Rustic Bed Hack With Storage

Hester van Overbeek
by Hester van Overbeek
4 Materials
1 Day
Medium
Divan beds are super cheap to buy but they are also super ugly and they don’t have any storage, all that storage potential but you can’t reach it!
The space under a bed is a perfect hiding space for anything you don't need on a daily basis but my divan bed frame used up all this space with its fabric covered frame. As my current home is a bit smaller and I need every storage space I can get so it was time for this ugly duckling bed to transform in a rustic storage bed.
By cutting away the fabric on the sides of the bed, covering the bed in timber, creating some storage shelves in the base and and by making a headboard the original bed is unrecognisable.


I used a rougher timber for my bed frame, partly as it's the cheapest timber in the DIY store and also because I love the colour and rustic feel it gives the build as these planks are never 100% the same. For my double bed I bought outdoor treated timber and used 15 planks of 10cm wide x 240cm long and 8 planks of 4cm wide x 240cm long.


You also need a drill, screw driver, lots of screws and a saw. Like I said I love the rustic look so on my bed frame you can still see the screws, if this is not the finish you want fill up the screw holes with filler and paint the bed frame any colour you want. Have a look the video to see how you can build your own bed with heaps of storage!
The headboard really finishes of the rustic look of the bed frame, I made mine 1 meter high as a to big a head board would have swamped the small room. I used all the left over pieces of timber from building the storage shelves, I don't like letting any of the timber go to waste. Think I had just two 15cm pieces left after I finished!
The storage in the bed is ideal to hide out of season items. Great for extra blankets, cushions and my summer hats.


I will let you in on a little secret, the other side of the bed (the side you can't see from the entry door) isn't as nicely styled as this side ;)


It houses all my wrapping paper, wall paper rolls, craft paper supply and a lot of cardboard boxes!
Did you know all this rustic potential was hiding underneath that ugly fabric covered bed base? For more details on the build go to my blog and if you have any question let me know.
Suggested materials:
  • Divan bed base
  • 15 10x240cm planks
  • 8 4x240cm planks
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Frequently asked questions
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  3 questions
  • Dl.5660408 Dl.5660408 on Nov 23, 2016
    I'm not familiar with the term "divan bed" could you please explain?
  • Linda Cooper-Smith Linda Cooper-Smith on Dec 14, 2016
    I took the storage drawers from an old water bed, and I painted them. I added drawer handles, and stacked them up. They made great storage for my fabric. I bought a lot of things at an auction. I didn't realize it included three pieces of marble. They were broken, and each one had an uneven side . I took them to a place that cuts marble. Each one was squared off and they fit together perfectly to use as a countertop. The only cost was the drawer handles, and paying to have the marble cut. A countertop could be made with a piece of plywood or something else you might have laying around.
  • Debbie Jo Blythe Sears Debbie Jo Blythe Sears on Jul 18, 2018

    Have u become sick yet from using treated wood inside your home? I found out it can be very very bad!

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  • Hester van Overbeek Hester van Overbeek on Nov 25, 2016
    Hi Roxanne, as talked about in previous commends the timber I used is perfectly safe to use indoors. It's a rougher cut timber, not the planned smooth kind you would normally use indoors, but there are no chemicals in the wood. But yes please do check with your timber yard/DIY store to be safe. Thanks
  • Heather Heather on Jul 22, 2023

    Well done! And it looks really cute!

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