Above you can see a before shot of the bed area. Below you can see the bed build progress shots.
In this photo, you can see that George first built the initial frame. It fits a queen size bed! He built the bed by taking measurements of our current mattress and our new “bedroom.” Then, he built a box to house the mattress. He made it easier on himself by building a rectangular frame for the bed, then cutting rounded side pieces to fill in the curved areas.
For extra sturdiness the bed is attached to the wall. This will be helpful in case we want to haul our home on our next adventure!
George also built a really great front cover for the bed. This will allow us to hide junk under the bed. (Speaking of junk, please excuse all the mess! It’s hard working in a small space!)
I asked George if he could give any tips for building a bed in an Airstream and he jokingly said, “Just buy one!” It was a difficult and frustrating process. But in all seriousness, his tips were:
1. Measure carefully
2. Be prepared to cut the curved boards more than once
3. Realize that it will never be perfect. Working with curved walls is difficult.
I am so proud of the hard work he put into building this bed. I’m also proud of myself for the paint job!
I can’t wait to eventually sleep in here!
Have you ever built furniture? I’d love to hear your tips in the comments!
love,
melanie
hi dear melanie, kim here, also full timing in an airstream in north cack 🙂 i’m about to build a bedframe for my excella and i’m curious if ya’ll found that you had any sagging after using yours for awhile. the preliminary design i came up with had a structural crosspiece down the center but might be overbuilding. would appreciate hearing how it’s going! all blessings!
Hi Kim, We have had no sagging at all. It’s held up extremely well. We still have it exactly as it is in the 3rd and 4th picture, but with a mattress on top!
Pingback: The Products We Used to Remodel Our Airstream – a small life
Hi Melanie,
Thank you so much for having this blog. I recently purchased a 1977 Airstream that I plan to live in. I am re-building from the ground-up and what a project. You guys’ place looks great! I have a question about the bed. How was it attached to walls? Thank you so much for you time!
Aaron
Hi Aaron, thanks for reading. The bed isn’t attached to the walls, it’s only attached to the floor. We’ve had it for almost three years now and it’s still kickin’! Thanks again! -Melanie
Hi Melanie, we are planning an airstream reno (sight unseen at the moment…) and your blog has been really helpful, especially for trying to figure out how to include a regular size bed. I was wondering if you could tell me how far the queen mattress has to come out from the wall to fit in the curved area, ie, about how wide the custom curved boards are?? Many thanks!!!
Hi Erin, thanks! That’s a hard question to answer because the custom curved boards, are just that, curved! So, they are different sizes in different spots. The end of each the boards is about 6 inches wide and then it tapers off. That being said, make sure you do your own custom measurements! Each Airstream is different and I wouldn’t want you to go off our measurements then you get in there and they aren’t correct for your rig. Thanks for reading!
Thank you thank you! I was just hoping to get an idea for trying to visualize how it might work. Good to know a queen is possible!