This DIY Rustic Modern King Bed is hands down, my favorite bed that I have ever built (and I’ve built a lot 😉 )!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

After I repainted my Sliding Barn Door Media Cabinet and built the barn doors, which I stained Briarsmoke, I had to either paint my old bed or….build a new one. My old bed was a queen and I stained it Early American. I have since fallen in love with Briarsmoke and we have been wanting to upgrade to a king mattress so, it was a no-brainer! I got busy designing plans for the bed I had envisioned in my head 🙂

You can download the FREE PLANS HERE!

This is a 4-piece bed, headboard, footboard, side rails and frame. The plans have a lot of steps BUT, they are very simple. Just take on one piece at a time and before you know it, you’ll have a beautiful king bed! Make sure to download the free plans and you can follow along on the step-by-step tutorial below 🙂

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

First, I ripped the rounded edges off of all of the 2x boards. This isn’t a necessary step but it is if you want the headboard and footboard laminated sides to be smooth. If you don’t, there will be a little grove on the side where you see the boards meet. To save in lumber cost, I also ripped my own 1×2’s and 2×2’s. If I had purchased the lumber, according to the supply list, I would have spent $342 in lumber. Instead, I ripped 1×2’s from 1×4 boards (this gave me 2 1×2’s for the price of 1) and I ripped my 2×2’s from 2×4’s (select prime 2×2’s are about $8 and this gave me 2 2×2’s for $3). The total cost in lumber for me was $287, which saved me $55. I do this for all of my builds and it saves me so much money. Please remember that lumber prices vary by location. If you need an exact estimate for your build, you can use the supply list to price the lumber in your area.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

This is what you will see when you rip the rounded edges off. Note in the plans the width that I ripped the boards down.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Before you start building, cut the sides of the headboard and footboard to size, apply glue to one piece and stack the other piece on top of it. Then, clamp the boards until they are dry. This is called laminating and it will give us chunky side pieces for the bed.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Once the glue dries, sand all of the sides smooth.

BUILDING THE HEADBOARD:

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

I cut the 1×10 headboard planks to size and drill 3/4″ pocket holes, with my Kreg Jig, according to the plans. You can find our favorite model of Kreg Jig HERE on Amazon! Watch our How to Use a Kreg Jig video HERE!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Then, you can begin attaching the planks together with 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

This is what the headboard will look like once all of the planks are attached.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Cut the 2×4 supports to size and drill 1 1/2″ pocket holes in the ends. Prop the headboard planks up on 2,  3/4″ scrap boards (you can use the 1×4’s) and attach one support to each end with 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

You will use the pocket holes that you drilled into the ends of each headboard plank to attach the supports.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Here is the headboard with a support attached on both ends.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, you can attach the third support down the center of the headboard. Refer to plans for the placement. Attach with 2″ brad nails and wood glue. I used my 18-volt Ryobi Airstrike Brad nailer.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, attach the laminated sides to the headboard planks and supports with 3/4″ pocket holes screws (from the planks) and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws (from the supports) and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The side pieces should be flush with the top of the headboard and extend 5″ past it at the bottom.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Time for trim. Start with the top pieces of trim. Both ends will be miter cut at 45°. The end of the trim will fit into the top corner of the headboard and the other end will stop at the center of the headboard. The trim will fit directly under the top support of the headboard. Attach with wood glue and 1 1/4″ brad nails. Tip: I like to make the first 45° miter cut, hold the piece in place and mark where the second miter cut should be.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Continue with the other top piece

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Cut the vertical trim pieces to size and attach with 1 1 /4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

To cut the bottom trim to fit, make the first 45° miter cut, flip the board upside down and mark where the next cut should be.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Your headboard should look like this now.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Cut the short trim pieces and attach one to each side of the “squares”. They will be centered on each trim piece. Attach each piece with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. Refer to the plans for the exact measurements.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now to add the diamond trim. I use the same technique to get the exact measurement for these trim pieces. Make your first 45° miter cut, hold the piece in place and mark for the second cut.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Continue with the remaining diamond trim pieces.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now your headboard should look like this. Not bad! Just a lot of measuring, cutting and nailing!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Attach one foot pad to each headboard leg. This will be centered on the leg, leaving a 1″ overhang on all sides. Attach with wood glue and a couple of 2 1/2″ wood screws.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, to add this trim to the foot pad.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

