apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yes, it's do-able.
Yes, the wood will be rough.
Yes, you'll need an electric sander and alot of patience.

Plus it might not look as cool if you have sheets and blankets on it, and if you don't have an electric guitar sitting on it at all times. Just saying...

seems like the way to do it would be to get some nicer wood and just make it look like a pallet... From the looks of the picture that's what they did.

Unless you find some amazing pallet somewhere, it's going to be n bad condition. They use the cheapest wood possible, plus they're pressure treated which those chemicals aren't good for you, let alone sleeping on them every night.

The one above looks beefed up too.

ugh.

my husband had a bed like that when I met him -- horribly uncomfortable. True pallets are not worth using, as mentioned above, and even if using nicer wood, it is just not comfortable.

I used to have to deal with pallets at work pretty often. The standard shipping pallet is cheap and made of nasty splinter-prone wood.. but, whenever we got something like a big server, or large format printer, they came on custom sized pallets- and they were much much nicer.

It's totally doable. A friend created finely finished wood flooring from pallets for an installation at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. It took quite a bit of her time though. And as antimatt and our friend has said, not all pallet wood is created equal. Search for the good stuff!

You'd get almost the same effect by using a simple futon platform... add wheels if you'd like. Already designed for a mattress; visually practically identical; STRONGER SLATS.

This bed wouldn't look nearly as nice if it were not sitting in that gorgeous room.

I remember reading the magazine article about that whole apartment...
I believe that the futon was NOT in fact used as a bed- just as a place to lounge.

I've seen something similar to this before. The beauty of it is that it was made out of supplies on hand and was near free. I'd imagine the palettes will lose their chemical toxicity after being out in the sun for a while or something.

The one I saw was actually a loft-style bed. It had palettes nailed together in an upright position, and a platform on top of that. I slept on it for two months and it was comfortable (as comfortable as the mattress, anyway). The best part was that the palettes elevated the bed so it was flush with a large window, and every morning I woke up to the sunrise.

we used pallets to make a temporary couch while we looked for a new one and while we waited for it to arrive... yeah, it took a while.
anyways we hat the "pallet couch" for about 1 1/2 months, and now we use it as a daybed on our balcony.
we actually like the urban look it has (not for our living room though)
sorry about the multiplicity shot, but it is the only one I have of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twotwentysix/518007619/in/set-72157594499877927/

I slept on a bed like that in Paris for a month. Ugh. It was the most uncomfortable bed EVER.

If you're really short on cash, just put the mattress directly on the floor. I promise you it'll be more comfortable than the pallet.

We used 2x4s and made a slatted/platform bed - it's comfortable and we've used it for 6 yrs - not the prettiest, but basic and practical. I'd love to get the case study bed though.

Two people suggested that if the poster is that broke, he or she should consider Ikea. Maybe the poster wants a more sustainable option than Ikea. I know Ikea supposedly has sustainable eco-friendly policies, but every single trash day I see Ikea furniture that is maybe a year or two old on the sidewalk, headed for the landfill. (I also often see pallets in the dumpsters, also headed for the landfill.)

I mean, point taken about the chemical-filled splintery wood, but I find it surprising that someone's inquiry into making a bed out of something that already exists gets the "ikea solution" thrown at them.

Why not just use a wood futon frame? It's pretty much the same thing.

Yes, it looks cool, but honestly I think it has more to do with the gorgeous backdrop its in. In a real room, it would lose all of its cool factor, and just look seedy and down rent.

On another note, where is that article from, please. I have seen cyber "quotes" from it in several pages and it looks like a gorgeous apartment, but I haven't seen a post or blog about the entire article.

i love this pic - not so much for the bed idea though.. i would like to see the original article for the windows...i love the writing on them....what a pretty idea. how did they do that? I'd love to see a close up of it.

I dunno, I think that would make a pretty sweet bed for impromptu overnight guests and as a quiet lounge/reading/nap/cat spot in a spare bedroom or office. After a long, fun night at our house, my friends aren't usually too concerned about bed comfort anyway, if you know what I mean. ;)

You could paint the slats two or more different kooky colors, and the whole project would be virtually free after you found a free futon mattress on CL. I think the rough wood would make it have character in a way. Besides, I'd much rather make something for almost nothing during a fun day at home than waste gas on a trip to IKEA and have to battle the masses. Yuk...

http://tinyurl.com/3nd6gb
This is the full sneak peek of this Parisian apartment.

The owner also answers a lot of the 'how to' questions re the bed on her own blog at:
http://tinyurl.com/5snrdk

What I would do- I find the pallets, hope that you find some that are not broken and in decent shape. Sand somewhat, but no need to totally sand them (just don't use bedding that will get caught on it). Use shorter pallet pieces or pieces of baords cut to size to make the surface the bed will be sitting on flat. Wrapped in minimal blankets that tuck in with a blanket folded at the bottom it would be cute. I can also seeing it being cute as a couch/bench (with pillows or bolsters along one side up against a wall).

I once worked in a case study on extremely-cheap homes at school, we designed a house made out of paletes and the engineers and architects gave us the "go ahead" for the project. So if it works for a house, it will work for a bed... If the bed gets too unconfortable maybe you could fill in the spaces between the planks with more planks...

...following lari's lead... maybe the poster just plain and simple likes the look and is a DIY-er. they never said they were too broke, on a budget, etc.

so to answer the poster's ACTUAL question... i'd say this may be a great idea for a guest bed, but for every night sleepy it would probably be rather uncomfortable. but i like the direction you are headed in, and i'd like to see whatever you eventually do come up with!

If you like the look then I would suggest getting a nice matress, and a good thick piece of solid wood to go under it that is 1" narrower than the matress all round, and then put the pallets under it painted to your desired finish, in such a way that you can see them coming out on all sides. this way you still get the look, but not the the pain. If your present matress is comfy without a box spring, then go ahead and use that.

there are many things done out of pallets...

Deck chairs:
http://woodchairbuilder.com/

These may be the homes that Loreta talked about:
http://www.i-beamdesign.com/projects/refugee/refugee.html

More photos here:
http://www.dwell.com/daily/blog/17088916.html

They can be made into storage sheds:
http://willbradyjournal.blogspot.com/2005_03_06_archive.html

There's even a blog on pallets:
http://palletproject.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

And the blogger talks about what he uses to sand down the pallets he finds, so that would be one person to chat with about pallets and what can be done with them!