Gregory Han is a Los Angeles–based design-and-lifestyle writer; since 2006 has been writing about home decor for a multitude of design-focused outlets, including Design Milk and Apartment Therapy.

Before then, he toiled behind a desk sketching children’s toys and furniture as an industrial designer. He has tested and recommended everything from clothing hangers and alarm clocks to bedside lamps, floor lamps, and sofas for Wirecutter.

Katie Okamoto is an editor at Wirecutter and holds a master’s degree in architecture. They have been immersed in design one way or another for more than a decade. As an editor at Metropolis, Katie covered products, interiors, and buildings through the lens of environmental and human health.

Top pick

Endless color and fabric choices, lifetime warranty

BenchMade Modern Skinny Fat Bed

The Skinny Fat is a handsome, upholstered bed that offers classic mid-century details and more than 100 color and fabric combinations. Plus, it’s easy to assemble and comes with a lifetime warranty.

$2,273 from BenchMade Modern
(queen)

Best for: People who like mid-century design, have strong opinions about color, and can invest in a durable, long-lasting bed.

Why it’s great: When it comes to colors, the BenchMade Modern Skinny Fat Bed offers an unparalleled selection—far more options than any other bed frame we considered. This cornucopia includes hundreds of combinations of fabrics, colors, and leg finishes to mix and match (we chose Addison Laguna with honey-colored legs). If you wholeheartedly embrace the label of “picky,” this is the bed frame for you. The Skinny Fat is also the only frame we tried that has both a headboard and footboard, which gives it a more classic, mid-century look in comparison with other beds we found, but its tapered legs and clean lines would also work well alongside most decor styles.

We found the Skinny Fat to be one of the easiest beds to assemble during testing (along with Thuma’s Classic Bed and Floyd’s The Bed Frame). It ships with only eight parts, neatly wrapped inside a single box. BenchMade Modern offers $250 Threshold delivery, and although there’s an option to add a $399 white-glove delivery service, which includes unwrapping, assembly, and cleanup, we think most people can skip that.

Piecing together the frame is a simple process: Match four color-coded parts and secure them into place with a small nut wrench (included). The largest piece, the upholstered headboard, is light enough for one person to handle, though having two people makes setting it into place even easier. Then you screw in the tapered dowel legs and add four fabric-covered sheets of wood (bunkie boards), which provide support for the mattress. In all likelihood you’ll spend more time unwrapping the plastic from each part than securing these pieces into place.

The Skinny Fat Bed is one of only two of our picks to come with a lifetime warranty (the other being Thuma’s Classic Bed), but this frame is so durable, you probably won’t need to take advantage of that coverage. The stitching is straight and uniform, the frame is secured by heavy-gauge hardware and reinforced steel connectors, and the entire bed is supported by thick wooden legs.

Most frames we considered use around 12 to 16 slats (thin boards that run horizontally across the frame) to support a mattress. In contrast, this bed uses four wide, fabric-covered support boards that provide more surface area and possibly more stability for the mattress (BenchMade says this can extend its longevity).

Generally we don’t recommend frames that use solid platforms instead of slats because experts have told us that mattresses need airflow in order to keep mold away, but we think the 2 or 3 inches between each pair of boards here provides plenty of ventilation. Each board also has its own leg underneath; many other frames we tried had one or two legs in the center, but none provided this much support.

Altogether, the Skinny Fat’s support system looks only marginally different from those of its slatted counterparts, and once we topped it with a mattress, it felt very comfortable (though not wildly different from any other frame we tested). Whether our testers slept on their backs, sides, or stomachs, as single sleepers or in pairs, the Skinny Fat didn’t bother anyone with annoying bumps, dips, squeaks, or creaks while our testers were resting or getting in and out of bed.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: If your floors are uneven — like those in our testing room — the center section of the support boards may wobble slightly before you put the mattress on top, because the boards are not secured to the frame. In such a situation, since the center legs are made of wood, you have the option of sanding them down to shorten them.

If you live in an area where high humidity is commonplace and you have no air conditioning or heating, we recommend that you consider a bed frame with more slats, just to be safe.

Top pick

Sturdy platform, elegant assembly

Thuma Classic Bed + Pillowboard

This bed is dead simple to assemble—it takes one person just a few minutes and requires no tools. Thanks to its sturdy construction, it can support more weight, up to 1,500 pounds, than any other bed we tried, and Thuma offers a lifetime warranty.