These pieces will be bevel cut at 45° on each end. To get a bevel cut, on the trim pieces, you can use the miter arm. Just flip the board up so that the face of the board is against the fence of the miter saw. Then, make your 45° cut. Check out our How to Use a Miter Saw video HERE!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Same technique, as we used with the headboard trim. Make your first bevel cut, hold the piece up in place and mark for the second bevel cut.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Work your way around each leg of the headboard and attach the pieces with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The final step, for the headboard, is to attach the top 2×6 cap. This 2×6 is ripped down to 5″.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

There will be a 1″ overhang around the entire headboard. Attach the cap with 2″ brad nails and wood glue.

BUILDING THE FOOTBOARD:

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Start with the footboard plywood piece cut to size. You can watch our How to Rip Plywood Video HERE. Drill 3/4″ pocket holes on each side of the plywood. Refer to the plans for proper placement of the pocket holes.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Prop the plywood up on 3/4″ scrap boards and attach the two laminated side pieces to the plywood with 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Cut the footboard support to size, drill 1 1/2″ pocket holes, in each end, and attach it to the side, laminated pieces with wood glue and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws. Follow up by securing the support to the plywood with wood glue and 2″ brad nails.

Flip the footboard over to the front side. Then, cut the bottom 1×3 trim piece to size and attach it with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The footboard should look like this now.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Time for more trim! Measure and cut the horizontal trim pieces to size. The ends of these trim pieces will be miter cut at 45° angles. The trim will butt up against the laminated, side pieces. Attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Measure and cut the horizontal trim to size. The ends of these pieces will also be mitered at 45°. This trim will sit against the 1×3 bottom trim piece and the other horizontal piece will be flush with the top of the plywood sheet.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The footboard should look like this now.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Flip the footboard upside down and attach the base 2×6 to the bottom of the footboard with 2 1/2″ wood screws and wood glue. This 2×6 piece has been ripped to 5″ wide.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now to trim the base of the footboard.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Start with the long front pieces. Both ends will be beveled at 45° angle. Use the same technique as we did for the headboard foot pad trim, to get a perfect fit. Attach the trim piece on top of the footboard base and attach it with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue, into the 1×3 base trim.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, move to the side pieces. Make your first 45° bevel cut, hold the piece up and mark for the second bevel cut.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The back trim will be bevel cut on one side and there will be a straight cut on the other. There is no need to continue the trim because it will not be seen, once the bed is fully assembled. Attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Flip the footboard right-side-up and attach the 2×4 cap with 2″ brad nails and wood glue. There will be a 1/4″ overhang on the sides and a 1/2″ overhang on the front. ***My 2×4 is 3 1/2″ wide. I ripped this from a 2×6 board but you can use a 2×4 ripped to 3 1/4″ wide. If you do, you will only have a 1/4″ overhang on the front of the footboard.***

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Here is the footboard, completely done!

BUILDING THE SIDE RAILS:

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Drill 3/4″ pocket holes into both ends of the side rails. Refer to the plans for proper pocket hole placement.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Flip the side rails over to the front, measure and cut the top and bottom trim pieces to fit. The ends will be miter cut at 45°. Attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. The edges of the trim pieces should be flush with the edges of the side rails.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, cut the side trim pieces to size and attach with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. The ends of the trim pieces will be miter cut at 45° and the edges will be flush with the edges of the side rail.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Cut the side rail cleats to size and drill 1 1/2″ pocket holes into each end. Attach the cleat to the back of the side rail with 2″ wood screws and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

The final step on the side rails is to measure and cut the screen moulding to fit. This screen moulding will go on top of the plywood edge of the side rail. This will give the side rail a finished look, rather than the rough plywood edge. Attach the moulding with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO ADD A FINISH TO ALL OF THE PIECES. LET THEM DRY AND THEN BRING THEM INSIDE TO ASSEMBLE.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

I used one coat of Briarsmoke stain by Varathane on every piece. You can find Briarsmoke stain HERE on Amazon! I like to use this Lamb’s Wool Applicator to stain large pieces. Make sure to check out our How to Stain Wood video HERE!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Let the stain sit for about 5 minutes then wipe with a clean cloth.

