Standard Bed Dimensions

[James Jayko]

Hey All, I'm going to build a bed for the lake. Its a queen, so the mattress is 60" long x 80" wide. I've built a few beds before and often struggle with some common dimensions. I realize that these are all infinitely variable and there is a very wide range of sizes that would work just fine. But...are there rules of thumb for things like:

• Finished height of the mattress
• How much oversized should the opening be? IE for a 60" x 80" mattress, is an opening of 61" x 81" sufficient, too big, too small?
• I'm going to make the legs 3 1/2" square. Thinking I'd set the rails in 1" from the outside face. Does this seem appropriate? Should they be closer to center, closer to the edge?
• How tall would you make the headboard / footboard vs the finished height of the mattress?
• I think I've always overdone it with the cross supports; on my king bed I think I did ~9-10 1x3" supports. What is necessary, knowing that more is fine, but just more materials?
• I've always used the bed rail fasteners (not sure if that's the right name...where the metal bracket with two tabs is recessed into the rail and the female part is recessed into the legs). I was thinking about trying bed bolts just to try something new; any reason to use one over the other?

[Jim Becker]

Most of the dimensional things are subjective. I will say that for top-of-mattress final height, you have to consider the people who will be using the bead. More "mature" folks who have more motor challenges will likely be more comfortable with a mattress height that allow them to easily sit on the edge for getting in and out of bed, while "youngsters" sometimes like things lower. I'll suggest that if the room will be used by a variety of ages, accommodate the "more mature" folks as the priority as that will work for everyone else, too, especially for a vacation property. And this dimensional decision you make will also affect side tables if they will be part of the picture, too. For the surrounds such as the allowance between the rails and the mattress, keep in mind that folks need to be able to put sheets on if the rails go higher than the bottom of the mattress. This is less of an issue if it's a platform or has slats that are at the height of the rails.

[Myles Moran]

I'm a big fan of the bed bolts. With a good mortise and tenon, they'll lock solid, and if there is ever any movement of the wood, shrinking primarily, they'll let you tighten the legs back up. I've had a bed rail fastener start loosening up after a few years that couldn't be tightened like that.

For oversizing the opening, I've had the best results allowing 1" per side. I ignore the corner post cutting into the room and the mattress, every mattress I've owned has had rounded enough corners that's not a practical concern.

For height of the footboard and headboard, I'd play around in sketchup to see what looks good from a design standpoint. I ended up setting my headboard high enough that it's a touch above my head when sitting against it. It's a very dramatic appearance, but it worked well with the design I did.

Standard height of the mattress is 25" off the floor. I want to say 8" is a typical mattress height, but it can vary a good amount. When I built the bed I picked the height for construction based off the mattress I was buying.

[Myles Moran]

As a follow-up since I missed one of your questions, when I built my bed, I used a metal support structure like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Bed...t/dp/B091G5SFM

I will disclaim I haven't bought this specific product, but it's similar to the one I did buy.

This was for a California king sized bed. I would use something similar for a queen sized bed as well. For a full or smaller I've had good luck supporting the bed with .75" slats. When I bought this, I wanted something that I could rabbit into the side rails (so the "box spring" to support the memory foam had a level bearing surface all around), and that had adjustable center supports. With the adjustable middle supports and a level I was able to make sure the bed sat flat once the mattress was in place and adjusted for any irregularity in my floor.

Something similar could be added to a shop-built support structure. Many box spring or similar supports are designed for a center support in queen and king sized beds, so a couple of center legs would be enough in most cases.

[Richard Coers]

The lake needs a bed? All the dimensions are a nominal number and most mattresses are undersized. Ask your wife how much room she wants for her hands to put on the fitted sheets. 3 1/2" is a huge leg. The last one I did, the legs finished up at 2 1/8" square. If you use a foam mattress, I suggest you get their mattress support. It comes with wood slipped into a breathable fabric sleeve. You get full support for the foam, but the foam can breath. Regular slats makes the foam undulate from slat to slat. We prefer a taller mattress height so it's easier to stand up in the morning. 24" from floor to top or mattress. In my section of the country, a queen bed is 60 wide and 80 long. Can't you build it like the bed you sleep in now?

[Mike Monroe]

For the beds I've designed and built in the past I just referenced a Woodsmith plan to get the general dimensions for the headboard, footboard, side rails, etc...

[Holmes Anderson]

Hey All, I'm going to build a bed for the lake. Its a queen, so the mattress is 60" long x 80" wide. I've built a few beds before and often struggle with some common dimensions. I realize that these are all infinitely variable and there is a very wide range of sizes that would work just fine. But...are there rules of thumb for things like:

• Finished height of the mattress
• How much oversized should the opening be? IE for a 60" x 80" mattress, is an opening of 61" x 81" sufficient, too big, too small?
• I'm going to make the legs 3 1/2" square. Thinking I'd set the rails in 1" from the outside face. Does this seem appropriate? Should they be closer to center, closer to the edge?
• How tall would you make the headboard / footboard vs the finished height of the mattress?
• I think I've always overdone it with the cross supports; on my king bed I think I did ~9-10 1x3" supports. What is necessary, knowing that more is fine, but just more materials?
• I've always used the bed rail fasteners (not sure if that's the right name...where the metal bracket with two tabs is recessed into the rail and the female part is recessed into the legs). I was thinking about trying bed bolts just to try something new; any reason to use one over the other?

There are variations in the length and width of box springs and mattresses, both between manufacturers and models and even because of manufacturing tolerances. Even more troublesome, there is a wide range of thicknesses for both. In order to achieve a good fit with particular mattress height and get the locations and sizes of headboard and footboard correct, you really should know ahead of time what the thicknesses of the box spring and mattress will be and the length and width dimensions specified by the manufacturer. Otherwise you may end up with an uncomfortably tight fit, headboard buried behind a mattress, gap between headboard and mattress, footboard at a dangerous projection above a footboard, too-high mattress, and all sorts of other problems. I've built a few bed frames and made all the mistakes. +1 on stub tenons and bed bolts. They are much more durable than the interlocking fittings that are screwed into the posts. I have seen a bed frame with dry-fitted all-wood joints that would be a good solution for apartment dwellers who relocate frequently. Never built one.