$1,295 from Thuma
(queen)

Best for: People who value simplicity, need a strong bed, and want a bare-wood frame with a headboard for an affordable price.

Why it’s great: We think Thuma’s Classic Bed is the most elegantly designed bed we tested, and it was easily the most fun for us to assemble (noting that “fun” and “furniture assembly” don't usually occur simultaneously). The Bed’s design doesn’t require a single tool for assembly, so it’s a good choice for people who move around a lot or who want a simple, stable bed frame. The largest components slot together — intersecting and locking at each leg — using a Japanese joinery technique that secures wood pieces with only tension and friction. Since there’s no need for hardware, piecing together The Bed feels almost like playing a giant game of Jenga in reverse: Upon completion, you end up with a nice-looking bed rather than a collapsed pile of wood.

The walnut finish we tested was neither too light or too dark, and would work with a wide range of room decors. It also comes in natural, dark brown, and light gray.

This bed ships in three boxes, making it manageable enough for one fit person to carry in a couple of trips. Everything inside the boxes fits tightly together without any annoying polystyrene packaging or plastic for you to worry about, making the Thuma bed far easier to unpack than other bed frames we tested.

You may think a bed frame that’s pieced together without fasteners would result in a weaker build or that it would squeak and shift around, but The Classic Bed proved quiet, stable, and comfortable in our tests. It’s supported by a stocky set of all-wood legs, each padded with a layer of cork, and the slats are lined with felt to reduce shifting and noise, a feature we didn’t find on any other frame we tried.

No load we tested seemed to pose a problem for this solid bed frame. In fact, Thuma cites a 1,500-pound capacity. That’s more than the limit for any other bed we tested, although many we found didn’t commit to a load capacity at all (and most are also very well constructed). The Bed also comes with a lifetime warranty — something that we’ve found usually indicates a quality build.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Thuma's original pillow headboard, the Pillowboard, garnered split opinions over the years from our testers (including this staffer who loves the bed as a whole). But it's no longer the company’s only headboard. In 2022, Thuma introduced a matching wooden headboard option that offers a more traditional setup (it also has the option of including a removable/washable cushion that comes in eight different linen or boucle fabrics). We appreciate that Thuma has added this new headboard option and hope to test it soon.

The original Pillowboard is not an actual attached headboard but more of a very rigid pillow filled with lightweight foam that you have to wedge between the mattress and the wall. So you wouldn't be able to float this bed in the center of a room if you want the headboard to stay propped up, though you can always use the frame without it. Most testers who put it against a wall didn’t mind this setup; you may simply have to adjust it every now and then, as it can move a bit.

It’s not the best choice if you like rearranging your space a lot. As staff writer Arthur Gies noted, you can’t necessarily just scoot it to another side of the room—you may have to take it apart and reassemble it.

Top pick

High design

Blu Dot Nook Bed

A unique, angular headboard gives this upholstered bed a more modern look compared with others we tried, and its hefty steel frame and plywood supports add up to a sturdy and comfortable option—but it’s pricey.

$2,595 from 2Modern
(queen)

$2,595 from Blu Dot
(queen)

Best for: Those willing to spend a little more for boutique-hotel-style design, contemporary color options, and durability.

Why it’s great: As the Blu Dot Nook Bed’s name suggests, its most distinguishing detail is its angled, alcove-like headboard. That design may seem like merely an aesthetic choice, but each wing forms a slight partition of privacy that blocks sounds and light from both sides, making the Nook a good pick for light sleepers. It also looks pretty cool. It’s upholstered in high-quality acrylic and wool fabric and available in six fashionable shades (we picked Edwards Tomato).

Assembling the Nook, the most expensive frame we recommend, gave us an opportunity to see what separates it from the likes of the Akron Street or the Thuma and other beds costing around $1,000. The Nook is bigger and more substantial, weighing 141 pounds (more than 50 pounds heavier than the Akron Street Mysa).

The frame is made of wood and steel (many others we tested are made from only wood), and it has 14 hardwood plywood slats, each ¾ inch thick, for mattress support; they come preassembled and drop right into the frame, eliminating any chance of shifting. And because there are only seven major pieces to fit together (and the instructions are easy to follow), it took our team of two only about 40 minutes to assemble.

