How to Build a Recessed Bed

Preparing the Wall

• 1

  Measure the length and width of the mattress you intend to use for your recessed bed using a measuring tape. These measurements will provide you with the dimensions of your bed frame and will tell you how wide a space you need to cut in the wall.

• 2

  Use a stud finder to locate the studs in the wall where you intend to install your recessed bed. Mark the position of the studs on the wall in pencil. Compare the width measurement of your bed to the length measurement between the wall studs to determine where you will cut into the drywall.

• 3

  Draw vertical lines on the wall to indicate the edges of your recessed bed and connect the vertical lines at the top with a horizontal line. The vertical lines should be drawn up from the floor to the desired height of the recessed bed frame. Use a meter stick and a level to keep your lines straight.

• 4

  Align the tip of a drywall saw with the horizontal line near its center. Gently tap the handle of the saw to drive the blade into the drywall. Move the saw in and out of the drywall using a slow sawing motion. Use caution to avoid cutting into and damaging the studs.

• 5

  Cut through the drywall along all three lines you drew and along the floor. You may need to cut out individual drywall panels between each pair of adjacent studs. After cutting out a panel, gently pull the drywall away from the studs and set it aside.

• 6

  Use a reciprocating saw to cut through the wall studs inside the wall space you just exposed. Cut through the studs along the top and bottom of the wall space. Leave about a half inch of each stud uncut and finish the cut using a handsaw. Pull the cut studs loose from the wall and set them aside.

• 7

  Cut two pieces of 2-by-4-inch hardwood to the width of the space between the inside edges of the wall studs on either end of the wall space you just exposed using a circular saw. Insert these pieces of hardwood horizontally between the end studs along the top and bottom of the wall space.

• 8

  Drive 3-inch wood screws at an angle through the pieces of 2-by-4-inch hardwood you just installed into the end studs to secure them. Drive additional screws through the boards into the cut-off studs above and below. These boards will become part of your recessed bed frame and will reinforce the wall.

Framing the Recessed Bed

• 9

  Cut two pieces of 2-by-4-inch hardwood to the length of your mattress as determined in Step 1 using the circular saw. Use the width measurement of your mattress to cut two more pieces of 2-by-4-inch hardwood. You will use these boards to construct the frame for your recessed bed.

• 10

  Arrange the four pieces of 2-by-4-inch hardwood in a rectangle. Stand the boards upright on their longest narrow edges and sandwich the two shorter boards between the ends of the longer boards. Drive 3-inch wood screws through the longer boards into the thickness of the shorter ones to secure the frame.

• 11

  Cut a piece of 1-inch plywood to the dimensions of the frame you just constructed. Lay the plywood flat over top the hardwood frame and drive nails from a nail gun down through the plywood into the frame to attach it.

• 12

  Slide the resulting platform bed frame into the wall space you prepared earlier. Position the frame so the narrow end is inside the wall space and the back of the frame is flush with the back of the wall space. The amount of free space on either side of the frame will depend on the size of your frame and the width of the wall space.

• 13

  Have someone hold the platform frame up off the ground and use a level to keep it straight. Measure the distance between the bottom of the frame and the floor. Cut a piece of 2-by-4-inch hardwood to this height and set it under the 2-by-4-inch hardwood board at the foot of the bed frame.

• 14

  Drive 2-inch wood screws at an angle through the bed frame into the additional piece of 2-by-4-inch hardwood to secure it. Your bed should now be level.

• 15

  Measure the space between the bed frame and the end studs on either side. Cut pieces of scrap wood to this length and insert them into the open spaces to close the gap. Drive 2-inch wood screws through the pieces of scrap wood into the bed frame and end studs to attach them.

• 16

  Paint or stain your finished recessed bed frame to match the decor. You can also paint the exposed studs inside the wall space to match.

• 17

  Place your mattress on top of the recessed bed frame and make up the bed using a bedding ensemble.