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A platform bed works in just about any space thanks to its low profile. At its most basic, it’s a frame with a base that can accommodate a mattress without a box spring. In smaller rooms, it doesn’t overwhelm, and in larger rooms, it lends a touch of airiness. (But as Brady Burke, lead designer at interior-design service Havenly, cautions, you’ll want to “check the dimensions, as some platform beds sit very low to the ground and may not be the right fit for those sleeping in it.”) As there are so many options to choose from, tracking down the best platform bed frame for your bedroom can become a real slog. With that in mind, we consulted interior designers and Strategist staffers, and tested one out to compile a list of the 11 very best platform beds in a range of styles, including ones with and without headboards, futonlike styles that fold up for easy storage, and frames that you can customize to your own liking. To make comparing prices easier, all products shown are queen beds, but most styles come in all sizes.
What we’re looking for
Style
The shape and style of the bed that you opt for will really depend on how much space you have to work with and how dominant you want the frame to be. If you want your bed to have a little authority, headboards and footboards are the easiest way to achieve that (and will feel more traditional). As Havenly lead designer Kasee Smith notes, “Options without the headboard work with oversize pillows, wallpapered walls, or textured walls.” And if you go with a headboard, “pay attention to the height, as this can make a big difference on how it will feel in a space.” If you’re a bit more pressed for space (or prefer something understated), we’ve also got plenty of beds with streamlined silhouettes and built-in storage solutions. Below, you’ll find a bunch of different platform beds to suit your aesthetic, whether that’s mid-century modern, minimalist, or coastal.
Material
Metal, wood, or upholstery, we’ve found some great beds in a variety of classic materials — simply pick which best matches your bedroom décor. If you’re after a luxury-hotel-suite vibe, it’s worth exploring an upholstered option, while for an understated, modern room, think wood or wrought iron.
Price
To see which beds are in your budget, I’ve grouped each frame into the following price ranges: $500 or less ($), $500 to $1,000 ($$), and $1,000 and over ($$$).
Best overall platform bed
Style: Headboard, two colors | Material: Wood | Price: $$
Awarded the title of “best overall bed frame” in our general roundup, it’s only right that the Lenia frame takes the top spot here, too. Liza Curtiss, a partner at the design studio Le Whit, recommends the frame: She says its “clean lines and warm color complement almost any style.” Strategist writer Emma Wartzman also owns the bed and agrees that it looks “so timeless,” making it easy to “reset it with new bedding whenever the desire strikes.” Beyond its aesthetics, Wartzman says it’s a solidly built piece of furniture. “It feels incredibly sturdy,” made with high-quality solid and veneered American white-oak wood and comes with wooden slats, and the sides are “low enough to make bed-making easy.” Thoughtful detailing, such as the bed’s commanding headboard against its delicately tapered legs, contributes to its overall understated elegance. And at $999 for a queen size, it’s very reasonable indeed (and its 45-minute assembly time isn’t bad, either).
Best (less expensive) platform bed with headboard
Style: Headboard, four colors | Material: Wood | Price: $
If you’re looking for a high-quality but inexpensively priced option, consider this bed frame from Zinus that’s made of durable solid wood. It has over 24,000 very positive reviews on Amazon, which is what led Strategist writer Lauren Ro to buy it for her guest room. With a low profile, thick-slatted headboard, and an espressolike brown stain, it’s got traditional, rustic Shaker vibes but doesn’t feel stuffy thanks to its sleek, boxy base. At $237, it’s a quarter of the cost of the Lenia frame, and Ro can attest (along with the tens of thousands of Amazon reviewers) that the cheaper price point doesn’t signal a sacrifice in quality. Her family has had it for four years, and she says it still feels as sturdy as the day they put it together, which Ro reports was a fairly straightforward process. The slatted base works well with a memory-foam mattress, and her guests have always had a comfortable night’s sleep.
Best (less expensive) simple platform bed
Style: No headboard, four colors | Material: Wood | Price: $
For a sturdy, inexpensive platform bed without a headboard, Strategist writer Katherine Gillespie recommends this Red Barrel studio model, which she’s had for about a year. As she wrote earlier this year, it was a huge upgrade from her squeaky metal bed frame — she reports that this solid-wood bed is still squeak-free — and “the finished product looks like it cost far more than $200.” It’s also not a hassle to assemble: “All the components aligned easily, and I was able to put the bed together single-handedly in about 45 minutes using the supplied Allen key,” Gillespie says.
Best folding platform bed
Style: Folding, unfinished poplar | Material: Wood | Price: $
If you want to strip things right down to the basics, this wooden bed is about as simple as it gets. Georgia company KD Frames makes some of our favorite inexpensive solid-wood beds, and this one comes highly recommended by Decorilla lead designer Devin Shaffer as a solid and affordable choice to suit any budget. It’s also unfinished, which adds to the bed’s overall unassuming feel (or gives you an option to make it your own with a varnish of your choice). And if you’re short on space or are anticipating a move in the near future, the frame folds up in half for easy storage and transportation — if you’re in the market for a spare bed for guests, pair it with a futon mattress for an upgrade from a cot or air mattress. For just over $200 for a queen, it’s fairly unbeatable.
