DIY Bed Frame for Adjustable Base
Oops, I did it again! I made a DIY bed frame for our adjustable base bed with pole wrap! If you have been following along in my Instagram Stories, you know we got an adjustable base bed at the end of the year. While I love our new bed, it didn’t really work with our old upholstered bed frame that we were disassembling the night before our Tempur-Pedic was delivered. Since then, we have only had the adjustable base and nothing decorative. Obviously that had to change. Today, I am going to show you how I made this DIY bed frame for our adjustable base with pole wrap. Are you ready?
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Before I dive into the DIY, let me give you a little back story. As I mentioned, we recently purchased a Tempur-Pedic mattress with an adjustable base, you know the kind that raises up and down like a hospital bed. BTW, if you are on the fence, WE LOVE it!!! But it posed a few challenges with the decorative aspect as we could not set the new bed on our old frame. If you recall, this is what our old bed looked like.
Because the adjustable base bed has it’s own platform so to speak, the new bed could not sit on the old platform I built. I was ready for a change in here so I gladly accepted the challenge! And as you will see I also made a few other changes, but we can talk about those another time. Since our new bed has it’s own base, this build is not structural and does not hold a mattress. However, I detail how to build a platform in my original bed post in steps four and five.
DIY Bed Frame for Adjustable Base Supplies
Plywood
3 – 2x4x8s
2 – 1x20x96 Project Panels
Pole Wrap
4×4 post for bed feet
2 – 1x6x8 Primed Finish Boards
Miter Saw
Circular Saw
Saw Max
Table Saw
Clamps
Wood Glue
Sander
320 Grit Sand Paper
Paint
Bed Rail Brackets
Drill & Driver
Nail Gun (I would buy this one if I didn’t have one)
White Wood Filler
Caulk
Step 1
Cutting the pole wrap. For my headboard, I chose to use pole wrap as the feature for a modern wood element. Yes, I know, I am completely obsessed and you can assume this will not be the last application 🙂 I ordered a larger piece than I used on the Kallax and Rast hacks to avoid piecing it together.
Because pole wrap is very flexible, I also used a piece of plywood which I salvaged from our old bed which was already the correct width at 76.5 inches.
I determined how tall I wanted the headboard to be and added a few inches to the height so it would sit behind the mattress. Then I made sure that measurement lined up with one of the seams in the pole wrap and cut the pole wrap horizontally in the groove with a utility knife. If it doesn’t line up, I suggest you adjust your measurement so it does as ripping the pole wrap will definitely not be as easy.
Then I cut the plywood down to size with the circular saw and a clamped 2×4 as a guide. The cut size of my plywood is 76.5 x 36.
With the plywood cut to size, I laid out my pole wrap face up and clamped the piece of plywood on top. The plywood served as a guide to trim down the pole wrap. I ended up cutting the pole wrap on both ends because either my plywood was not perfectly square or the pole wrap edge was not and I needed the pole wrap to line up with the edges flush. Barry cut this one for me with the Dremel Saw Max, or mini circular saw as I like to call it.
Step 2
Framing the headboard. Before attaching any parts, I cut down three 2x4x8s to frame out the back of the headboard. I cut three pieces to 60 inches long and two to 33 inches long.
Note, because I recycled the plywood I had on hand, it was only 1/2 inch thick. As such, I wanted to make sure when I attached the framing the screws would not poke through the other side so I drilled through the front of the plywood rather than the back. This is definitely not the easiest method (you can see the video in my Instagram stories highlight) and if I didn’t already have the plywood I probably would have used 3/4 inch instead and attached from the back.
Step 3
Attaching the pole wrap. Once all the framing was attached, I glued the pole wrap to the front of the plywood. I’m not going to lie, this was a race against the clock. I used wood glue because it doesn’t dry as quick, but trust me when I say spreading wood glue on 76.5 x 36 inch plywood takes longer than you think! Barry poured the glue and I spread it with a cheap paint brush (one you can throw away) and we ended up using a whole bottle of wood glue.
Then we positioned the pole wrap on top and made sure it lined up with all the edges. Since the pole wrap came rolled, I also made sure it was all laying flat and there were no ripples. You will also want to check for any glue leaks and wipe those up before you add weight to the top. In typical DIY fashion, I gathered all our weights and added them as well as multiple paint cans to set on top. Just make sure nothing is dirty on the bottom. You don’t want to ruin the pole wrap!
Step 4
Cutting down the side rails. For the decorative part of the bed frame that hides the mechanics under the bed, I chose to use project panels. This was a cheaper option than plywood, easier to get home, all the edges are finished, they are lighter weight, and relatively straight.
To complete all four sides of the bed, I bought two eight foot x 20 inch panels that I ripped in half on the table saw.
Step 5
Cut the trim pieces. Before I put away the table saw, I also ripped down a few scrap pieces I had left over from the bunk bed build, that would be my trim pieces for the headboard and hide the 2×4 framing (more on that later). I used primed common board I had on hand and I ripped them down to 2 1/8 inches.
