How realistic would it be for a complete novice to make a bed frame and desk?

[Tealtea]

Hi there,

I've been looking online for untreated timber beds (King Single size) however there are not too many options available nor are they cheap (usually around $800 or above). Thus I've been looking at making my own by buying untreated pine, however I do have many doubts because I have never attempted anything close to this. Does anyone have any advice or experience in this matter? How long would it take? And what would an approximate budget be? I also want to make my own desk. In terms of equipment, I have a workshop with a lot of tools that my friend uses, although I am unsure exactly what they are. 

I also noticed that a lot of the untreated wood for sale is out of stock. What is the cause for this? Are there any alternatives?

Thanks!

[EricL]

Hello @Tealtea 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your questions about building a bedframe and a desk.

My first suggestion would be to draw your bedframe on paper. This will give you an idea of its shape and the type of timber you'll want to use on it. Do you need it to be a single, double, queen or king size? Do you need a headboard or just a plain frame will do? Generally, a bed frame is rectangular in shape and has four legs, inside the frame are side supports that will hold the slats of the bed to prevent the mattress from falling through the frame.

In regards to building a desk there are a number of options. The easiest of course is to purchase a Specrite 2200 x 600 x 26mm Timber Multi Use Pine Panel, painting it and then attaching steel legs to the bottom of the panel. The more involved technique requires you to build cabinets and drawers to serve as a platform for the timber panel.

Here are some amazing tables our Workshop members have shared:

• Floating study desk with cable tray by @butters 
   
• Large desk built on a budget by @mbenham 
   
• Custom desk for home office by @Remarka6le 

From these discussions you'll get a better idea of how to build your own desk.

Let me call on our experienced members @JoeAzza and @WoodenGregsWood for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[JoeAzza]

Hi @Tealtea , welcome to Bunnings Workshop, before attempting to make a bed, I suggest you start with something simple , as @EricL suggested, start with a simple desk, you don’t need many tools to build one. As for the bed, timber is not cheap, plus you would need a number of specific tools to build your bed, May I suggest looking at the Bunnings Marketplace or similar sites , they have timber beds for around $200 Here is the website below.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/search

[Jason]

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Tealtea. We look forward to seeing your skills and experience develop.

You should get plenty of inspiration from the projects featured in our Top 10 most popular desk projects. Desk projects like those shared by @robchin and @Simon are certainly very achievable for a D.I.Y. beginner.

Feel free to post questions as you make progress.

Jason  

[Remarka6le]

Hey Tealtea, 

Desks are one of the easiest things a DIY-er can build, I've built my own (though fixed to a wall), and there are many users within this community who have completed their own, you'll often find Bunnings have Desk Legs right next to large wooden bench sections exactly for these projects. I recently helped a friend complete his new desk using an Ikea Karlby worktop and two Alex drawer units (for about $650), but you could easily build a desk for under $300 (and quickly) using a Practa Benchtop, and 2 (0r 3, if you want the middle support) Table Furniture Legs (from which I have built several). 

As for a Bed Frame, I've stayed away from those, but my Son is growing out of his Cot so I might go down that path in the near future. 

Regards,

Mark