Woodworking: Bed Frame & Headboard

My wife & I needed a new mattress as we were sleeping on one that was at least 15 years old. She has always wanted to get a king size bed, I said we didn't really need a king size bed, so we got a king size bed. Now comes the dilemma of what to do for a bed frame, and do we need a box and mattress? My wife also wanted a headboard as we have never had one, and enjoyed the idea of a rustic wood almost pallet-like headboard. So after venturing around the internet we came upon a neat looking idea and decided to conquer the task of building it all by ourselves. We used basic dimensional lumber, usually pine or 'whitewood', and used my kreg jig to fasten the bed frame together. My wife was responsible for staining using a Dark Walnut stain, brushing on then wiping off to bring out the wood grain and varying the darkness.

This process took quite a while, getting a layer of stain on, then three coats of a polyacrylic finish with the usual wait time and sanding in between. Side note, the polyacrylic was used as it is water-based and doesn't have near the fumes as other finishes can. As this was being finished I managed to put the frame together and the slats for the mattress to sit on.

The bed frame is made with 2x8 for sides, 1x3 for accent edge, 4x4 for legs, 2x4 and 1x2 for matress support and slats. Not a bad start, but the headboard was next which was made with 1x6 and 1x3 and attached to the wall using 2x6 cut at angles. The headboard is made with varying lengths of boards to give it a neat rustic look and as I mentioned previously the stain was brushed and wiped to give it a varying darkness.

And the finished product, including accents above the headboard to complete the bedroom wall. Let us know what you think! Matching bedside tables are likely next on the list.