ASSEMBLING THE BED

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Use scrap blocks (from the cut list) to prop up the side rails while you attach them.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Attach the side rail to the headboard with 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws from the plywood pocket holes and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws from the pocket holes in the cleats. Do not use wood glue here or you won’t be able to disassemble the piece if it needs to be moved. Refer to the plans for the proper placement of the side rails on the headboard.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Now, attach the sides rails to the footboard. Use 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws from the plywood pocket holes and 2 1/2″ pocket holes screws from the cleat pocket holes. Refer to the plans for the placement of the side rails on the footboard.

 

Cut the slats to size and lay them out evenly across the cleats.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

If you didn’t attach the slat supports to the slats, you can do this now. Center the support on the slat and attach with 1 1/4″ wood screws and wood glue.

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

Finally, attach each slat to the cleats with a 1 1/4″ wood screw (no wood glue).

That’s it!!!

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

DIY Rustic Modern King Bed  DIY Rustic Modern King Bed

I’m so happy with my new DIY Rustic Modern King Bed! You can find out more about the pieces in this room below!

Sliding Barn Door Nightstand with $20 Hardware – Free Plans and How-to Video coming in 2 weeks – Subscribe HERE to our Youtube channel so you don”t miss it!

Corbel Sconce Light – Free Plans and How-to Video coming soon! Subscribe HERE to our Youtube channel so you don”t miss it!

Bedding – HERE from Pottery Barn

Mirrors: Found on clearance at Hobby Lobby – removed brass anchors and rope and replaced with eye hooks and chain.

Hooks for Mirrors: HERE on Amazon

Decorative Chain for Mirrors: HERE on Amazon

Baskets in nightstands: AtHome

Letter A on nightstand: HomeGoods

Candle Holder: HERE from Target

Large Lantern: HERE from Target

Curtains: Here from Pottery Barn

Wall Color is Seine by Valspar

Trim Color is an oil-based paint that I had matched to Ivory Lace by Valspar

If you want to modify this bed – here is a list of standard mattress dimensions.

-To adjust the width of the bed, modify the headboard planks and the length of the plywood footboard. Then, just measure and cut the trim pieces accordingly. When the bed is assembled, measure for the length of the slats.

-To adjust the length of the bed, modify the length of the plywood side rails first, then measure and cut the rest of the pieces accordingly.

Twin: 38″x74″

Twin XL: 38″x80″

Full: 54″x74:

Queen: 60″x80″

King: 76: x 80″

California King: 72″x84″

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67 Comments

  1. What kind of stain did you use for this one? I often have trouble getting the right look when I stain pine, but this looks great!

    1. where can I find the nightstand? Also do you have plans for a dresser? Or possibly know of pieces to match the bed? I’d love to do this room for my daughter…

  2. I just finished this build and I have to say how great it was to work on. The plans are detailed and easy to work from. I definitely recommend the Kreg jig (I only have the K4) as it is the best for pocket holes. Thank you I will definitely be building other items from your site

    1. Ryan,
      We just built the headboard. We are staining now. Did you use poly on yours and if so, what do you recommend? I don’t want it shiny.

  3. When drilling the pocket holes in the headboard is there a specific spacing they need to be or is it just based on preference? Are any of the pocket holes in the whole project drilled to a specific dimensio?

  4. In step 2, when the 8 1×10 boards are put together. How does the dimension come out to be 74 inches? Wouldn’t it be 80 inches? Looking for any help

      1. I don’t think you can re attach pocket holes once you unscrew them…so should you do a different type of attachment?

  5. These plans were fantastic, the detail throughout made it very easy to follow along and build something fantastic. Thanks for the inspiration!

