3rd Floor Penthouse: Luxe Sleep, on the Cheap

One of the charming quirks of living in the (3rd Floor) penthouse of a hundred year old house, is that there is no wide, convenient elevator to bring up wide, inconvenient loads. After the third and final attempt to convince my full size box-spring that it fit up the narrow, twisting stairway, (where it wedged itself firmly in entrance to the second floor’s landing, and could not be un-wedged until I broke it apart with a hammer) I decided that there had to be a better solution.

I considered building a two-part box-spring, but I realized I didn’t particularly like the way a box-spring looked, and I hadn’t seen the right fabric to cover it at my local fabric store. However, I did find this amazing, dark-silver, textured, rubber-coated fabric that I just knew would look amazing on a headboard! It was normally $10/yd, but the Fabric Warehouse in Rahway, NJ was having a 50% off sale that day. I bought 4 yards for $20.

Close up of the metallic rubberized fabric I covered the headboard with.

Then I thought I’d just build myself a platform bed. There are instructions for building platform beds all over the internet, and the cost of the materials for a full or queen size bed is under $100. While I was reading a set of those instructions, they mentioned that you could purchase a platform bed at Ikea starting at about $200. I figured I could at least look online, and if it was attractive enough, I’d write off the extra $100 dollars I’d spend if I bought rather than built, as labor costs.

Dreams come true… at IKEA

While perusing the Ikea site, I see that they have a full-size bed frame, the FJELLSE, on sale for just $49.99. Now, this is truly a VERY SIMPLE piece of furniture. It’s solid unfinished pine but it’s sturdy, and a great way to get a head start on a finished bed. It’s the perfect solution to my problem, because it’s easy to assemble and disassemble, and best of all, NO BOX-SPRING!!  The FJELLSE, like so many IKEA beds, uses an easy to move slatted bed base ($30), basically a series of 2×4’s attached with a rope. I figured I would build a padded headboard, and cover it with that amazing fabric, which I liked because it’s easy to clean, just wipe with a damp cloth!

The first thing I do whenever I go to Ikea is visit the AS-IS section. This little treasure trove is where floor models, overstocked items, discontinued items, and returns in good condition go to be sold at up to 50% off. They also have a lot of random things like cabinet doors, counter tops, linens, bowls, lamps, and unfinished pieces of furniture. This is where I found what appears to be the platform seat for a padded bench or couch of some sort. It was exactly the right size for a head board! I measured to confirm, but my decision was made when I held the padded board against a handy full size mattress that just happened to be in the AS-IS section. Perfect and it was only $10.00!! I’m half-way done with my padded headboard already!!

I get my treasures home and get started. (No drama bringing my new bed upstairs!!)

Here is how it went:

1. Assemble the bed using the easy to read instructions. Ikea recommends that you have a partner, but I did it by myself and was ok. Also, they have a handy hotline number, and a million satisfied customers who have already built what you’re building and were happy to share their experiences online! So if you’re not so handy, there is lots of help out there!

Just a simple unfinished solid pine bed frame.

This is the actual headboard that I attached the padded board to.

2) Since I was fortunate enough to find a board that was already padded, now we move on to covering it with the fabric. At this point I’ve decided that I want to try to get a bed skirt out of this fabric, too, so I’m careful with my cut. I position the fabric so the pattern settles attractively, and get my lovely niece Ebby to hold the fabric taut while I secured it to the board with a staple gun. Take your time with this process, it will look best if the fabric is nice and snug against the padding. Then I played around with the corners, trying different folds until I found one I loved, and then secured them.

This is the padded board that became my headboard...just $10 bucks!!

3) Now I attach the padded board to the bed’s headboard. I added a 1 ½ x ½ board across the back to add stability, then used long wood screws to attach the padded board at any place that it met with the wood of the headboard.

This is where I attached the covered and padded board to the actual headboard.

4)With all the fabric I have left I make a bed-skirt by stapling overlapping sections of the fabric to the inside of the bed frame, just long enough to reach the floor.

Headboard and bedskirt

I made a bedskirt with the remaining fabric. Four yards went pretty far!!

5) To finish, I pour myself a glass of champagne, clean and store my drill, and congratulate myself on creating a sturdy, unique, and beautiful bed, worthy of a socialite, for under $120 bucks!!

Here’s the breakdown:

• FJALLSE full size bed frame from Ikea- $49.99 + tax.
• SULTAN LADE slatted bed base from Ikea-$30.00 + tax
• Padded board from Ikea AS-IS department-$10.00 + tax
• Silver plasticized fabric from Rahway Fabric Warehouse- $20.00 + tax
• Screws and staples from my toolbox, purchased at another time for another project, but for the sake of creating a budget, let’s say-$5.00

Total-$114.99 (plus tax)

I’m off to sleep in my spendy-looking bed, Budget Socialites, and dreaming of the shoes that being thrifty and flexing my creative muscles will permit me to purchase… I’m thinking rust colored fringed booties for the fall…

My cool and quiet respite from the world...I just want to lay down...

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1. 3rd Floor Penthouse
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3. 3rd Floor Penthouse: A Fan of ArtDeco