How to Build a Queen Size Bed With Drawers

The Bed

• 1

  Cut two 8-by-30-inch rectangles out of the side of an 84-by-12-by-2-inch pine board, using a jigsaw. Space the rectangles 6 inches in from either end of the board and 1 inch up from the bottom edge. Sand the cut edges with medium-grit sandpaper.

• 2

  Secure two 76-by-1-by-1-inch cleats to the inside edge of the 84-inch boards. Position one cleat flush against the bottom edge of the board, directly below the rectangles cut in Step 1. Position the second cleat 2 inches below the top edge of the board. Use 3-inch wood screws spaced every 4 inches down the length of the cleat into the side of the 84-inch board.

• 3

  Secure two more 76-by-1-by-1-inch cleats to the inside edge of a second 84-by-12-by-2-inch pine board without rectangles cut out. Position the cleats the same as the first set of cleats on the first 84-inch board. Use 3-inch wood screws spaced every 4 inches down the cleat.

• 4

  Construct a rectangle out of two 62-by-12-by-2-inch pine boards and two 84-by-12-by-2-inch pine boards. For the 84-inch boards, turn the cleats in to face one another with the cleat flush against the bottom edge of the boards. Place the shorter boards perpendicular to the longer boards. Rest the ends of the shorter boards against the longer boards. Secure the rectangle in place, using 4-inch wood screws. Insert the screws through the longer boards into the shorter ones. Use two screws per side, spacing the screws 2 inches from the ends of the boards.

• 5

  Place 20 62-by-4-by-1-inch slats stretched across the width of the rectangle, resting the ends of the slats on the cleats. Place 10 slats stretched between each pair of cleats. Space them evenly down the cleats. Secure the slats in place by hammering 2-inch nails through the end of the slats into the cleat below.

• 6

  Place an 82-by-62-by-1/2-inch piece of plywood on top of the slats to distribute the weight of the mattress when added.

• 7

  Insert the drawers through the rectangles cut in the side of the boards. Place your mattress on top of the slats.

The Drawers

• 8

  Cut a 29-by-3/4-by-3/4-inch groove down the width of a 31-by-9-by-1-inch piece of pine, using a router. Cut two more grooves perpendicular to the first, intersecting the ends of the two grooves with the first groove. Make these grooves 7-by-3/4-by-3/4-inch each. The grooved side of the board is the back of the drawer face.

• 9

  Fill the grooves in the back of the drawer face with wood glue. Insert a 24-by-7-by-3/4-inch piece of plywood into each of the shorter grooves. Insert a 27 1/2-by-24-by-3/4-inch piece of plywood into the longer groove. Apply wood glue where the three pieces of plywood meet. Secure the pieces together using finishing nails hammered through the side of the shorter pieces into the edge of the longer piece.

• 10

  Apply wood glue to the end of the shorter pieces and back edge of the longer piece. Place a 29-by-7-by-3/4-inch piece of plywood against the glued edges. Hammer finishing nails through the side of the plywood into the glued ends.

• 11

  Repeat Steps 1 through 3 a second time with additional pine, plywood, glue and finishing nails to create a second drawer.