This sturdy bed is unlikely to bend, flex, or break. The Nook offers even support across, with nary a squeak or a creak, and its heft keeps the frame from sliding around while you’re jumping into or getting out of bed.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: In September 2021, Blu Dot increased their warranty from a one-year warranty to a five-year warranty, which we think is fantastic. But according to its policy, if you bought a bed frame before that date, you still need to contact them for more information.

Top pick

An affordable upholstered frame

Article Tessu

This neutral, upholstered bed will blend well with most decor and comes in three colors. It’s also the most budget-friendly frame we recommend in this guide. But it’s a pain to assemble.

$899 from Article
(queen)

Best for: Those who are seeking a good-looking, neutral bed but don’t want to spend a lot.

Why it’s great: The Article Tessu is a handsome frame in a pared-down style that’s designed to blend in rather than stick out. It’s also the most budget-friendly of our picks here—the sort of piece you might get to inaugurate your first home or apartment. It has a crowd-pleasing, subtle mid-century style, with tapered legs, clean lines, and a linen-blend upholstery fabric (which is available in three neutral hues). The Tessu features an unfussy design that should look good in a wide variety of bedrooms.

Although in our tests the entire process of assembling the bed, including unpacking and cleanup, took over an hour for two people to complete (more about that below), once you’re done you have a comfortable bed frame that looks terrific, doesn’t creak, and is covered by a one-year warranty. The 16 pine slats—which measure ½ inch thick and, like the slats on all the beds we recommend, are no more than 3 inches apart—feel as comfortable and supportive as those on any other bed we tested.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Unpacking the frame’s three large boxes was an ordeal for us—it took our team of two roughly 25 minutes. Each box was packed with brittle foam sheets, the type prone to breaking into a flurry of minuscule featherweight pieces. There was also a lot of clear tape that we had to cut our way through before uncovering the Tessu’s 21 major parts. Compare that with what it was like for us to unpack Blu Dot’s Nook Bed, a bed frame that also arrived in three boxes but had everything neatly packed and only seven major pieces to contend with. Once you’ve unpacked the Tessu, assembly is straightforward, but you will become very well acquainted with the included hex wrench—this bed took a lot more hardware to piece together than many beds we tested.

Long-term durability could be a concern because of its pine slats. Pine is a cheaper softwood, and though it’s generally considered durable, it just can’t handle the same kind of roughhousing as a bed with hardwood slats. After one too many exuberant leaps during testing, we cracked a slat. We reached out to Article’s customer service department, and it responded immediately, sending a replacement slat in a few days. (The reps asked us to provide a couple of photos to indicate where and possibly why the damage occurred.)

Top pick

The comfiest bed for lounging

Rove Concepts Mikkel Bed

This simple frame’s flexible, bowed slats dampen excess movement and make the Mikkel more supportive than any other bed we tested. Its pillowy headboard is also the most comfortable to lean against.

$2,132 from Rove Concepts
(queen)

Best for: Couples who want a supportive frame that reduces movement on each side, as well as anyone who loves to lounge or read in bed.

Why it’s great: The luxurious Rove Concepts Mikkel Bed is a good-looking, contemporary bed frame that was more comfortable for our testers than other beds we tried. Its plush headboard feels cozy to lean against—it’s great if you like to read in bed—and the frame’s split slat system reduces excess movement and increases support, making it a good choice for couples. The Mikkel’s Danish-style, low-profile wood frame and angled legs will look most dramatic in a bedroom with high ceilings, but it will also fit perfectly in rooms with lower ceilings where tall furniture may clutter the space. This is a bed that seems to say “Kick back and relax.”

Unlike any other model we tried, the Mikkel is equipped with a “European flexible slat system,” which consists of two rows of bowed wooden slats attached to a metal skeleton (it looks a little like a rib cage). This support drops into the bed’s frame, causing the mattress to sit a few inches lower than on most other beds we tested, which helps keep it from sliding around.

The slats are thinner than the supports on other beds we tried, allowing for more flexibility. In theory, they’re intended to increase comfort when you’re using a thinner, foam mattress (although you can use the Mikkel with any type of mattress), reducing sagging in the center and providing individual support on each side of the bed.

The independent responsive flexing on each side also may reduce the chances that someone feels dips and excessive movement as their bed partner shifts around. One of our most expensive recommendations, the Mikkel delivers a more supportive feel than any other bed frame we tested, and couples who share a bed (especially if you sleep with someone who constantly tosses and turns) may conclude that it’s worth the cost.

