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“It Is Finished!”

ByJenny

My Farmhouse bed is finished! After a week of building, a nice long month and a half of procrastination, and (finally!) one night of painting, I have finished my bedroom. I’m so excited to post this blog entry because I couldn’t be more pleased with the finished product. You don’t know how bad I was tempted to disassemble the bed and put it out on my front lawn to photograph! I had to literally stand in the closet, on the dresser, and in the hallway get a shot of our tiny bedroom.

This bed is a variation on two plans from Ana White, it is a modified version of the Farmhouse bed and the Captain’s bed plan, plus some of my own ideas for good measure.

I call it the “Farmhouse Storage Bed with Hinged Footboard.”

I fell in love with the Farmhouse bed and knew it would definitely be my next project. I particularly love the tall headboard that sits so prominently above the bed just begging to take notice. It is bold, timeless, and not too stuffy all at the same time.

I also love the footboard in this plan.

Here is my little ditty on footboards: A good footboard sits below the mattress; perfect for my husband and I since we hate knocking our feet into wood while we are trying to sleep. This footboard gives a nice clean, stylish look, yet sits low enough that it doesn’t get in the way of our tootsies. You need a foot out to cool down a bit? No problem here. I feel that it is super important not to compromise on functionality for style especially when you are making your own furniture. By the time the project is finished, if you are like me, you will not be making further adjustments anytime soon. It also has nice depth of six inches which makes it great to sit on in the morning while putting on your shoes and socks.

The picture below is one of my favorites. This is a bragpost submitted by boxermum and I think it turned out fabulous! I love how beautiful the distressed finish turned out. Originally this was/is my plan. However, I love my bed just the way it turned out for now. I figured I would see how the finish holds up, and if it starts to look banged up in a year, I’ll go all the way and distress it with a nice stain. Once you distress a piece, there’s no goin’ back.

With this plan in mind, the only thing missing for us was storage. We live in a tiny house and need every bit of space.

I loved the storage cubbies in the Captain’s bed design (finally a place for all of our shoes; they triple overnight around here), yet was not a fan of the box at the end. I didn’t like how it looked from the side view either, and I was set on incorporating the footboard from the Farmhouse plan.

So I decided to combine the two.

Following the directions for the Queen farmhouse plan, omitting the side rails, and adding two long storage cubbies to serve as the mattress platform, I set out to make the ultimate bed. I wasn’t far into my plan when I realized that the cubbies would be a full seventeen inches high, and that meant that there would be some valuable storage space between the two and a perfect place to store our off-season clothes. So I devised a plan to make the footboard on a hinge that would lock in place and allow me to get under there without having to pull off the mattress and remove the slats.

Voila! Check out the hinging action:

This is my daughter demonstrating the massive amount of storage space that would otherwise be lost for all eternity:

She could totally sleep in there. It’s like a panic room. If the Nazis come, we’re under the bed and they’ll never find us.

So here is the breakdown of my bed design:

A cost estimate is of course double what I had planned. The original Farmhouse was around $120 for materials, but with the addition of the storage cubbies, it was another $100 when things were all said and done. Still, well worth it, in my opinion. I’m not running down to Pottery Barn anytime soon and dropping a thousand dollars on a bed, are you?

I started with the cubbies first. Since the storage would be exposed on the sides of the bed only, I made the length to be exactly 80 inches, accomodating the entire length of a queen-sized mattress. I also wanted a deep storage space since many of the cute storage baskets are larger than twelve inches deep (plus shoes, remember?). So I chose a depth of 16 inches. Same goes for height. I noticed that the twin Captain’s bed plans called for cubbies at 15 inches high, but when I compared them to the Farmhouse plan, the top of the mattress would sit around 25″… since I wanted to make my mattress height appropriate to the Farmhouse head and footboards, I went with the 17 inch height for the cubbies. I chose to have 3 sections, each one being around 25 inches, plenty large to accommodate baskets.

For the storage box building material, I chose 3/4″ plywood, 1×2’s to frame it out, and 1 sheet of 4×8 composite beadboard for the backing. Plus a few 1×3’s to make the bed rails and slats in the center. I followed the building instructions for the Captain’s bed, adjusting the numbers for my plan dimensions.

I purchased two sheets of plywood at Lowe’s and ripped them at 16 inches wide for the top, bottom, sides, and dividers of my boxes.

(2) top pieces of the boxes measure 80″ in length.
(2) bottom pieces measure 78 1/2″ in length (allowing the end pieces to attach under the top piece)
(4) side or end pieces measuring 16 1/4″ inches high (a 3/4 inch difference to allow the thickness of the top piece)
(4) dividers measuring 14 3/4 inches high. Make sure to refer to the plan instructions for the Captain’s bed. The bottom piece is screwed in 3/4 inch from the bottom of the ends to allow for the front trim piece to be flush with the shelf bottom. I placed the dividers at 26″ in from the sides, making each cubby space nearly equal (the center section ends up being around 25 1/2″ after factoring in the 3/4 thickness of the plywood).

After I built the boxes, I trimmed them out with the 1×2’s. Rough estimates for the length are as follows, but I recommend piecing them in after your boxes are finished, you end up with slight variances in length due to the nature of these things.

(4) 1×2’s at 80″ long
(8) 1×2’s at 14″ long (some of mine were a little less on the inside divider trim)

I worked my tail off sanding and filling. It took me two days (mind you, I’ve got the kids to raise as well) to complete the first box because I wanted everything to be completely smooth. Lots of sanding. However, the second box only took two hours! I filled sanded and primed my plywood before I assembled the boxes, it went quicker during assembly because I only needed to fill and sand the joints and touch up the primer. I loved using my nailgun for the trim, it is so fast and effortless!

When I was finished, I had two beautiful storage boxes. I cut the beadboard at 17″ high (using the 4′ width and two pieces to cover the back of the box…where my seam was, I was careful to sand and prime the joint beforehand, as well as tape the back to hold in place while the glue dried. Initially, I debated cutting the backing for each divider section so I could attach it behind the plywood dividers where no seams were visible, but I wouldn’t have had enough length from one sheet of beadboard, plus there would be a ton of scrap. It turned out great, and only a perfectionist like me would care. I don’t even think you can see anything since it sits on the ground and especially when all of my stuff is jammed in there.

Oh, and I attached the 1×3 rails along the back too, making sure to screw them in to the plywood 3/4″ down from the top so that the slats would lay flush with the top of the boxes. the rails were 80″ long and I measured my slats to be 28″ wide. A queen mattress is 60″ wide. I added two inches to the width of the bed because I didn’t want the mattress to hang over the boxes and I knew that the sheets and other bedding would bulk things up (mattress+ cover+ featherbed+ sheet+ comforter). Here was my math:

3/4″ trim +16″ box depth +1/4″beadboard thickness = 17″ x 2 boxes = 34″

60″ queen mattress width – 34″ for box widths = 26″ slats +2″ for wiggle room = 28″ slats

We put the bed in our room and threw out our old boxspring. I was a little nervous to sleep without a boxspring, I thought our mattress might start sinking in the middle. Ana’s directions said to place the slats close together and it would be fine. I think I used 10 or 12 slats and so far, the bed is holding up well.

Once those were out of the way, I turned my attention to the headboard. I began to assemble the center panel following the directions on the farmhouse plan. However, I noticed that in the farmhouse design, the bed rails attach to the INSIDE of the headboard posts, and since I had forgone the rails and made the storage boxes, I wanted them to attach between the headboard and footboard, CENTERED on the posts, not to the inside. Also, we live in a tiny house with a tiny bedroom, and leaving the posts to the outside would make our bed a near miss to our closet door in a tight space.This required me to make some adjustments. I had to narrow the widths of the headboard and footboard so that the storage boxes would attach on the center of the posts. According to Ana’s plan and my plan, I had to shorten the headboard and footboard by 2″. Of course I had already built the panel, and it was tricky to use my circular saw to cut through 3 pieces of wood at once, but I managed.

Here’s me cutting down the footboard to length: (note that a 1×4 is missing from the bottom panel “sandwich,” I’ll explain later.)

This also meant that the cap pieces, the 2×4 and the 2×6, would also be 2″ shorter. No biggie.
Headboard is done:

Always some excitement when you are DIYing, right?

Next came the part that was my own genius. The hinged footboard.The first thing I did was add two inches to the length of the panel. Very easy, I cut the 1×6’s 2″ longer than the plan calls for The boxes would be behind it and I didn’t want them to show from the bottom, so I extended the length a little. Totally optional.
* Don’t forget to sand the edge along the length of the 1×6’s. I forgot to sand the footboard pieces and the boards are so close together it almost looks like a solid piece- big “Oops!”

Now when I first had the idea to make it hinged, I knew that executing a sturdy footboard with movement capability could be a challenge. Does this come to anyone else’s mind?

“When this bed’s ‘a rockin,’ don’t come ‘a knockin’!”

Anybody?

Bueller?

Bueller?

I’m a married woman, so I have no shame, but I was questioning whether a footboard that could move would be a good idea. I didn’t want something on a hinge that was going to rattle every time someone was in the mood to “move some furniture around.” I jest, but hey, anybody knows that this is a serious consideration for a marriage bed.

wink. wink.

This is what I came up with: I purchased two regular old door hinges and two barrel bolts from Lowe’s.

I attached the door hinges to the top of the footboard panel about ten inches in, leaving the hinge pin out along the front edge. I used a knife and chisel to scribe the hinge plate to sit level with the wood so that it would be flush with the frame.

I built the footboard frame using the 4×4 posts, 2×4 and 2×6, then I centered the panel and marked where the hinge plates would rest. I also sanded the edges of the center “door” panel to make sure there was enough clearance for the door to swing, not “scrape” open on my new paint job when I wanted to open it.

There’s my dog, checking out my handiwork.

I attached the footboard panel to the footboard frame by predrilling and screwing in the hinges. I attached the barrel bolts to the bottom corners of the panel. Notice that I did not put the 1×4 on the rear side of the bottom panel. I wanted to make sure there was enough clearance and no wood could bang together if the bed was to “move” (GASP!).

Here’s what I got:

I made ABSOLUTELY SURE that the holes I drilled into the posts for the barrel bolts were just the right size. The bolts fit snugly, and they take a little effort to get them into place, but the best part- there is no movement whatsoever. I also used 2″ wood screws to secure the posts to the storage boxes. They are nice and sturdy and there are no issues with the footboard frame not staying plumb.

Score!

After the bed was painted and fully assembled, unless you were purposely looking for hinges, the 2×6 cap piece overshadows the hinges, making them almost unnoticeable.

Well, that’s my new bed. It’s awesome. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

I also treated myself to a “Mother’s Day Gift” of brand new bedding…It’s from Kohl’s in case you’re wondering. Sonoma Life and Style, “Pacifica.” It’s got my favorite shade of green.
And new paint on the walls too. Great color, this taupey grey is so “in” right now. And it goes with the bedding perfectlyl. It is Valspar from Lowes ( I love Valspar, great coverage, one coat!), color is called “Lyndhurst Gallery Beige” (2006-10-B).

It’s so great to have a “new” room. I’ve been making my bed every day since I moved it in there. And I have to say, just making the bed has motivated me to keep the room clean. Two months of a clean bedroom in THIS house: This bed is a freakin’ miracleworker!

Next, I am planning some new art over the bed, I think I am presently in love with this:

I love birds in case you didn’t know, and Jesus too…and my husband. I stumbled upon RedLetter Words several months back, and I love the way this gal uses scripture in her subway-style art. Paint the door posts because I want one for every room!

I’ve linked up here:

Ana White - making a home with handmade furniture and other DIY projects




The Shabby Nest

Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

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65 Comments

  2. Wow! Reading through this I can definitely sense how excited and proud you are, as you should be! Your bed turned out AWESOME!! Great Job!! As usual =0) You are great at what you do

  3. I am totally going to do this! I think minus the hinged footboard, because that is way above my skill level. Actually the whole thing is above my skill level since I've never done anything like this before (does assembling IKEA furniture count?). My husband is leaving for a work trip next week and I might surprise him with this upon his return. I will either surprise him with an awesome

  4. Wow! You did an excellent job! This is one of the most interesting beds I have ever seen! My parents had a water bed when I was a kid that had a secret door at the end of the bed. We use to hide in there all the time (great memories)! One other thing I noticed that is really cool is your night stands. Do you have a full picture of those? They match the bed very well! Keep up the good work, all

  5. Thanks for your comment! And let me tell you, the hinged part was probably the easiest part of the plan. The farmhouse plan calls for you to build the center panel, then the frame. I just screwed in hinges instead. Super easy, you can do it!

  6. I don't have a full pic of the nightstands, I bought them at Lowe's probably 5 years ago… They're a trapezoid shape, a little wider at the bottom, and I love the shutter style doors. Maybe an Ana-White build should be in their future?

  7. I absolutely love this bed. You are genius. What a great blog. I'm so inspired, I'm going out to "create" something now.

  13. I love it! The hinged foot board is GENIUS!!! I have been wanting to build the farmhouse bed for over a year now but for some reason the master bedroom is the last room to get focused on. My mother-in-law will be here in 2 weeks so I&#39;ll have a baby sitter and I can build it, thanks for the inspiration!!<br /><br />http://purdy-family.blogspot.com

  14. Proverbs30one, <br />Thanks for the link, I love the &quot;Soli Deo Gloria&quot; art work. It&#39;s beautiful and I could put it on everything. I&#39;ve got to look into iron-on transfers to print at home. That would be awesome on a pillow!

  15. How did you know that this is EXACTLY what I was planning to do??? This post has just made my life a whole lot easier. We&#39;ve got a Cal King, but being able to read, step-by-step, what you&#39;ve done is going to help a TON, girl. And I don&#39;t know if I could have figured out the hinged footboard. I wanted to use the storage space between the cubby sides, but hadn&#39;t gotten far on

  17. Could you please tell me where you got the green &amp; white bedding? Thanks!

  18. Love that bedding! I bought it at Kohl&#39;s last summer. I was just there last week and it&#39;s on clearance now, you could probably find it for a great price! It&#39;s called &quot;Pacifica&quot; under the &quot;Sonoma&quot; brand. Good Luck!

  20. Do you have measurements for the headboard and footboard? I want to build this bed next week! I bought supplies to make the Ana White Farmhouse with Storage Drawers – but I like your take on this even better!

  21. I&#39;ve had to answer that question once before, so I will just forward on what I told the first guy: <br /><br />For my bed, I followed Ana&#39;s plan for the Original farmhouse headboard and footboards with one exception; since I ended up cutting down the width of the head/footboards to accommodate the new footprint of the bed with the storage boxes, I would recommend replacing the 1×8&#39;s

  23. Not only is the bed amazing, but that bedspread is absolutely adorable! Where did you get it, if you don&#39;t mind my asking?

  24. Thanks! I got the bedding at Kohl&#39;s last summer. It&#39;s from the &quot;Sonoma Life and Style&quot; line and it&#39;s called &quot;Pacifica.&quot; I&#39;ve seen them on clearance for some time now.

  25. Hi. I just came across your amazing bed via Pinterest and have a quick question…how well has it held up over the past year with the building materials you used?

  26. Hello! This bed has held up BEAUTIFULLY! I went against my better judgement and didn&#39;t distress the finish; it has held up extremely well to my kids and their grubby feet all over the place. We have a small TV in our room, and my kids often sit on the footboard with their snacks to watch shows while their dad hogs the big TV; it wipes clean every time! As far as the building materials, same

  27. Love the bed. I would love to try it but not sure I could pull it off. I might have to try it anyway. You did an amazing job and the ideas you came up with are brilliant. I love every aspect of this bed! It would be perfect for my small bedroom. Thanks for sharing.

  28. What are the slats you used? How did u put them across? How are they connected to the box? What material did you use for the head board/footboard? Do you have the full plan of the bed I would like to bed for myself.

  30. Just for clarification sake, the total width of the platform itself is 62&quot;. What is your outside post to outside post on the headboard or footboard? Are they the same width or do they stick out slightly past the platform? I am trying to make mine as narrow as possible and thinking of making them all the same width but not sure how they&#39;d look and I&#39;m just curious. This is one of

  31. Yes, my queen sized bed measures 62&quot; wide (my mattress is only 60&quot; wide) on the bed platform and the storage boxes are centered on the bed posts. I wanted them to be a little recessed from the posts for added dimension, it gives the boxes a place to attach to the post with screws too. The posts are 3.5 inches wide, so there are about 2 inches on each side added from the total width of

  32. The slats are made of 1×4 boards. They are attached to cleats that run across the back of the storage boxes. Everything is made from basic pine you find in the lumber department of a big box store, with the exception of the 4×4 posts. They are made from fir. If you read through my post, you will find links with directions to make this bed. It is a modification of several bed plans from

  33. My husband and I just completed Ana White&#39;s plans for an apothecary console. He wasn&#39;t excited in the beginning, but now that we are finished he is thrilled! I would love to start this next. How would this work with a king size bed?

  36. This is exactly what I&#39;ve been looking for! Do you know the dimensions for a twin size bed? Do u have all the instructions from start to finish like Ana White does hers by chance? I know you used part of her plan but if we have to flip back and forth between the plans and try to figure out resizing, I&#39;m not sure I could get my hubbie to do it, let me know, thanks!! Camillefowers@

  38. I love the bed! I have this urge in me to do something large and crafty at least once in my life, and this may be it. I also had to comment because your little corgi is my little corgi&#39;s identical twin. When I scrolled down to see your dog &quot;checking out your handiwork,&quot; I almost fell out. My husband thought I had somehow managed to photoshop a picture of Skipper into the shot.

  45. Can you tell me what top coat you used?? I did a book case in white and my top coat (can&#39;t remember what I used??) made it turn yellow!!

  47. Aubrey, I just used Satin paint with no clear coat. Any paint with a mid to high-gloss sheen will hold up great and wipe easily. I was just reading the other day on Ana&#39;s site that a water-based polyeurethane will not yellow over time, but oil-based clear coats will…I built a desk last summer painted it the same shade of white and then coated it with Minwax Polycrylic for durability. Guess

  48. Hello do u by any chance have a shopping list just to make the boxes for a queen bed? This looks absolutely amazing but, this is my first time building anything and the headboard and footboard are all too much for me so I figured start with the boxes and go from there…. thank you so much!!

  50. Do you happen yo have the measurements for a King size? Went to website but couldn&#39;t find them 🙁 <br />Love how well the two versions worked together! 🙂

  51. I was searching for an image of a wall color, and your master bedroom picture popped up in images. I read your post and you are an amazing woodworker. So impressed. If you lived nearby I would beg you to help this ol&#39; silver-haired mom of 12+ to help me create something {with great worship music in the background as we worked}. It&#39;s always been a dream of mine to learn woodworking.

  54. This is an awesome project. I can&#39;t wait to show your design to my husband. We don&#39;t have a place to use this now, but I&#39;m pinning it so I will remember it if we ever build a vacation cottage.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing at Throwback Thursday!

  59. Hi Mrs.Grundie, I would suggest clicking over to the two links for the bed plans I modified from Ana White&#39;s site. I followed the queen farmhouse bed plans to make the head and footboards, so the material list is under that plan. The storage boxes required:<br />(2) 4×8 sheets of 3/4&quot; fir plywood, <br />(6) 1x2x8 boards to trim out the front, <br />backing material (I used a 4×8 sheet of

  60. This is so effin fantastic. It&#39;s a massive project though, one that requires the right materials. I wonder if I can hire a handyman/woodworker to do this for me.. I&#39;d give him this post as homework assignment before reporting for work. Lol.<br />I think I just might! It&#39;s a genius idea. More expensive, but still not Pottery Barn expensive.

  61. Wow… Nicely done! I don&#39;t know how I have missed this blog post. I have searched &quot;Farmhouse Bed&quot; a ton of times over the last 4 months. That&#39;s how long it&#39;s taken me to get mine built! It seemed that there was always something else or someone else that needed my attention, &amp; the bed (THE BED) was put on the back burner. I painted mine using Martha Stewart&#39;s

  62. Just came across this via Pintrest.. I love this bed..all the storage space ! This is exactly what I&#39;ve been looking for. Thank you so much for sharing. The lamps are also gorgeous. Where did you get them if you don&#39;t mind me asking ?

  63. Hi, Mena! I got those lamps from Target forever ago, they must be 7 or 8 years old. But I just love them! The crystals are plastic, but you could never tell, they let off such a pretty glow!

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