260 – King Size Bed

As time goes on, I’m getting closer and closer to replacing every piece of furniture in my house with something I built with my own hands. A lofty goal! In this video, I show you how to make a king size bed as it’s one of the bigger ticket items on that shrinking list!

I used Cherry as my primary wood while featuring Walnut panels. I like the contrast, but over time the Cherry will darken and the Walnut will actually get lighter. When it’s all said and done the contrast won’t be so dramatic.

The Tools

The tools I used in this video are undoubtedly “high-end” including the JDS Multi-Router and the Festool Domino. While the Domino has made numerous appearances on the show, the Multi-Router is making its debut. Most folks aren’t going to be able to justify the cost of either tool so rest assured that standard mortise and tenon joints (which I’ve shown you how to make numerous times) will suffice. In fact, the plans I’ve included show standard mortise and tenon joints instead of loose tenons as shown in the video.

Sizing

This bed was built for a typical King Size bed, aka Eastern King. The plan can be modified to accommodate any standard mattress of your choosing. To do this, simply use the diagram to the left to calculate the size difference in length and width. Then apply that difference to the side rails and headboard/footboard rails. Don’t forget to measure the thickness of your mattress and box spring as that can vary dramatically with brands and styles. You might need to adjust the length of the headboard/footboard legs so that the mattress doesn’t sit too high or too low.

Download the Plans

• SketchUp Plan – King Size
• PDF Plan – King Size
• Sketchup Plan – King Size (Metric)
• PDF Plan – King Size (Metric)
• SketchUp Plan – Queen Size (File provided by viewer Scott Hampshire and we have not verified all dimensions. Please verify all measurements before making your cuts.)

Hardware

There are lots of different types of bed hardware available on the market these days. And really, hardware isn’t even necessary if you want to construct some sort of wedged through tenon or even a reinforced mortise and tenon joint using threaded rod and nuts. But I went with a very simple solution on this bed by using Woodtek 160550 5” Bed Hardware.

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