I want to feel like I'm sleeping on the floor, but not be on the floor

November 24, 2017 3:49 PM

I'm looking for a bed frame where instead of slats, there is just a solid surface. I currently sleep on a Japanese futon mattress that is on the floor, but I'd like to find a bed that would allow me to be up off the ground and keep that solid feeling under my mattress. Google has failed me so far. Any suggestions?
posted by holmesian to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Best answer: I think you're looking for a bunkie board, which you can use with basically any bed on top of or in lieu of slats (depending on the bed).
posted by brainmouse at 3:51 PM on November 24, 2017

Best answer: I should add, you can also just use plywood, cut to the right size.
posted by brainmouse at 3:53 PM on November 24, 2017 [11 favorites]

Best answer: When I was growing up, my bed was a mattress on a board of thick varnished plywood, the plywood held up about 3' off the ground by a couple of matching chests-of-drawers. Was very comfy and space-efficient.
posted by The otter lady at 3:54 PM on November 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Have you looked for "platform bed"? I did so and found this likely-looking thing, among others.
posted by snorkmaiden at 4:01 PM on November 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I also just had plywood - sometimes with the drawers under it, sometimes cinder blocks.
posted by I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today! at 4:06 PM on November 24, 2017

Just make sure you flip and air out your mattress regularly - mold can develop on solid base beds
posted by elke_wood at 4:14 PM on November 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

Best answer: +1 on bunkie board plus any other bed frame you please. I made myself a "nice" one in about an hour with 2 plywood pieces cut to size for me by the nice folks at Home Depot (I did it in two parts to make easier to haul and carry upstairs for a king-size bed), some quilted cotton fabric from the fabric store, and a staple gun. Easypeasy.
posted by shelbaroo at 4:15 PM on November 24, 2017

Best answer: Depending where you are, there is often a slew of people offering to sell you kits for these on Craigslist, you assemble it, types of things. I sleep on a platform bed about 3' off the ground with very close slats that has a similar feeling. The one thing to note with a platform bed is that you really need to stay on top of moisture (just regular old "Hey people sweat a little" stuff) because there will be no under-mattress ventilation. So make sure you flip it every so often as elke_wood says. I also flip back the blankets during the day just for good measure.
posted by jessamyn at 4:25 PM on November 24, 2017

Best answer: Nth-ing plywood. My childhood bed may have even used particle board, if I remember correctly. (For my grownup self, though, I wanted something a bit less bouncy/bendy, so I screwed together what is fundamentally a slat bed but with minimal space between slats, head-to-foot oriented slats, and what is basically wall framing underneath the slats that the slats are screwed down to. It is heavy. The construction is that of a wall laid down on its side.)
posted by clawsoon at 4:29 PM on November 24, 2017

Yeah, that's a platform bed. It's a bed that's a platform.

They tend to be quite heavy, though. If you want something a little more portable, I use this style folding platform foundation and it's unusably hard (to me) under the 5" memory foam mattress in my guest room, I have to put an extra springy topper on it. I can't tell the difference under our traditional 15" pillowtop mattress.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:06 PM on November 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you don't want to be exposed to the resins they use to make plywood (I'm allergic to the formaldehyde resin in it, for instance), you can just have something like oak planks cut to measure to lay across a standard metal bed frame, then use double-stick tape to help them stay in place. That's what I've had under one mattress for years.
posted by limeonaire at 9:57 PM on November 24, 2017