Queen size bed plan

Bill of materials

The bill of materials below assumes all the lumber is of good quality. You should buy extra wood to be able to leave out pieces with defects in them, as construction lumber is often full of knots and other defects. Generally, its best to buy wider pieces of lumber and rip them to the right width. You end up with higher quality lumber that way, because smaller pieces of lumber are cut from the smallest trees and often end up warping.

Part Quantity Used for
2x8 x 8' 2 * Side rails
2x8 x 12' 1 * Bottom horizontal for headboard and footboard.
2x10 x 8' 3 * For headboard top horizontal, and footboard top horizontal
2x3 x 8' 3 * For the posts
2x2 x 8' 2 Supports for slats on side rails
2x4 x 8' 13 Slats (you may also use 2x3's)
3/4" dowel 6' For cutting dowels from. Get 6' worth
2.5" #10 wood screw 24 To mounting side rails
2.5" #10 wood screw 10 To screwing slat supports onto side rails
Wood glue 100ml At least 100 ml of wood glue.

* It may be better to buy six 2x10x8' instead of the pieces marked with an asterisk, and cut the rip the appropriate sized parts from these.

Overview

Cross section

Note how the slats rest on the ledge on the inside of the side rails.

A rabbet in the end of the slats ensures that they don't add too much height.

Headboard

The holes for the dowels are best drilled by clamping the horizontal and the post together, and drilling the hole through both parts at once from the outside, as shown below.

Footboard

The footboard is nearly the same as the headboard, just shorter. If you prefer to stick your feet off the end of the bed, leave out the top horizontal part, and make the posts just 18" long.

Bed rail

The bed rail has a series of blocks on the ledge to support the slats. The purpose of these blocks is to hold the slats in place laterally.

It's best to glue and screw the 1.5"x1.5" support rail for the slats onto the main part of the rail, as all the weight is transferred through that rail.

Final assembly

The side rails are only attached on location. To move the bed frame, the side rails are unscrewed.

The slats are placed between the bed rails, and are not fastened in place. The blocks on the bed rails prevent them from sliding around.

Also read my Building a bed for a description of how to build a twin size version of the bed in these plans.

You can also download a Sketchup model of this bed plan

Part	Quantity	Used for
2x8 x 8'	2 *	Side rails
2x8 x 12'	1 *	Bottom horizontal for headboard and footboard.
2x10 x 8'	3 *	For headboard top horizontal, and footboard top horizontal
2x3 x 8'	3 *	For the posts
2x2 x 8'	2	Supports for slats on side rails
2x4 x 8'	13	Slats (you may also use 2x3's)
3/4" dowel	6'	For cutting dowels from. Get 6' worth
2.5" #10 wood screw	24	To mounting side rails
2.5" #10 wood screw	10	To screwing slat supports onto side rails
Wood glue	100ml	At least 100 ml of wood glue.