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Thread: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

  1. #1
    lilbluebear Guest

    Default Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    I've been browsing based on styles and appearance, and in the bed frame description, it doesn't say exactly what is used. I'm new to furniture buying, and I was wondering if I should get a solid wooden bed frame (I don't want a metal frame). I prefer the Mediterranean look. I want something that's high, not low profiled like a sleigh bed or a bed frame with built in storage. I prefer the large open space underneath the bed.

    I found this style particularly to my liking:
    http://www.furniturecart.com/catalin...ml?items=15495

    Based on that website, picture and its description:
    Style: Traditional
    Constructed of select hardwood, cherry and olive ash burls
    Decorative parquet pattern
    Cherry finish
    Scallop shells and acanthus leaf carvings

    Anybody know if it's a solid wood construct? I tried looking up homelegance reviews and for some odd reason my browser rejected the website being too slow. Can anyone vouch for this furniture company? Any recommendations for other furniture companies that does similar style work and does quality craftsmanship?

    Thanks so much in advance for your opinions.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    No way in the world that bed is made of solids at that price. What you are getting is junk wood underneath with a veneer. To make a REAL bed like that out of REAL wood (Mahogany, Cherry, etc) would put a price tag on it of $ 8,999.00, not $ 899.00. I understand your budget is not set to spend 10x that amount, but what you are looking at is basically the Acme Furniture Company stuff made in the Phillipines or Vietnam of the cheapest materials they could find and then sprayed a pretty color. I doubt it would last 5 years.

    When you look at beds, the key is how the rails fasten to the head and footboard. There are cheap ways, and there is the right way. Done correctly, the bed will last generations. Done cheaply, the glue joints rupture (beds are a stress item - heh) and then squeak and rattle and flex. When I get more time, I'll do a photo essay on the correct rail method and some photos.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
    organic_smallhome Guest

    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Have you thought of looking on Craigslist or in consignment stores for a vintage/antique bed frame? The quality will be much higher and at a reasonable price.

  4. #4
    lilbluebear Guest

    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Although, I'll wait until I'm a bit more knowledgeable so I know I'll make a quality purchase.

  5. #5
    Cookie Guest

    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by drcollie View Post
    When you look at beds, the key is how the rails fasten to the head and footboard. There are cheap ways, and there is the right way. Done correctly, the bed will last generations. Done cheaply, the glue joints rupture (beds are a stress item - heh) and then squeak and rattle and flex. When I get more time, I'll do a photo essay on the correct rail method and some photos.
    Where could I find the said "photo essay", if it exists?

    I am on the market for a king-size bed frame, and it's hard to tell from manufacturers' online pictures what construction method is used, because they usually show the bed with a mattress and box spring.

    One manufacturer that I contacted says they use a "hook and cleat system", which doesn't require any tool for assembly, but it looks like metal is involved.

    I tend to think that it's better to have wood slats connected to the side rails with dovetail joints. But what do I know?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Hook and cleats are shortcuts and will fatigue over time.

    Here's two photos I took today in my store. One shows a rail, and imagine a vertical post being where the bolt is exposed. You have a tenon on the rail (stepped area) going into the mortise on the imaginary post. Then a long bolt goes through the vertical post into the side rail and catches in a blind nut. Tighten it up and it will NEVER come loose unless you want it to. If you look closely you can see a wooden plug covering the area on the rail where the nut is put in to catch the bolt.

    On photo 2, this is a bed I have in my store assembled that shows you what they look like when together. A properly made bed will have (8) bolts, (2) on each corner. This is also the most labor intensive way to build a bed, so they tend to be more costly and require alignment jigs and horizontal boring drills.



    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Are there furniture forum approved-brands other than Stephen Plaud? Is a quality case goods company, like say Treharn, going to be just as good (quality wise)? Or is bed manufacturing really that different from other case goods?

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Oh, sure. A lot of makers use that kind of joinery (Treharn, included). Avoid glued up headboards and footboards as glue joints eventually let go over time, and look for any bedmaker where they use an 8-bolt construction system and mortise and tenon. Treharn does it, D.R. Dimes, Eldred Wheeler, Lawrence Crouse, there are quite a few.

    Bed building uses a LOT of expensive material. Better makers will not use glue-ups in posts and rails which means they buy the lumber thicker than the standard 4/4 that is milled into case goods. And there are a lot of parts, too. (4) Posts, (4) Rails, (1) Headboard plus the support structure for the box sprints at a minimum. All that will add up in price.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  9. #9
    Cookie Guest

    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    Duane, thank you so much for the detailed explanation. It makes a lot of sense.

    Would I be able to get a high quality, king size, wooden bed for approx. $2K ~ $2.5K? In one of the older threads (back in 2009), you said "the bulk of the beds I sell day in and day out are the $2K to $4K range". I wonder if that's still true today?

    I want something simple, transitional (or traditional), with a relatively high headboard, low or no footboard, preferrably made in maple but doesn't need to be Tiger maple. My mattress and box spring together is 22.5" tall, if that matters.
    Last edited by Cookie; 11-16-2013 at 01:42 AM.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Wooden Bed Frame Recommendations

    King Size are material-eaters, so that might be difficult to hit that price point in a solid wood bed that's made properly. Here's an example, you can buy this Treharn Bed for $ 2,846 + Shipping/Delivery Fees or pick it up yourself in Youngstown OH in King Size, Maple wood, Footboard Delete. And this is a VERY handsome bed that carries the visual weight of a king size bed very well. I like it with the footboard myself, but that would take the price to $ 3,259.

    http://jltreharn.com/p/637/american-...dbr6002-sc-18/

    You can buy this on in Tiger Maple in a King Size for $ 2,147 + Shipping/Delivery, its the lowest price bed they make but in a King Size it doesn't have enough 'presence' to balance out the size of matt and box in my opinion.

    http://jltreharn.com/p/551/american-...rcvb604-sc-11/

    These are all made the right way, btw...8-bolt beds, solid wood, no glue ups.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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