• Platform beds come in many different styles.bed image by Leonid Nyshko from Fotolia.com
  
  As stated by Charles P. Rogers Beds, "Wood platform beds are among the oldest bed designs referenced in history." Platform beds have a base that raises the mattresses off the floor. These beds are not only functional---the raised height from the floor makes it easier to get in and out of bed and the flat platform base offers sturdy support for the mattress---but the versatility of their design also makes them decorative.
  
  

Solid Base

• Create a platform bed with a solid base. Use 2-by-12 solid wood boards to build a rectangular base for the bed. You will need four pieces cut to the dimensions of your bed size to make the outside walls and one central piece to extend from the head to the foot of the bed to support its center. Screw the pieces together with wood screws, and then screw one to two sheets of one-inch thick plywood to the top of the base to make the mattress platform. Edge the platform with 1-by-4 wood to frame the mattress.
  
  

Four Legs

• Instead of a solid base, create a platform bed with four legs. Cut four pieces of
  4-by- 4 wood to your desired bed height to make the legs of the bed. Cut four pieces of 2-by-4 wood to build a base frame to connect between the legs. Add another piece of 2-by-4 wood across the middle of the frame from the head to the foot of the bed. Make the mattress platform using one to two sheets of 1-inch thick plywood and frame its edges with 1-by-2-or 1-by-4 wood.
  
  

Make Storage Shelves

• Add storage shelves to an existing platform bed. Measure the space between the floor and the underside of the mattress platform. Use this measurement to determine whether one or two shelves will fit into the space. Measure the length of the bed and cut 1-by-8 wood to make a shelf box under the bed--two side panels, a top and a bottom. Insert a shelf board cut from the same wood midway between the top and the bottom. Use a drill, wood glue and screws to connect all the pieces.
  
  Make storage shelves along the two sides of the bed or at the foot of the bed. Use these shelves for extra clothing storage, books, bags, shoes or other accessories.
  
  

Add a Headboard

• Attach a headboard to an existing platform bed. Create a headboard that offers storage space for books, an alarm clock and items that you want to easily reach in bed. Using 1-by-6 wood, build a vertical box to the desired height for your headboard. Mark the height of the mattress on the vertical box, and insert horizontal boards cut from the same 1-by-6 wood in the space above the mattress to make storage shelves. Screw them to the two side panels of the storage headboard and screw the headboard to the platform bed.