Buy a new mattress? Or a new used mattress?

I'm sure your old mattress can work for now, it will be too small and probably annoying but if you love the bed so much then I say get it and then buy a new or like ASCHULT222 mentiond a new used mattress that fits either now or later when you can afford it. Good luck!

Don't let that beautiful bed go! Get a new queen mattress.

what if you placed some painted MDF or other type of board over the slats? That way there would be a uniform surface underneath the mattress. I think it would still look great, don't pass it up.

2.5 -3 in. border on all sides. Might be ok. If not, buy a new mattress.

Don't pass that bed up, its gorgeous and looks nicely made. You are talking about a 3 inch gap on either side -- that's not much. Maybe just throw a piece of trim in the gap.

for the length, push the mattress all the way to the bottom of the bed, and cram a body pillow (or two or three regular pillows) into the crack at the top. on the sides, just center the mattress and try not to whack your shin on it.

And unless you have one of those hand-made all organic mattresses that cost more than a car, save up for a new one to go with your awesome new bed.

If you love the bed, buy it! I think the gap between the frame and full mattress will be pretty glaring but you can always get a queen mattress for a song, as long as you aren't picky about mattresses. If you're not too skeezed out, you can probably even get a decent used one for free.

It's fairly easy to get a custom sized mattress. Google "custom matress" and there are more than 26,000 results....

it'll be fine. If the slats are too visible even with your bedding on, just have some this plywood or mdf cut and laid on top of the slats. You can paint the plywood/mdf or even wrap them in a fabric of your choice. Then save up for a new mattress if you don't like the look, in fact save up for a new mattress anyways if you have two people sleeping the bed, that extra 6" width of a queen makes a big difference, not to mention the length if somone is tall. Novaform/sleep innovations (the memory foam mattresses they sell at costco) are available on amazon for dirt cheap shipped for free. I bought one and love it.

*thin plywood

I say pack the back with pillows and either get a puffy comforter to tuck into the sides, or a good bedspread to lay over the sides! But this is coming from someone who sleeps on a foam pad on top of boards on top of IKEA bookshelves, so take with a grain of salt.....

Either get a solid based for it or pieces up the side to make up the difference. I had a full-mattress on a queen base for ages. I tucked my bedspread in under the mattress which looked better than having it hang over at weird angles. That meant a bit of extra dusting, but it looked great. This bed had a solid white melamine base instead of slats, so it looked good even with the mattress being smaller. I'd try to find a couple of nice boards that match the finish of the bed and just run them up the side. I'd only get a new mattress if I was due for one.

If you are a sewer or crafty, you could sew bolsters that fit along the sides and bottom in a fabric that compliments your bedding. Or, cut long strips of plywood or mdf that fit into the sides and bottom and upholster them in a cool fabric. Either way I would use a high density foam inside (or even pool noodles if the right diameter) covered in soft batting to help prevent the mattress from shifting. It could be an interesting custom look!

Just so you know, if you are putting a standard mattress on those slats and you have been sleeping on a box spring mattress combo, your mattress is going to feel quite a bit more firm. If that's an issue, you might want to look for a softer mattress.

1) Buy the bed
2) Buy a knock-off foam (temperpedic-esque) mattress that fits.
It'll look better, feel better, no boxspring involved which is what a platform needs anywho.
I got a queen for $200. Check Walmart, they ship the mattress to your home, too, you open up the pkg and it springs into action.

You could get some 2x4s and cut them to size to create an inset for your double mattress. Cover them with some foam and fabric (like the DIY headboards) and it could look very chic.

If you have a fluffy comforter over the top no one would even notice!

I cant believe no one thinks this is a silly question ..........

I have this bed, standard mattress and have two ikea gosa mabar bolster pillows at the bottom. Perfect!

I think it's a silly question. XD

Anything would be better than buying a used mattress.

How exactly is this a silly question? It's a legitimate question. She wants to know if anyone else has attempted to put a full size mattress in a queen size frame. Maybe it looks stupid and she wants to know before she buys it? Maybe she's attached to her full sized mattress and doesn't want to part with it. Good grief.

Queen sized bunky board! They're about 100 bucks. You could center the mattress over it. And you could easily upholster the visible parts. Or even just cover with a flat sheet.

For those either deriding the question as silly or just jumping to "buy a new matress," it's entirely possible that while the bed is in her budget, but a new mattress isn't right now. So the question is, can I make what I can afford work, or should I just pass up an otherwise great find? Which is never a silly question.

Yes, cheap mattresses can be found, but what you save up front you usually wind up paying for in back pain later.

I can't believe it!!! We have this exact bed and night stands, plus 2 dressers. Do not pass this up. You can try it with your old mattress, it won't be perfect, but, when you can you can go and buy a new mattress. Actually, we are replacing ours and found one at IKEA that is really comfortable. BTW, the Malm line does look like this, but, the quality is very inferior.

Where I work at The Joinery, a handcrafted furniture manufacturer , we are constantly retrofitting senitmental larger beds to make them smaller, but the cost sometimes outways the need to go with a smaller mattress. If your space can fit the Queen size frame, and you really can't get a bigger mattress, you could have someone cut and just oil finish some light walnut pieces to fit in the gaps. They may move around a little if not secured, but it could look neat and create a platform look and you are able to keep your mattress.

Is this bed new or vintage?

Cover the slats with plywood and stain the plywood to match the bed. It'll give the bed a platform feel until you can afford an appropriately size mattress. That bed is gorgeous. Enjoy!

If you are buying a bed but can't afford to buy the mattress that fits, you are wasting your money. It's like buying clothes in the wrong size just because they are on sale.

A) Sell your current bed (with the full mattress included) and use the money to buy a queen size mattress or B) buy the bed and leave it in storage until you can actually afford to do this right or C) pass on the bed.

Furnishing your room with a nicer bed with the wrong size mattress will not be an aesthetic improvement.

Plywood! And echo the body pillow along the headboard - not only does it keep your mattress in place a little better, but it's nice to be able to stretch your arm up and not smack your hand against the wall/headboard. (Yeah, that's the sting of two-a.m.-experience speaking.)

I'm a fan of having space around the sides of your bed for holding books or resting your feet on while sitting on the edge. I think this could work -as people mentioned above- if you add bolsters or cover up the slats that peak out.

But yes, if you put it in the same location as your old bed you're likely to wack your shins on it for a while until you get used to the new size.

I've tried this and it looks silly. Either buy a new mattress that fits or don't buy the bed.

Buy the bed. The more you dislike having a too small mattress will give you the impetus to focus on the new mattress. A new "used" mattress (at least where I live) is where someone purchased a mattress, never unwrapped it, but are now selling as they don't need it.

OMG, that's the EXACT same bed my dad has (used to be both my parents' before they divorced). They bought it in Germany in the early '80s. My dad has one of the matching dressers, and the other is in my house. If you walk away, at least you know it's not one of a kind.... :)