Best easy-assembly platform bed
Style: Optional headboard, four colors | Material: Wood | Price: $$$
Thuma’s bed was tested by former Strategist writer Leah Muncy, who “despises assembling furniture so much” that she debated calling off a move just to avoid disassembling and reassembling a 14-piece metal bed frame. Instead, she tried this Thuma bed, which took her 20 minutes to assemble. “The pieces fit together intuitively and seamlessly — there were no gaps or ill-fitting screws — and I felt almost like a child playing with a set of fancy wooden blocks,” she says. Plus, the finished product was both sturdy — “It stood upright without needing to be propped up and it hasn’t squeaked or tumbled like a Jenga tower” — and handsome, with its rich walnut finish and solid-wood construction.
Best modular platform bed
Style: Modern, three colors | Material: Wood | Price: $$
This ingeniously designed, minimalist bed from Detroit-based furniture company Floyd, can be modified depending on what you need. And if you shudder at the sight of a screwdriver, this frame could be for you: Its assembly requires no tools. It’s owned (and beloved) by Strategist editor Maxine Builder, who finds that, despite the ease of putting it together, the bed is “surprisingly sturdy” and notes that she hasn’t “had to adjust it since assembling it about a year ago.” As the bed is made from three wide planks of plywood secured together via nylon ratchet straps, it lends itself to easy customization. While you may start off with a basic queen, you can opt to add on a headboard (with or without upholstery), some under-bed storage, or even a bedside table at a later date, and Builder finds that the pieces are “super-easy to move yourself because they are so lightweight.”
Best rubberwood platform bed
Style: Headboard, 26 upholstery colors | Material: Wood and Upholstery | Price: $$$
Burke recommends this California-cool bed from Pottery Barn if you’re looking for a more coastal vibe. The bed, made of light-finished solid rubber and beechwood, comes with an angled, upholstered headboard for added comfort. “I love the mixed materiality and how bright and cheery the wood frame is,” says Burke. She says that it works in different décor styles, too: “This bed pairs beautifully with lighter materials for a classic coastal feel or can sit between darker nightstands for a slightly modern and contrasting approach.” Another detail we love is the swooping side bars that connect the headboard to the base.
Best teak platform bed
Style: Headboard | Material: Wood | Price: $$
A little heftier (and more casual) in looks and function is this rustic bed from CB2 that Burke also recommends for being “simple, warm, and minimalist.” It’s versatile, too, she explains: “The warm wood can be dressed up for a more modern approach or pared down for a minimal aesthetic.” And the fact that it sits quite low to the ground “gives the bedroom a grounded feel.” It also has a sustainability element to it, as the headboard is made from teak planks repurposed from old homes in India, giving it a rustic feel (the base is made from solid mango wood).
Best upholstered platform bed
Style: Headboard, three colors | Material: Upholstery and Wood | Price: $$$
Upholstery makes things extra cozy, and this Crate & Barrel bed that Smith recommends is fully clad in a textured bouclé. It’s got a thick, padded headboard and wide base rails that appear to hug your mattress tight, all of which sits on top of a plinth base made of oak. “The upholstered texture of this bed with the mix of wood is clean and classic,” says Smith. Plus “it can be combined with a variety of design styles, like modern, classic, transitional, and more.”
Best metal platform bed
Style: No headboard, two colors | Material: Steel | Price: $$
This simple, chic steel bed frame comes from mattress company Keetsa and was first recommended by Colony design-group founder Jean Lin, who describes it as a “price-conscious favorite.” It comes in black and a gold-brushed finish, the latter of which Lin recommends to “dress up earthen neutrals and tone down brighter palettes.” The steel construction makes the bed solid and sturdy, and it comes with birch slats and a center bar for added support.
Best platform bed with underbed storage
Style: Storage, two colors | Material: Fiberboard and wood | Price: $
We first wrote about this Ikea bed when a reader asked for an affordable dupe of Blu Dot’s Modu-licious bed. Like the bed in question, the Ikea frame includes six unassuming, wide underbed drawers with notched handles. Unlike the Modu-licious bed, it costs less than $500. Made of wood and fiberboard, in a smooth white finish, the frame utilizes Ikea’s trusty wooden slats to support the mattress. Championing both form and function, it’s a great storage solution from a trustworthy brand.
Best platform bed with built-in nightstands
Style: Headboard with built-in nightstands, two colors | Material: Wood | Price: $$$
Here’s another storage-conscious option; this one incorporates built-in nightstands. Smith recommends it as “a great option for an all-in-one bed that can be really functional and space-saving” because it keeps the side tables off the floor, leaving you with more ground space. The fact that they’re floating counteracts the large headboard piece, she adds, giving the bed an overall lightness. Smith also notes that there is enough room to add storage underneath the bed, should you need it.
Some more bed frames we’ve written about
Our experts
• Maxine Builder, Strategist editor
• Brady Burke, Havenly interior designer
• Liza Curtiss, partner at Le Whit
• Katherine Gillespie, Strategist writer
• Jean Lin, founder of Colony design group
• Leah Muncy, former Strategist writer
• Devin Shaffer, Decorilla lead designer
• Kasee Smith, Havenly interior designer
• Yoan Walter, interior designer
• Emma Wartzman, Strategist writer
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