Moving students in and out of apartments and shared accommodations can be a real hassle. Here's an idea for building a pedestal bed that is inexpensive and doesn't require a lot of wood working or building expertise. It's easy to put together and take apart so it's much easier to move in and out of apartments than a traditional bed, box spring and mattress. Plus, you can make it using only regular dimensional lumber and building materials. Here's how to build a pedestal bed for your travelling student.
What you need
* 4 Pieces of 2" by 6" lumber 8 feet long
* 2 Sheets of 4 x 8 sheets of MDF or plywood ½" thick
* 4 sets of hinges 4"to 5" long (if you care about appearance go for the brass plated ones)
* Screws and screwdriver to attach the hinges and hold the MDF onto the frame
* Power drill and drill bits to pre drill holes
* Power saw to cut the wood
Preparing the bed frame
* Cut the 2 x 6's to match the size of the bed frame you want to build. (A standard double bed is 54" by 80" so we'll use those dimensions in this article however, you could make the bed frame larger or smaller depending on the size of mattress you're going to put on the bed).
* After cutting the boards, you will have 2 pieces 16" long and 2 pieces 42' long. You'll use these as cross braces for the bed.
* Cut (or have the home store cut) both of your 4 x 8 sheets of MDF so you end up with two pieces of MDF 80" long and 27" wide. The left over MDF can probably be used as shelving.
* Install the hinges at the ends of the cut 2 x6's. Make sure the hinge pins will be on the outside of the corners.
* Overlap and join the leftover pieces of 2 x 6 - one at 16" long and one at 42" long to make cross braces that are 54" wide. These pieces will sit inside the bed frame and run side to side to help support the weight.
Putting your bed together
* Stand the 2 x 6's on edge and drop the hinge pins in at each corner. Now you've got the bed frame.
* Place the two cross braces 18 " from the top and bottom of the bottom frame.
* Lay the two sheets of MDF on top of the bed frame. You can ensure they're firmly attached by driving some screws down through the MDF into the underlying 2 x 6"'s.
* Now all that's left to do is make up your new pedestal bed.
* When it's time to move on, just undo the screws holding the bed together and take it apart. One person can carry out everything (except the mattress) making it really easy to move.
Note: This same basic design could be adapted to build a frame for a waterbed. You probably would want to use stronger lumber (something like 2 x 10's), but wouldn't need the cross braces and the MDF for the top.
Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He can be contacted at murand@lycos.com.
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