How to Build a Captain's Bed from Two Dressers

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Last Updated: September 18, 2023

If you have two long dressers that are very sturdy, you can turn them into a queen-sized captain's bed to save space. Then you'll have plenty of clothes storage under the bed and the room will feel much more spacious.

Steps

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1
Measure the dressers to get an idea of how the mattress will fit on them. A standard queen mattress is 60" wide and 80" long. A full size is 54" wide and 75" long. The dressers used in this tutorial are 72" long and 22" wide. To make a queen sized bed, add 4" to the head and foot ends for length and leave a 17" gap between the dressers for width.
- If there is a rail against the back as there is here it can be easily removed with a screwdriver. You can reuse it for the side rails of the bed.
Here you can see both the original and new ones.

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3
Center the rail on the front edge of the top of the dresser, just above the drawers. Mark and drill pilot holes and attach the rail to the top with screws. Remove the top drawers and check the construction of the dresser to find appropriate places to attach it. Select the length of screws you use carefully so the sharp ends won't protrude into your dresser.
- You can see here, the rail is now above the drawers. It will keep the box spring or mattress from shifting side to side.
Again, look inside the dressers to place your brackets where there is wood to attach them. The top of the bracket should be flush with the top of the dresser. Mark and drill pilot holes and attach the shelf brackets with screws.
Leave enough room at each end to access the shelf brackets. Measure the width and adjust the dressers until they are approximately 1/4" wider than your mattress size. Aim for a snug fit. Use a level to make sure they are parallel and even.
Three in the middle can be 3-4" wide and as long as your mattress is wide (60" for a queen, 54" for a full). The two end ones may need to be longer to add length. In this case, it was necessary to add 4" on each end, so the boards are 7-8" wide.
Turn them over and line it up along the edge of both dressers. Attach the end boards to the shelf brackets with screws.
use a box spring or create a platform. Use a box spring if you already have the mattress set. It does create a very high bed, you might need a step to climb in and out. If you'd rather create a platform bed, cut two pieces of plywood to fit your bed, so that the joint between them falls directly onto one of your slats. Secure with screws and place the mattress on this platform. Otherwise, simply place the box spring into place and top with the mattress.

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Tips

Plan ahead so you get all the hardware ahead of time. Once you have everything, the construction should take a couple hours, but running back and forth for parts will slow things down considerably.

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Investigate the dressers ahead of time to be sure they are sturdy and strong. Also, they should have sufficient structural pieces to drill and screw into.

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Things You'll Need

2 sturdy long low dressers
5 boards to create the slats
2 side rails, if desired
hardware: L-brackets, shelf brackets, screws. Tools: measuring tape, drill, screwdriver, 4-foot level, pencil