Design critique wanted! - Bed for my daughter.

Either I used the wrong word or you misunderstood what I meant about the mattress in question.

It's a boxed mattress with springs - i.e. a "normal" soft mattress with two layers of springs, but with a wooden boxed bottom, so the most basic way of using it as a bed is to attach either 4 single legs or 2 double legs.

This way I feel the support at the perimeter is more than adequate - unless the support will break off the bed itself due to the combined weight of the mattress and the person in it. I doubt that's possible however.

You are right that there's a lot of useful storage space beneath the bed, and I may or may not keep it like that. So far I'd like to keep the design clean and therefore without any added storage in the form of drawers or similar. Thanks for your comments about it however - it has made me think about it once again :)

Niels,

The "boxed springs" you describe is exactly what I'm referring to. It serves no other purpose than to provide a flat supporting surface for the mattress "x" distance above the floor. You can have just as much support with a simple sheet of plywood.

By using a reinforced sheet of plywood under the mattress, you can use the hidden space for seasonal/long term storage. No drawers, no cluttering up the clean design.

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Originally Posted by Niels J. Larsen

Either I used the wrong word or you misunderstood what I meant about the mattress in question.

It's a boxed mattress with springs - i.e. a "normal" soft mattress with two layers of springs, but with a wooden boxed bottom, so the most basic way of using it as a bed is to attach either 4 single legs or 2 double legs.

This way I feel the support at the perimeter is more than adequate - unless the support will break off the bed itself due to the combined weight of the mattress and the person in it. I doubt that's possible however.

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OK, I misunderstood. We have a separate "box springs" in the States that is really an empty box with "springs" ... flat S-shaped wire ... forming a support surface for the mattress at the top of the box. They are actually pretty cheaply made here, and are often eliminated in what we call "platform beds" (beds on a platform of plywood.) The mattresses are separate, and soft with coil springs, and need either the flat support surface of a "box springs" or platform. You couldn't even use slats spaced a foot or so apart for our mattresses; they would eventually slump down between the slats.

I think you are describing a mattress that has a base incorporated into it that provides its own support, and is probably designed exactly for the method you are using.

I like the design a lot ... very simple and clean looking.

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Originally Posted by Niels J. Larsen

fastened with 150mm long 20mm thick stainless steel rods

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Thats a horkin' rod? 3/4" thick? Are they this thick for aesthetic reasons? If its aesthetic its one thing but seems like a massive over engineering for a 2 1/2 year old even if they decided to stand on the edge and try a 1/2 gainer onto the mattress.

7/16 or 1/2" S.S. rod would seem to be plenty strong with regards to bending strength. Additionally it would allow for thinner sides or more material to support the rods.

Just a thought,
Mark

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Originally Posted by Mark Bolton

Thats a horkin' rod? 3/4" thick? Are they this thick for aesthetic reasons? If its aesthetic its one thing but seems like a massive over engineering for a 2 1/2 year old even if they decided to stand on the edge and try a 1/2 gainer onto the mattress.

7/16 or 1/2" S.S. rod would seem to be plenty strong with regards to bending strength. Additionally it would allow for thinner sides or more material to support the rods.

Just a thought,
Mark

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You're absolutely right - it's a horkin' rod (whatever that means :D)

And yes, it's for aesthetic reasons.
Since the bed is built of very thick material - which is purely deliberate and also to achieve the look I wanted - the rods needed to fit within this theme.

Nice design. It's clean and simple. I like the soft graceful curve of the safety rails, but it's a shame that when it comes time to remove the safety rails you will lose this nice design element. Since the bed will spend most of its life without the safety rails you might want to consider how you can incorporate this feature into the bed without them.

If you have the skill to do relief carving you might want to add a touch of whimsy to the bed. Something small in the corner of the footboard would be nice. It would add extra interest without detracting from the simple lines.