  6. You girls are amazing and really inspiring. I want to build my own bed frame, I just turned 31 and have never had a “big girl” bed LOL. So I wanted to know if there was any chance of getting some plans for a this bed but instead of the trim style you have, maybe doing a herringbone design. I probably could go through the plan and figure out the difference in wood and cuts, but wanted to see if that was something you guys would be interested in helping with?
    Thank you!

  7. Thank you for such detailed directions with pictures and diagrams. You really make these projects DIY friendly. I typically feel like I have a bunch of small, maybe even silly questions, but not with this tutorial. It’s exciting to feel confident that I can build this.

  8. Okay – I have finished building the bed, it turned out great. About to start staining, but I am curious, how much sanding and wood filling did you do before staining? Did you fill all the small holes left by the brad nailer?

    1. What did you do with sanding? I’m in the process and wondering this also especially sanding of the headboard 1x10s. They don’t line up perfect but wondering if that might look better than if it is perfectly smooth.

  9. Trying to decide on lumber this morning and wondering if you used Pine or Whitewood on your build. Pine is almost double the cost in my area of Frisco, TX. But wondering if it is worth it on this bed piece. The biggest difference is in the 1×10’s. Pine is $80 more than Whitewood. All together I can probably save $160 doing all Whitewood vs all Pine. I like how much straighter the pieces are with Pine, but want to save some money too. Trying to decide.

      1. Thanks for the quick reply…you guys are great. I am very impressed with the quality of your work. I find it so hard to pick out quality lumber from whitewood/common boards but your stuff always looks so good. Thanks for the tips. Going to the lumber store after my son’s soccer game this afternoon. Thanks again.

        1. My wife and I are also building this. We are in Colorado and we chose to use pine on the smaller wood and douglas fir on the 2×4 and 2×6 because of the quality issues whitewood had with not being straight ect.

          We are making a queen and chose 1×8 instead of 1×10 for the headboard, which means you still cut 8 boards and the width ends up being the right size.

          1. So from a technical standpoint
            Do the 8 1×8 first and then measure the rest of your width cuts

            The reminants of the headboard i used to make the footboard instead of using plywood
            It is .5 inches shorter and takes a bit longer to make but it looks so good in the end. You will be able to see slight modifications i made on the night stands too with the added trip and the top shelf coming flush with the front.

            Queen sides are same size
            Instructions show measurements for widths for queen at the end so read that, take your time and if you use 1×8 instead of 1×10 for headboard it will give you a perfect width for queen. As you can see i made two of them that way and they turned out great.

  10. Could this bed be easily adaptable for a queen size bed? I assume the hardest part would be figuring out the dimensions for the diamond pieces. Your thoughts??

  11. Are you using a full depth box spring or bunkie boards (or neither)? Which is recommended?

    1. I used a standard box but if you don’t want to use one, just raise the cleats so that the slats sit just under the top of the side rails. Hope this helps!

  12. The supply list is WRONG! Before you start, you need 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws. It says 3/4″ pocket hole screws and 1 1/4″ wood screws. I tried to put by headboards together with what I bought, 1 1/4″ wood screws and it split my board:( And now I have to wait until tomorrow to go see what Lowes has for pocket hole screws.

  13. I have been wondering for the longest time what wood filler do you guys use?? I always seem to pick the wrong kind when staining

    1. I use Famowood wood filler. Stains pretty well. For best results you really need to sand the filler down after it dries. Additionally you can purchase wooden plugs for your pocket holes. They slide in with some wood glue & sit pretty flush with your boards.

  14. Wow!! It’s beautiful. Now I wished we never bought a new bedroom set when we moved into our house in June. But maybe I can build a full size version for the guest bedroom. A question, I don’t have a table saw. Can I rip the corners with a circular saw? Oh and thank you for sharing all these amazing plans. I’ve used your plans to build quite a number of pieces in my home 🙂

  15. So Excited to start this build….I have been looking every day! Thank you…Going to down size it to a full size…