Building your own platform bed. (King sized!)

90% of the wood for this project was salvaged either from other projects, yard sales, or the discounted lumber rack at Home Depot for cut/damaged/warped boards.
Regular deck screws were used for the framing, with some finishing screws for the cedar veneers (the only wood that was bought new)
I'm pretty sure the total cost of all the lumber and screws was under 250.00 which for a king-sized bed that is rock solid and attractive (depending on what your aesthetics are) it was a no-brainer.
Most of what you could get for remotely near that is either going to be second hand, most likely pressboard, or requiring a box spring because it's a metal rolling frame (which means squeaking and shaking and possible breakage if a weld gives out).

The planning is the most important part: make sure you know the exact measurements of your mattress (you can go off of online dimensions because mattress sizes are standard if you are not talking about an RV bed).
Use 4 inch deck screws for the 2x4 frame, and make sure BEFORE you do your cuts that you have factored in the width of your boards.
PRO HINT: a 2x4 is not actually 2 inches by 4 inches - it is actually 1.5 by 3.5 inches. That means, you need to be subtracting 3 inches (the width of 2 2x4's) from your total platform width when figuring out your interior brace cuts.
I usually add an extra inch to each dimension, which gives a half inch space on all sides between your veneer and the mattress, so that with winter blankets etc. it doesn't look like it is hanging over the platform.
Then again, if you put a comforter on the bed you wouldn't notice anyways, so carpenter's choice.

Here you can see the platform frame secured to the lower box.
You could use metal "L" brackets to secure it, but I chose to pre-drill channels going vertically through the braces (greater than the width of the screw going 50% of the way through the board) and just secure with 4" screws going straight down.
I chose to make a dramatic overhang for the platform to leave the option for under-bed storage at a later point, and this required the 45 degree brace you see and the two 4x4 foot posts.
At this point, it's just tacking down your platform surface!
I chose to use 1x4's because I found a lot for cheap, and they act as yet another layer of bracing for a rock-solid build.
However, if you have access to cheap plywood (or really any type of wood) that works as well.
Just make sure to give it the good jump test before you pack up the tools in case you expose a design flaw that needs bracing.

I chose to build the head-board almost at level with the mattress, because I am tall and this allows me the option to have my pillow half on the head-board and gain another 6 inches of foot room.

I built this 6 months ago and have never heard a single sound out of the bed =) not one creak, pop, clunk, or squeak.

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