King-sized bed frame with two (or zero) center bars

October 8, 2020 9:03 AM

We sleep three to a bed — and the middle person gets the short end of the support stick, since bed slats are built to be between, not under, the sleepers. Even most box springs are built around a center support, so going the old-school route won't help. Have you ever seen a bed frame built to be evenly supportive (and flexible) across the bed's entire width? Or are we going to be stuck with a mattress sitting on the floor/plywood on the bedframe forever?
posted by you're a kitty! to Shopping (13 answers total)

Would something like these work, used with a frame that has no lengthwise center bar?
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:22 AM on October 8, 2020

or, hm. a pallet type support?
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:25 AM on October 8, 2020

There are a lot of bed frames that have a series of slats rather than just one or two bars. Something like this for example.
posted by hydra77 at 9:28 AM on October 8, 2020

The Universal version of this bedframe did quite well, supported by two twin-size bunkie boards, for a king size bed, with three full-sized adult humans. The mattress was one of the newer foam-types, so that may have contributed to success in this endeavor. If I had tot do to again, I'd get a Leesa, in case that becomes relevant information as part of your quest.
posted by Medieval Maven at 9:37 AM on October 8, 2020

Hm, I have a queen-size Leesa on a slatted frame with a center support bar, and while I wouldn't call the middle uncomfortable, it is firmer there than the middle of each half. It's not so bad I'd object to sleeping there though, just a different experience.
posted by teremala at 9:48 AM on October 8, 2020

It’s not very hard to build a slat frame yourself; are the lengthwise slats supported by crossbars, so you could move them without changing anything else, or by hangers, which you’d need another pair of?
posted by clew at 9:51 AM on October 8, 2020

Maybe this platform bed frame?
posted by The AhForgetIt Tendency at 10:08 AM on October 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Floyd Platform bed (or more generally, "Japanese platform bed" might be a good search term).
posted by caek at 10:10 AM on October 8, 2020

Similar to Medieval Maven, we bought this frame to support a king size foam mattress after our slats began failing, and have had no complaints after a year.
posted by neilbert at 10:20 AM on October 8, 2020

I own this one from Zinus, and it's great about middle support, and it's built for extra weight to be put on it, which might be handy if sleeping three deep.
posted by deezil at 10:22 AM on October 8, 2020

We have a steel bed from Room and Board that has a base of horizontal bars going across the bed with no lengthwise bars. We don’t use a box spring and just put the mattress on it.
posted by amaire at 10:27 AM on October 8, 2020

Our IKEA king bed has two box springs with solid surfaces (so neither dip nor bump in the center - the bed level right across) and the pocketed-spring mattress is the most comfortable I've ever lain on. The mattress is a 'Sultan' which I suspect IKEA no longer sell but they surely have an equivalent.
posted by anadem at 11:28 AM on October 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've mentioned this in askme before, but building your own bed out of pipe and clamps is less expensive or difficult than you might think, especially if you have minor customizations. I built mine a couple of years back, and adding an additional support beam (which I've considered, as we occasionally are three to the bed) would cost maybe $25 and some time.
posted by VeritableSaintOfBrevity at 12:23 PM on October 8, 2020 [2 favorites]