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How to Buy a Bed Frame

Before shopping for a bed, consider your space, style and how you want your bed frame to support your mattress

Erin Carlyle
Erin CarlyleMay 31, 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes to remodel. Former Forbes real estate reporter. Fascinated by cool homes, watching the bottom line.
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A bed frame can be a beautiful design feature in your room, and it plays a critical role in supporting your mattress and therefore in your ability to get a good night’s sleep. But how do you know which types of bed frames will work best for you? Our guide covers the basics on how to buy a bed, including what style and size to choose and what to know in order to decide among box springs, platforms and slats.
Cortney Bishop Design
This bed frame with low spindle posts is a design feature of this bedroom.

What Is a Bed Frame?

A bed frame is the scaffolding that supports your mattress and its foundation. It can be as simple as a foldout metal frame that locks in place to support a box spring or as complex as an elegant furniture piece with an integrated headboard, footboard and side rails. No matter how they look, bed frames are typically used with (or include) a foundation for a mattress, whether that is a box spring, a platform or slats.

A bed frame is not a must, but many people find it more comfortable to get in and out of an elevated mattress than one that is on the floor.
Eric Aust Architect
This bed frame includes a curved rattan headboard and a matching footboard.

How to Buy a Bed Frame


1. Know your mattress size. You probably know if your mattress is a twin, full, queen, king or California king. If not, measure it to confirm what standard bed frame it will fit. Note that some mattresses come in long as well as standard lengths.

Typical mattress sizes:
  • Twin is 38 by 75 inches.
  • Full or double is 53 or 54 by 75 inches.
  • Queen is 60 by 80 inches.
  • King is 76 by 80 inches.
  • California king is 72 by 84 inches.
2. Consider your space. Measure your room to see what size of bed will work in your bedroom. Think about the other furniture you want in the room and how much space you need to move around comfortably.

3. Find your style. Is your existing furniture traditional, modern or eclectic? Look at bedroom images and browse bed frames to help zero in on your style. If you’re working on a whole bedroom makeover, you can work with an interior designer to help with your choice.

4. Consider mattress height. Think about how high you’d like your bed to be, and choose a foundation that brings your mattress to the right height for you.

Key Measurements to Help You Design Your Dream Bedroom
This four-poster bed frame is used with a box spring that elevates the mattress.

How High Should a Bed Be?

A good general rule of thumb is that you should be able to place your feet flat on the ground when you are seated on the edge of your mattress. Your knees and hips should be in a straight line. If your knees are higher than your hips, your bed is probably too low. If your feet don’t touch the floor, your bed is too high. This is especially important for people with poor mobility or who suffer from pain.

3 Ways to Support Your Mattress

1. Box spring. Box springs were traditionally the way to provide firm, level support for your mattress. But the name has become a bit of a misnomer, since most box springs today don’t actually contain springs. Instead, they are often no more than wood frames covered in fabric.

“Mattresses used to be much more floppy,” says Lisa Faulkner, founder of The Beautiful Bed, in Los Angeles. “You’d have a box spring which had springs in it and that would give support to the mattress.” But as mattresses became more structured over the years, box springs became less so.

If your bed frame is designed to be used with a box spring, then it’s smart to use one. Otherwise, you may not need one. “Most of the beds we’re seeing nowadays do not require a box spring,” says Nic Allen, store manager at the Boho Furniture Gallery, in Las Vegas. Popular platform beds often don’t require a box spring, nor do most beds with slats.

However, box springs are not exactly obsolete — using one is actually a great way to customize your mattress height. You can choose the box spring that will raise your mattress to the best height for you.
  • Standard box springs are typically about 9 inches high.
  • Low-profile box springs are 5 to 6 inches high.
  • An alternative known as a bunkie board (typically made out of plywood or particleboard) is 1 to 2 inches high.
Keep in mind that some companies won’t honor the mattress warranty if the mattress is not used with the recommended foundation.

How to buy a mattress | Browse mattresses
Erin Carlyle
This is a simple platform bed. Photo by sputnik

2. Platform. Platform beds have a solid surface that supports the mattress. Keep in mind that platform is not only a type of bed, but also a style (or look) of bed. Some bed frames that are called platform actually have slats rather than a solid surface for the support.
Erin Carlyle
This bed has slats. Photo by Greg Sheridan

3. Slats. Slats are boards that stretch across the width of the bed frame. Sometimes they are connected to one another. They are often paired with a supportive crossbar that runs parallel to the length of the bed frame.

Bed frames sold with slats typically raise the mattress to a lower height than bed frames designed to be used with box springs. A lower mattress generally looks more contemporary, so if you like a contemporary style, a bed frame with slats may be a good option.

This type is also for renters or people who live in apartment buildings or homes with tight staircases, as it is usually easier to carry slats up stairs than it is to maneuver inflexible box springs up stairs.
Caroline Baptista Interiors
Your mattress warranty information will specify how far apart the slats should be, says Cody Schultz of Erik Organic Handcrafted Furniture, in Jordan, Minnesota. If the gaps are too wide, the mattress won’t have enough support.

This is a particular concern with foam mattresses, says Colleen Gala, co-owner of Fairhaven Furniture, in New Haven, Connecticut. “The slats need to be close enough together so that the mattress doesn’t start sagging within the slats,” Gala says.

If you are worried about slats that are too far apart for your mattress, or children jumping on the bed and damaging the slats, you could add a box spring, a bunkie board or a sheet of flat plywood or MDF on top of your bed frame’s slats. This will provide extra support.

Tell us: Does your bed frame make your room? Show us what you chose and tell us what drove your decision.

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How to buy a mattress

Key measurements to help you design your bedroom
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