontal stud (as shown above and below.)

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Begin laying the horizontal 2×4 slats on top of the supports you installed. (Side note: I beefed up the slats from 1×4 to 2×4″ studs to accommodate the king mattress and because our latex foam mattress is much heavier than a traditional spring mattress.)

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Evenly space the slats.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Go ahead and follow Ana’s plans to build the storage drawers. I added some quarter round moulding onto our drawers.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

I also modified the drawers closest to the headboard. I knew it would be near impossible to access that drawer without moving furniture, so I added a hinge and a latch so I can tilt the drawer face and access the storage area. As an added bonus, I drilled a hole into this compartment and put a power strip for charging our electronic devices.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

Feel free to add your own decorative moulding. I used egg and dart moulding to the headboard…

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

…and footboard.

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

The bed is done and ready for a good night’s sleep!

Modified King Size Farmhouse Bed with Storage Drawers | Pretty Handy Girl

I am so glad I was able to save those oak leaf details from our old bed!

headboard-details

I do want to update you on our new mattress. It’s been 7 months since the Savvy Rest latex mattress arrived — BEST DECISION EVER!!! Not only am I sleeping better, but so is Pretty Handsome Guy. I have no more back pain and I’m sleeping more soundly. This means more energy for more projects! Win-win-WIN!

Just getting caught up? Here are some other tutorials from our master bedroom makeover:

Coming up soon! The rest of the master bedroom!

PHGFancySign

 

Pin for later!

Farmhouse King Size Bed with Storage | Pretty Handy Girl

57 replies
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  1. Kyle Blood
    Kyle Blood says:

    I just started woodworking and found your plans. I thought they were awesome and ideas were flooding in. I’ll post more details when I’m finished but here are a few pictures to show my progress. *how do I leave photos?

    Reply
  2. Trevor
    Trevor says:

    We just completed this project…and we were very happy with the turnout…there are a few dimensions that are out in the plans…but all the pieces that were out of dimension were longer than required so no wood was wasted…the mattress we bought has pillow top on both sides, so the storage boxes ended up sitting on the floor to keep the mattress at a normal height…we also covered the center supports with a piece of canvas, although sanding the 2×4’s smooth, we didn’t want any pulls or tears on the mattress as we begin the arduous task of flipping the beast of a mattress each month…we searched high and low for a decorative headboard inlay…we ended up going with 13 pcs of 3/4″ round bar x 6″ long, painted black and then drilled out the 2×4’s to fit…it matched up nicely with the cast iron drawer handles…as for a few improvements to the project, for the inlay you could use cast aluminium garden fence décor for the inlay they are readily available, relatively cheap and they fit perfectly on 3/4″ plywood….the euro drawer slides are cheap and do not support a big load and after building my boxes with 3/4″ plywood I felt they were not going to be durable enough for the long haul…so I would suggest spending a bit more and getting a heavier duty drawer slides…thanks for the plans…we loved the project and the finish it gave us for the bedroom make over

    Reply

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  1. […] Also, don’t miss my tutorial for Building a Farmhouse King Bed with Storage. […]

  2. […] asked if they had to drill holes in their platform bed for ventilation (like I did when I built our Farmhouse Bed with storage drawers.) The answer is no, if you have a flat platform bed without holes, you can purchase a Savvy Rest […]

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