What kind of bed frame works w/ a separate headboard?
April 14, 2025 8:30 AM Subscribe
I’m not ready to commit to a style, I just want to get a bed frame that will accommodate a headboard at some point in the future. What kind of frame would that be?
Like I see headboards sold on their own. Some have vertical slits in the legs. Guessing those only work with the old style beds (forget what they’re called but not eg platform frames, right?)?
I need to get the upholstered thing I have OUT and the headboard is incorporated into the frame (can’t use it without the headboard).
Additional Q: share your experiences of great “dust ruffles”. I need to ban dust from the room.
Like I see headboards sold on their own. Some have vertical slits in the legs. Guessing those only work with the old style beds (forget what they’re called but not eg platform frames, right?)?
I need to get the upholstered thing I have OUT and the headboard is incorporated into the frame (can’t use it without the headboard).
Additional Q: share your experiences of great “dust ruffles”. I need to ban dust from the room.
my experience here says that you’re probably not going to find that a dust ruffle helps much with dust under the bed? I remember the ones i’ve had would mostly collect dust and dog hair and get dirty. I have found an air purifier helps DRAMATICALLY with dust in my bedroom though. I like the ones levoit and alen make. (linking on mobile is too complicated right now)
as far as bed frames go, I went through this and ended up buying a whole bed frame with headboard (from wayfair, it was cheap and the hardware made it hard to put together as instructed) and then tossing the bed frame parts (cheap-particle board with wood veneer over it) and building my own platform bed and attaching the headboard we bought.
doing it again, if I had the money, I would have gotten a nicer frame/headboard (I like the look of Thuma, Get-Laid Beds, solid wood stuff on etsy, or some of the Pottery Barn, RH options etc) and saved myself the headache of frankenstein-hacking a bed and headboard together while sleeping on the floor.
posted by one-half-ole at 1:22 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
as far as bed frames go, I went through this and ended up buying a whole bed frame with headboard (from wayfair, it was cheap and the hardware made it hard to put together as instructed) and then tossing the bed frame parts (cheap-particle board with wood veneer over it) and building my own platform bed and attaching the headboard we bought.
doing it again, if I had the money, I would have gotten a nicer frame/headboard (I like the look of Thuma, Get-Laid Beds, solid wood stuff on etsy, or some of the Pottery Barn, RH options etc) and saved myself the headache of frankenstein-hacking a bed and headboard together while sleeping on the floor.
posted by one-half-ole at 1:22 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
re: old-style beds, I see them for sale on FB or Craigslist as “adjustable” bed frames sometimes for free. but that search also seems to include the adjustable kind that move like a hospital bed?
posted by one-half-ole at 1:24 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
posted by one-half-ole at 1:24 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
Dust ruffles obscure the view of the dust. They don't really prevent or reduce dust.
If you get one, get the kind that doesn't go under the mattress but instead wraps around on its own. Dust ruffles that go under the mattress are a huge drag to take off for laundering and put back on again.
posted by jgirl at 2:03 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
If you get one, get the kind that doesn't go under the mattress but instead wraps around on its own. Dust ruffles that go under the mattress are a huge drag to take off for laundering and put back on again.
posted by jgirl at 2:03 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
The type of barebones metal frame, the type you can bolt most any headboard to, is sometimes called an "iron horse" frame which is how I search for them. There's always used ones when I look around local online sellers on craigslist etc.
I found an inexpensive dust ruffle to be a quick aesthetic upgrade and didn't myself run into the cleaning hassles others have mentioned. My roomba happily scooted under it and vacuumed the floor beneath the bed, I didn't feel compelled to wash it as regularly as my sheets since I never touched it, and in the meantime I didn't have to see the metal-and-wheels legs on the iron horse. But tastes may vary!
posted by churl at 5:20 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
I found an inexpensive dust ruffle to be a quick aesthetic upgrade and didn't myself run into the cleaning hassles others have mentioned. My roomba happily scooted under it and vacuumed the floor beneath the bed, I didn't feel compelled to wash it as regularly as my sheets since I never touched it, and in the meantime I didn't have to see the metal-and-wheels legs on the iron horse. But tastes may vary!
posted by churl at 5:20 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
90% of the bed frames you can buy will have screw holes for headboards. Adjustable beds might have something weird. All my cheap Zinus-type frames are ready to go.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:14 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]
posted by Lyn Never at 11:14 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]
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posted by LionIndex at 9:08 AM on April 14 [6 favorites]