Make Your Own DIY Platform Bed with Storage (Using Pallets!)

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Find out how to make your own DIY Platform Bed with Storage using pallets and a few other items. PERFECT for a kids room!

DIY Platform Bed with Storage

My friend Misty created this DIY platform bed for her son, and I LOVED the idea! Here’s a peek at how she made it for under $100.

My son turned 13 a bit ago, so I decided it was about time to get him out of his twin size bed that he has been in since he was 3! The only problem was that the old bed had a lot of storage under it, and I did not want to give it up.

I started looking online for options to purchase, which were all too pricey, so I headed over to Pinterest to find ideas. My favorite idea for this DIY Platform Bed with Storage was the first one.

He has links to videos showing the entire process of his build, and I really liked the idea of using cabinets for the base. However, even Ikea cabinets would blow the budget, so I started my hunt for used kitchen or bath base cabinets that I could recycle.

I thought they would be easy to find at thrift stores, but after a couple of weeks searching all the local thrift stores, the Habitat ReStore, and Craigslist, I had not found enough cabinets to match up to build the base. On to plan B…I found these Better Homes and Gardens Square 4-Cube Organizers at Walmart for around $40 each.

I liked that these had a 100 lb. weight limit on the top of the cabinet. I had also seen so many cute pallet wood projects on Pinterest, so I decided to go with the new storage units and the old pallet wood for the rest of the base.

The next step in the hunting & gathering process was to find the mattress for the bed.

This was important because I needed the exact measurements, including the thickness, to determine the platform size of the base. I wanted the mattress to have a flat transition from the slats to top of the storage units so the mattress could overlap the top of the storage units. I went with this mattress on Jet.com (also available at Amazon) which had great reviews and cost under $125.

I will say I enjoy building things and doing projects on my own, but I couldn’t have done this without my handy husband.

Fortunately we had most of the tools we needed and borrowed the rest so we didn’t have to spend anything on that. We also had a lot of wood left over from rebuilding our fence a few years ago, so most of the 2×4’s we used came out of that. We did have to buy three 2x4x96″ studs to run the length of the bed frame and six 1x3x96″ boards for the support slats. We also had to buy screws and a couple of 2×4 hanging brackets.

You can also see in this picture that we decided to add a small headboard, which was not in my original idea.

We added it to provide a backstop for his pillows and a shelf for his alarm clock. We used some of the longer old fence boards to create the headboard. After this step we added the 1×3 slats to the frame to support the mattress evenly and put the assembled storage units into place. (I did not permanently attach them to the base.)

For the footboard of this DIY platform bed with storage, I used an old pallet. I just measured the opening between the base posts and cut the pallet to fit. I’m planning to add a folding desktop to the footboard in the future…

The last part of the project was creating a door to conceal the storage area. I used a scrap piece of plywood for the back of the door then cut pieces of pallet wood to screw to the front creating a really rustic look. We had already positioned 2 support posts to the base of the bed where I wanted the door to go. We attached 2 hinges between one of the support posts and the door.

All in all we ended up spending right at $100 for the materials to build this bed, not including the mattress!

My son loves it, and I’m happy to still have a place to hide the Legos and other stuff that he isn’t quite ready to get rid of yet. DIY Platform Bed with Storage DONE:)