I want to sleep on a board

March 2, 2009 1:37 PM

I'm wondering about getting rid of my mattress (old, not flat, hand me down) and getting some sort of sleeping pad, and making a sleeping platform out of plywood. Any suggestions?

I camped a lot this summer, more than I ever have before. 30 days straight or something like that. I slept great every night and really loved sleeping on my thermarest pad and in my sleeping bag.

I've been living the permanent bachelor lifestyle for a while, currently on a twin mattress friends found in their basement. It's not terrible but kind of lumpy and has a good ol' body dip right in the middle.

I'm moving back to Boston (now the bedbug capital of the world, I hear) for school and wondering about what kind of furniture I might have. I was thinking I'd much rather sleep on some hard flat surface with something soft over it. Basically the indoor equivalent of a thermarest pad.

The only mix up is that I'd like to have something about the size of a queen size mattress. Because I might not want to sleep alone. I don't see any thermarests large enough for two people. I'd like to have something that was comfortable for someone who was not a total ascetic.

So any suggestions about what to do for a sleeping pad? I was thinking about building a box with a plywood top and 2x4s as a frame. Ideally I'd put it up off the ground a bit but haven't figured out a design for it. Any ideas?

posted by sully75 to home & garden (6 comments total)

You can buy the kind of frame you're talking about at IKEA. Or you can look at their design to get an idea of what you want to build. For a pad, maybe a fouton?
posted by entropyiswinning at 1:44 PM on March 2

two thermarest pads plus a couple kit?
http://www.thermarest.com/product_detail.aspx?pID=71&cID=4
posted by mandapanda at 1:48 PM on March 2

Because I might not want to sleep alone.

In light of this, I'd recommend getting at least a futon mattress (check out Japanese futon mattresses if you want ones that are sparse and not packed with springs and easier to store). You might like sleeping on the floor, but people sharing your bed might not.

Also, look up platform beds of all types, at the very least for design ideas. My sister built herself a platform bed, and it was only cheaper because someone gave her the wood--often, it's actually cheaper to buy something premade.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:53 PM on March 2

Perhaps you want a tatami.
posted by kestrel251 at 2:44 PM on March 2

Get a thin, firm futon. It'll probably satisfy you, and will at least be recognizable as "bed" by any potential sleep-mates.
posted by Kololo at 3:11 PM on March 2

I need a firm flat surface to keep my back from exploding, For many moons I just used a cheap egg-crate queen-sized foam invalid pad from malwart. Laid out on plywood, it was the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on. You can always add a sleeping bag or something if you need more cush
posted by Redhush at 8:27 PM on March 2