I needed three pieces in total to frame the headboard. Because these will be front and center, I also mitered the corners for a more seamless look.
Step 6
Paint the side rails and trim pieces. I chose to paint these pieces of the bed with Sherwin Williams Nuance in a satin finish. It is the same color I used on the fireplace brick, the wet bar cabinets, the credenza in the family room, and the kitchen backsplash.
Since the side rails were raw wood when I started, they really soaked up the paint. So I did two coats and then sanded the front facing sides with 320 grit sandpaper and did one more coat. This helped smooth them out to more of a furniture finish.
Step 7
Cut the side rails down to size. Theoretically, you could do this sooner, but I wanted to put the headboard in place prior to cutting these down to make sure there was enough room around the adjustable base for our bed to be able to move up and down without any trouble. Note, the end of each side rail lines up with the back edge of the headboard and is a straight cut.
Next, I cut the ends of the side rails that would be at the end of the bed. For these I did a 45 degree compound miter cut since the width of my rails was too wide for my saw to do a normal 45 degree cut. The total length of my side rails is 83 inches to the inside of the miter, but make sure to measure because your bed might be different.
While you have the compound miter set up, you can also cut the rail for the end of the bed. I cut both ends using a compound 45 degree cut so the corners would be nice and clean. The measurement from the inside edge of each miter should be equal to the width of the headboard framing without the trim. For mine it was 76.5 inches.
Step 8
Attach feet to the rails. I added feet to the rails for two reasons. First, I wanted the top of the rail to be even with the adjustable base platform so I didn’t have to tuck bed covers below the side rails, because that is annoying. Second, our adjustable base actually has lights! If I had built the rails so they sat on the ground, we would never be able to see the lights. I made the feet from this scrap from the cable railing build.
I cut this remanent of a newel post down to four pieces equaling 4.5 inches each.
To attach the feet, we used the nail gun to nail from the face of the side rail. I decided to do this because I wanted to be able to disassemble the bed frame if needed. If I had used traditional feet with brackets, they would have had to attach to both pieces of wood in the corners making disassembly more difficult.
For the back side of each rail I positioned the foot 3.5 inches from the end to allow space for the leg of the headboard. For the front of each side rail, they were flush with the inside of the miter. Note, only the side rails have feet attached, one at each end. The front and back rails will attach differently. If this part is confusing, check out my Instagram stories because I go over this part in video.
Step 9
Attach the bed rail brackets. I chose to use these to make disassembly easier. I attached the flat part of the bracket to the side rails, one on each end. I did predrill because every time I don’t, I end up regretting it. And after coming this far, I definitely didn’t want to ruin my wood by splitting it. Note, if you use the same wood I did, the longer screws that came with these will be too long. Luckily I have a ton of extra screws and was able to swap them out.
In order to attach the hooked portion of the brackets to the back rail, you will need to cut your rail to length. I used a straight cut on my miter saw and cut to 76.5 inches. Note, this is only for the back rail, so do not cut both! With it cut to size, I placed the hook portion of the bracket on the flat bracket and lined up the pieces to make sure they were flush and tight. This works best with two people. Then I drilled and screwed them in place.
Once the brackets were attached to both ends of the back rail, I screwed the back rail directly into the legs of the headboard. I used two screws per leg.
Next is the really fun part, attaching the hook end of the brackets to the front rail. For this part, we actually detached the side rails and laid them down on the ground. Barry lined up the corners and held them tight and I attached the hook end to the flat end already in place and held it tight while I drilled the holes and screwed it in. This was definitely a little tricky but it’s important that all the edges of the rails line up as well as the brackets on the inside.
Once all the brackets were attached, we hooked them all on to one another, starting in the back and working forward. I should also mention, since our adjustable base bed is so heavy, we did this around the bed and moved the base as little as possible.
Step 10
Attach the trim pieces for the headboard. Because the trim pieces on the sides of the headboard sit on top of the sides of the bed rails, these needed to go in last. I attached these to the 2×4 framing of the headboard with the nail gun.
However, I did attach the top piece prior to this step.
Step 11
Fill nail holes. I used white wood filler to fill the nail holes along the headboard trim and where the feet attached. I also filled the mitered corners on the headboard.
For the mitered corners on the bed frame, I caulked those. Wood filler dries fairly hard and I feared we wouldn’t be able to take it apart if I used wood filler.
Step 12
Enjoy your new DIY Bed Frame for your Adjustable Base bed! I honestly could not be happier with how this turned out! It was the perfect update to the room and goes SO well with the newly painted shiplap accent wall! If you want to see all the behind the scenes, check out my Instagram stories!
While making a bed was definitely not a first between our old bed and the bunk room, this was still a new method for me! But I think my pole wrap bed and I, and Barry, will live happily ever after, with lots of good sleep ahead!
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