Ikea Expedit Hack Platform Bed

I don't know if you've heard the news!  Seems that Ikea is discontinuing their Expedit line.  Run don't walk to pick up some pieces before their gone!  We bought a few of their shelves last year to make my daughter's Platform Bed. 

With kids, you are always looking for more space in their rooms to hide their toys and stuff.  With my oldest, it's books.  She reads a ton and really fast too.  I try and get most of her books from the library since she reads them so quickly.  It's really not worth it to buy her them when she is done in a day.  I have had luck finding books at garage sales and Goodwill.  I like to buy her favorites that she will read again, like Harry Potter and American Girl books.  So, she has accumulated a nice collection of books and we needed space to keep them all.  This Ikea Hack Platform Bed is the perfect way to add storage to a room without taking up more room. 

You will need a piece of plywood, 2 4x4s, 2 2x4s, T brackets, screws and nails.  You will also need two Expedit bookcases.  My husband began by building the base out of 4x4 posts and 2x4's to brace between them.  The height of the 4x4 posts was just a bit taller than the bookcases that were going to be slid next to them.  Cut a piece of plywood just an inch or two smaller than your mattress.  Center the plywood on top of your base and attach it with nails to your 4x4 posts.

 

Here is a close up of the brackets he used to attach the 2x4 braces. 

 

After the base was complete, I wrapped black felt across the top of the plywood and wrapped it under to cover the bottom of the plywood as well.  I used a staple gun to keep it in place.  This will protect your mattress and also the bookcases you will slide under it. 



 

The next step is to simply slide your Expedit bookcases under your plywood.  The base plus the bookcases really makes the bed quite sturdy.  We used a full size mattress on our platform bed, but I'm sure you could adjust this to fit a queen or twin (with one bookcase) as well. 

The end of your bed will have this opening.  You could paint the posts to match your bookcases, staple a piece of felt to cover the opening, or staple or drape a piece of cloth over the end to create a bed skirt kind of look.  We actually wanted to use this extra space between the bookcases for more storage, so we added two small storage ottomans to make a bench at the end of the bed.  We can easily drag them out of the way to get to her overnight bags and items she doesn't need too often.   

 

We've had the Platform Bed set up for almost a year now and I just don't know what we'd do without all that extra storage.  It really helps to keep my daughter organized and is so easy for her to get to everything she needs.  I was nervous about the sturdiness, but it has been great with no issues.  I hope this guide is helpful to you in building your own version of the Ikea hack platform bed!