Since I was a kid and saw a motorized bed in the furniture store, I knew I had to have one at some point. A while back I wrote about building a bed frame with plenty of storage, now I have optimized it for comfort using adjustable base!
DIY IKEA storage bed
ℹ️ This article is a continuation to my older post, DIY Bed Frame with Storage.
You can download the full woodworking plans for free from that article if you feel like copying my design!
Read the part 1 of this article
The quest for a comfortable bed
The electrically adjustable bed base
I have been reading a lot lately because of the aviation theory lessons. Is there a better place to read than in the bed? Moving a mountain of pillows and blankets to support me to a sitting position was not appealing
– Strike one.
Second of all, I was sick for a period and had to stay in bed for a prolonged period of time. I noticed that lifting my legs up would ease some lower back pains. Yes, I sit a lot.
– Strike two off to IKEA!
Harder mattress for back pains?
Because my bed has to be now split in two because of the mechanics, I decided to use the opportunity to get a new the mattress rather than sawing the current mattress in half. Who wants a bum full of springs and fancy ‘coils’ as the mattress industry calls them.
During my summer holiday in Tenerife, I slept for a week in a hotel on an uncomfortably hard bed, but after the week my back felt way better. I figured it was the mattress, so I decided to switch to harder ones.
Back at home it took me about 2-3 weeks to adjust to the hard mattress – Used to wake up with numb hands and kept tossing and turning.
So far I say it was a good idea to switch and I sleep like a baby again! 💤
DIY bed the IKEA Hacks way
Designed for a drop in replacement
I originally designed the wooden bed frame to fit two Ikea Expedit or Kallax shelves on the sides, one Malm dresser underneath in the end, and two of Ikea’s Laksevåd units, which are motorized slatted bed-bases.
I did not get the motorized bases at the start as the whole diy-bed-project was already way out of the budget. 💸
Switching to the motorized bed base
There was not really much to do because of the design, just unscrew and the previous slats, remove the noise-reducing ropes and drop in the new base units. They are so snug that there is no even need to screw them in – the frame just holds them in place.
The remote cable goes into the motor unit on the right side (when lying down on your back) of the bed base, meaning that the other side has quite a bit shorter cable than the other.
After I installed and wired the base units there was the next problem, where to shove the remotes? The included hooks were too narrow to hook anywhere on the massive thick bed-structure.
I solved the problem by 3D-printing custom holders for the remotes that can be mounted to the end posts of the bed.
3D-printing bed parts
After tinkering with the remotes for a while I decided to design and 3D-print the holders for the remotes from black PLA-plastic.
IKEA Laksevåg remote holders
I took careful measurements from the bed and the remotes and designed holders for the remotes using SketchUp for some quick & dirty 3D modeling.
The holders use the springiness of the plastic to hold the remotes in place, its a tight enough fit that the remote would stay in the holder upside down.
I published the model in Thingiverse, you can print the design for free if you have the need.
Bed outlets for phone charging
While neatening things up, I decided to do something with the charge-cable mess underneath.
I have 12 V power available around the house because of my small proof-of-concept solar power system on the balcony. This is why I charge my phone with a charger that is meant for car use. It was ugly and just dangling under the bed so I designed and 3D-printed a neat little holder for it.
Cigarette lighter base is screwed under the bed so that both sides can get a comfortable amount of cable from it.
Verdict
- Tiny on-demand adjustments add quite a bit of comfortably to the bed.
- I am happy with the project.
- Time will tell it the hard mattress is a miracle cure for back pains.
- While waiting for the miracle, one thing is for certain:
