Captain’s Bed? Mate’s Bed? Storage Bed? Our Bed

Aaand lift, and strain, and hyperextend!

– Homer Simpson

After a lengthy quest, we finally found a storage bed of appropriate size and price. In our last post on storage beds, we concluded that we would probably build to one of Ana White’s plans. But then the Kev and I both got extremely busy at work, I took on a part-time teaching gig…and we just want our room back as soon as possible. When we found a new reasonably priced option, we jumped on it.

We found this at Futonland in New York. Buying from FUTONLAND made me feel slightly ridiculous, as if I were shopping at Forever 21. But the bed works with standard mattresses as well, and a deal is a deal. (Not hating on futons — I just associate them with my university years.)

What a dump! (possibly one too many Bette Davis references)

What a dump! (possibly one too many Bette Davis references)

Shipment was via freight with curbside delivery, and required that the recipient offload the truck. The Kev couldn’t get away from work, so I took the afternoon off and enlisted the help of Mary the Magnificent, sister-in-law extraordinaire. Mary is a very pretty, petite woman with Bette Davis eyes and the strength of a longshoreman. Initially skeptical, the driver was soon very impressed with Mary (and tolerant of me).  He was nice enough to let us take the bed off the pallet, which made it much easier to move.

Mary is a full-time landscape foreman and a part-time life-saver (previously seen in both roles here), and she made sure both halves of the thing got into the house. Then, looking refreshed and healthy, she headed off on her next mission, while I collapsed on the couch, red-faced and wheezing. I should note that for another $100, we could have had “white glove service” rather than curbside (Brit: kerbside) drop-off. But this way, I got to hang out with Mary on a Wednesday afternoon, which was good fun. Totally worth the wheezing!

Bed awaiting sanding and stain

Bed awaiting sanding and stain

I was nervous about buying sight-unseen, but I’m generally quite pleased with the bed. It’s unfinished pine, so I’ll be staining it. I will post the final version, but here are my first impressions:

  • Construction: It’s pretty solidly built. It’s all wood/plywood, with no particle board. There’s no dovetailing or anything, but it is solid. And heavy. Everything is super-square and neatly fitted.
  • Hardware: It comes in two pieces, and while each side is plenty heavy, I’ll probably add hardware to link the sides together. Futonland’s site shows drawer pulls, but I haven’t found them yet (although the drawer-fronts are drilled for them). I’m not concerned because I intended to buy different pulls anyway. (Update: I did finally find them in a bag in the last drawer I sanded.)
  • Storage Capacity: The drawers are a good size (interior dimensions: 25 by 20 by 5.75 inches) and solidly built. The bottoms are plywood rather than hardboard or anything goofy. It will definitely replace dressers in our room.
  • Finish: The overall finish is a little rough. You can see slightly ragged edges where the plywood was sawn, for instance. I picked up a few splinters when moving it (and it was heavy, did I mention?). I’ll run over all the edges with a palm sander before staining.
  • Function: I did not opt for metal drawer glides; they were a reasonable additional price, but they would have driven up the freight charge dramatically. My plan is to retrofit glides (probably Delta glides from Rockler), but the drawers do operate well as delivered, thanks to competent construction.

Futonland’s customer service was good overall. My only quibble is that it took longer than expected for the order to ship. FL’s site says they strive to get orders out in five days; it was ten days from order to shipping. Once the freight company had it, they only took four business days to deliver, and we had the bed sixteen total days after the order. As I say, not a huge deal — we’re in Project Mode with plenty to do. But if you are interested in this bed and need it shipped, it’s worth knowing that you might have a wait.

I’ll report back when we put it into service! (Update: here’s our review after finishing the bed and sleeping in it for a few months.) If you’ve decided to take the storage bed route, what model did you go with, and what do you think of it?

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