DIY Platform Bed Frame and Headboard with Built-In Nightstands

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You know what no one seems to think about until they move: how they’re going to move their furniture up and down the stairs. Seriously, how are you going to move a giant platform bed with built-in nightstands?

Our stairs are pretty tight, so it’s something we think about a lot.

I don’t want to get to the point where I’m spending hours and hours disassembling furniture trying to avoid having to throw my bed out the window. 

Which is why we designed this DIY platform bed frame to be easily assembled and disassembled as needed. Cheers to having one less thing to stress about when moving! 

Your future self thanks you and your current self will definitely thank you when you’re enjoying this easy-to-build platform bed, complete with built-in side tables and metal accents. Y’all, the metal accents make this bed. Aren’t they so cool??

If you’re just curious about a side-by-side of the best gold spray paints, jump down to step 12. 

Alright, let’s start DIYing! 

Tools

• Drill
• Miter saw
• Kreg K4 or any pocket hole jig
• Nail gun
• Electric sander
• Hacksaw 
• Optional: jigsaw (only needed if adding built-in outlets) 

Prefer printable plans? Grab your PDF platform bed plans HERE.

How to Make a Platform Bed Frame 

New to DIY? Download our free 5 Steps to Getting Start with DIY guide!

This bed is assembled in three main sections: the inner base that won’t be seen once the mattress is in place, the outer shell, and the headboard with build-in nightstands. 

Ours also has electrical outlets built into the headboard, but these are completely optional to add.

Let’s dive in and start with the inner base. Remember, this won’t be seen, so you want it to be square, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be pretty. 

Inner Base

STEP 1: CUT YOUR BOARDS 

Start by cutting the pieces for your inner shell on the printable cut-list. Our cut list provides the measurements for a queen platform bed and headboard with built-in nightstands.

Note that the inner shell only have three sides. The final side of the bed will be the headboard itself. 

STEP 2: ADD THE FEET AND SUPPORT BOARDS

The 2x6s aren’t quite tall enough to match the height of the 1×8 boards that’ll we’ll use on the outer shell, so we need to bump them off the ground and give them legs to stand on. 

We’ll use some of the leftover 2×6 to cut legs that are 7.25″ tall for each side. Add a few pocket holes to each end of the long 2x6s and attach them to the feet using glue and 2.5″ screws. 

Next we’ll add support boards to the two side pieces. The support boards will be used to support the slats that the mattress will rest on. 

Cut your 2×2 furring strips according to the printable cut-list and pre-drill several holes on each one. 

Center your 2×2 furring strips and place them .75″ from the top of the sides. Use glue and 1.25″ screws to secure the furring strips to the sides of the inner base. 

STEP 3: INSTALL THE BED RAIL BRACKETS

Now that we have the three sides of the inner base made, we need to install the hardware that will allow your bed to be easily assembled/disassembled. 

The first step is to attach the first side of the hardware. You don’t need to measure it out exactly, just place it halfway up the leg. Hold it in place and use a pencil to mark where each of the screws should go.

Remove the hardware and pre-drill for your screws. Then line up the hardware with your pre-drilled holes and add your screws. 

There are two screws in the middle of the hardware. Keep those loose for now. 

Then grab your second piece and latch it onto the hardware that’s already screwed in. With it still latched on, position it up against your side and mark where the screws should go. 

Pre-drill and then screw in the hardware. Test the latch to make sure everything is going together as it should. 

STEP 4: MAKE YOUR SLATS

Cut your slats and middle supports according to the printable cut-list. 

Glue a middle support to the middle of each slat and then add a 1.25″ screw to further secure it. 

Outer Shell

Now let’s move onto the section of the bed that will actually be seen. We’re not going to do much on this section just yet. We’ll tackle the bulk of this section during the assembly phase. 

STEP 5: CUT YOUR BOARDS 

For now, let’s just get all the boards cut according to the printable cut-list. 

Headboard

STEP 6: CUT YOUR BOARDS 

Before cutting, lay out all of your 1x6s and decide on how you want them arranged for the headboard and nightstands. Pay close attention to the grain patterns. 

Once you decide on a layout, it’s time to start cutting. We want to the wood grain to be continuous across the section of the headboard that holds the nightstands and the main section of the headboard, so cut each board into three pieces: 16″, flip the board and cut 16″ from the other side, and the remaining piece will be for your headboard.

Don’t try to cut both 16″ pieces ff the same side or you won’t have a continuous grain. 

When you’re cutting, label each board and keep it organized so that you know how they go together later. 

Go ahead and cut the 1x8s for the nightstands as well. 

STEP 7: DRILL POCKET HOLES 

Pocket holes are the foundation of most DIY furniture. Become a pocket hole pro in less than an hour in Pocket Holes: Explained.

Drill pocket holes into each board for your headboard and side pieces. Pocket holes should be placed approximately 2″ from the end of a board and then spaced every 6-8″.

While you’re adding pocket holes, go ahead and add 4-5 into the bottom of each of the nightstands. 

STEP 8: ASSEMBLE 

Using glue and 1.25″ screws, assemble your headboard and each of the two sides. You don’t need to attach the sides to the headboard yet, so you’ll end up with three individual pieces. 

STEP 9: ADD SUPPORTS 

Next we’ll attach three support boards to the back of the main headboard and one support board to the back of each of the side pieces. The 2x6s should be used on the main headboard.

The supports should all be placed 1.75″ from the edge. For the side pieces, the support board should be placed on the side closer to the headboard. 

Pre-drill and then use glue and screws to attach. 

Assemble

This is where the rubber meets the road and you turn all these little pieces into an actual bed. 

STEP 10: SAND 

How much you sand the inner base is up to you. What you really need to focus on is the outer shell and headboard. 

Sand using 80, 120, 180, and 220 grit sandpaper to get a smooth finish. Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to move onto staining.

STEP 11: STAIN 

We wanted the bed to match the geometric wood feature wall that’s also in the guest bedroom. For that, we mixed together Minwax Special Walnut and Minwax Golden Oak using a 50:50 ratio. 

The key to mixing stains is to make enough to cover your entire project. You don’t want to mix more halfway through because the ratio might turn out slightly differently, resulting in a different color. 

Once you have the two colors mixed well, go ahead and apply your stain according to the instructions on the can. We wanted a lighter color, so we didn’t let the wood stain sit on the wood for too long before wiping it off. 

STEP 12: SPRAY PAINT THE METAL

Before we can start spray painting, we have to decide on the perfect metallic gold spray paint. 

Here were the three contenders: 1. Krylon Fusion All-in-One in Metallic Gold, 2. Krylon Brilliant Metallic in Gold Leaf, and 3. Krylon ColorMaxx in Metallic Gold.

You can see that each one has a completely different look. 

Krylon Fusion All-in-One in Metallic Gold was the least reflective of the options. It’s a more subtle gold and has some great shimmer to the finish.

Krylon Brilliant Metallic in Golf Leaf is GOLD. It really catches the light and is a true yellow gold. 

Krylon ColorMaxx in Metallic Gold is a beautiful warm gold that’s also highly reflective. 

It was a tough call, but we ended up choosing Krylon Brilliant Metallic in Gold Leaf for this project because it popped the most against our wood. See more spray paint color options here. 

Note: if you wanted to add some metallic to an outdoor project, Krylon Fusion All-in-One and Krylon ColorMaxx will both work great. They both offer rust protection and superior adhesion and durability, which means they hold up great even outside. In fact, we recently did a patio furniture makeover using Krylon Fusion All-in-One and I’ve been so impressed with how well it’s held up to crazy heat and rain!

Before we can spray everything, we need to cut our metal pieces down to size using a hacksaw (use measurements from the free printable cut-list). We lightly sanded off the rough edges of the metal and then wiped everything clean to get it ready for paint. 

Then I sprayed 3 light coats on each piece to get a nice, solid color. Multiple thin coats is always the way to go when using spray paint. Luckily it dries quickly enough that you only have to wait a few minutes between coats! 

It’s also important to keep your spray paint 10-12″ away when spraying the metal to get nice, even coverage. 

It took a little less than a can of spray paint and 20 minutes from start to finish to get everything prepped and sprayed. I’m SO excited for these metal accents. I think they’ll really make this bed unique!

STEP 13: ATTACH THE OUTER SHELL TO THE INNER BASE 

Use glue (lots of glue) and nails to attach the outer shell to the inner base. We also use one pocket hole on each end to really secure the top piece to the inner base. 

For the sides, the top piece will be flush with the back, but not the front of the inner base. 

For the front, the top board should be centered, overhanging by a little over 1.5″ on each side. 

Once you’ve nailed everything in place, fill your nail holes with Minwax Wood Filler. 

STEP 14: ADD THE METAL TO THE NIGHTSTANDS

We let the spray paint dry for a full two hours before gluing them to the front of the nightstands. 

OPTIONAL STEP 15: CUT HOLES FOR THE OUTLETS 

They say hindsight is 20/20 and that’s definitely the case for this step. 

Originally we installed the nightstands first, but that made it impossible to fit the jigsaw, so we had to break out our multi-tool. The jigsaw definitely would’ve been easier. 

If you want yours positioned where ours is, the bottom of your outlet should be approximately 17.75″ from the ground and 6″ from either side. 

If you’re using the same outlets we did, your hole will need to be approximately 1 3/4 by 3 7/8″. Use your jigsaw to cut it out.

STEP 16: INSTALL THE NIGHTSTANDS

Now you can move onto installing the nightstands. Use glue and 1.25″ screws to install your nightstands. We positioned ours 8″ from the bottom to the top of the lower nightstand and 21.75″ from the bottom to the top of the upper nightstand. 

The nightstands should both be flush with the outside edge of your side pieces. 

STEP 17: ADD THE REMAINING METAL 

Add a small bead of glue to a long metal piece and position it onto one of your side pieces. The metal piece should be flush with the top and line up with the edge of the upper nightstand. 

Repeat with the other side. 

Then add the small metal accents to the front corners of the bed using glue. 

STEP 18: INSTALL THE REMAINING BED RAIL BRACKETS

First install a 6″ 1×6 onto the bottom of each side of the headboard. This is what the hardware will attach to. 

Position it 1.75″ from either end. 

Then install the hardware using the same process as in step 3. 

STEP 19: INSTALL THE SLATS 

First hook up all of your bed rail brackets to get the main bed frame. Then equally place your slats across the center of the bed. 

Use 1.25″ screws to secure them to the supports on either side. 

At this step, your DIY platform bed frame is officially complete! Now we just need to add in the built-in nightstands for the headboard.

STEP 20: ATTACH THE SIDE PIECES TO THE HEADBOARD 

Pre-drill 5-6 holes through the back of the headboard and then use 1.25″ screws to secure the side pieces to the headboard through the back of the headboard. 

I know it’s not the most flattering picture, but I’ve circled the 5 screws we added. You can see that the side of the headboard is pressed up against the support board on the side piece.

There you have it! Now you know how to build your very own platform bed with nightstands built into the headboard. Can we all agree that the metal details really take this bed up a notch?

For more Krylon inspiration, visit krylon.com.

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