In our tests, piecing together the Mikkel was no problem for two people. From start to finish, the process took about 45 minutes (including unpacking). Thankfully the instructions were short and easy for us to follow—if you’ve ever pieced together IKEA furniture (as most people have), assembling this bed won’t be a challenge.

We also appreciate that Rove Concepts not only pre-drills assembly holes (which many bed manufacturers do) but also reinforces each hole with an insert fastener to protect the wood from damage (which only one other company does).

These extra bits of hardware, along with four metal corner supports, give the bed’s pieces a tight fit, working together to silence any squeaks or creaks. As for care, it’s easy to detach the headboard’s pillows (which are filled with polyester) to wash them.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: We were dismayed to realize we were missing an instruction booklet. We had to contact customer service, which sent us a link to download it.

Considering the bed’s price, we’re also slightly disappointed that the wood veneer frame is made with medium-density fiberboard instead of hardwood or plywood.

Top pick

A great-quality frame with options for different budgets

Casper Repose Bed Frame and Pillow Headboard

This bed frame is easy to put together, and all the materials seem well made. The slats are solid beech, the rounded legs look and feel great, and the slightly angled pillow headboard feels soft yet supportive to lean against — perfect for reading in bed.

$1,611 from Casper
(queen)

Best for: People who want a sleek, rounded design with customizable options that let you choose from either a pillow or wood headboard (or no headboard at all).

Why it’s great: Casper is known primarily for its mattresses, but they also make great bed frames. The Repose Frame has smooth rounded wooden corners that look sleek and remove sharp edges, minimizing painful shin encounters. The slats are made of solid beechwood, and they are spaced well to allow airflow but tight enough that the frame is very supportive.

Our editor tested the version with a pillow headboard, which adds $695 and comes in either soft pink, light gray, or navy tweed. She liked that the headboard felt supportive and had a subtle V-shape angle that encouraged sitting up against it and reading before bed. She also noted that the assembly instructions were straightforward and easy to follow.

It comes with an easy-to-grasp hex key with a generous wooden handle—all you need for assembling. For a bit less money, you can choose a plywood and oak veneer headboard (also angled for support), or you can opt for no headboard at all if you prefer that look or want to save a little money (you can always add a headboard later).

We like that the customizable options allow some wiggle room, depending on your budget, making this bed (with no headboard) just a touch more expensive than the Article Tessu. But even with a headboard, it’s still competitively priced.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: For delivery, Casper offers only one option, which includes setup but costs $199. It’s one of the cheapest “white glove” delivery services we’ve seen, but we don’t like that you can’t opt out of it, and we wish Casper offered a curbside standard delivery option. The plus side is that the service also includes hauling away your old bed frame if you have one you need to get rid of. We declined the home setup upon the frame’s arrival because we wanted to build it ourselves for testing purposes, which you can also do, but you’ll still have to pay the full fee.

Top pick

Modular modernism with a 10-year warranty

Floyd The Bed Frame

Floyd’s minimalist frame, available in two real wood veneer finishes, is great for those who want flexibility for mattress upgrades, add-on options, and future moves.

$1,195 from Floyd
(queen sans headboard)

Best for: Anyone who wants a modern, low-profile frame that doesn’t sacrifice long-term flexibility (you can add width, a headboard, and underbed storage at any time) or convenience (it disassembles into components for easy moving days)—and who prefers or doesn’t mind a lower bed.

Why it’s great: We think Floyd’s The Bed Frame comes close to the ideal among flexible furniture. Its modular design, consisting of just two, three, or four panels (depending on the frame size you pick) that slot into powder-coated steel supports, is impressively simple, and there are few things that can snag or break. Those supports, each made from a single piece of steel to reduce waste, keep the panels separated, ensuring necessary airflow, and are secured in place with two adjustable nylon straps (tucked well out of view), allowing the bed to bear up to 600 pounds.

The panels, each about two feet wide and weighing just over 40 pounds, are composed of engineered birch with a “honeycomb” structure, a design that Floyd says provides strength without density, keeping the components lightweight for their size. The assembled look reminds us of a floating raft or platform, understated in profile but with an elegant horizontal gesture, as well as a welcome warmth from the wood finish.

Our tester has owned this bed frame (birch veneer panels, white supports) since 2017, and the frame has seen two apartments, two cities, and vastly different climates, with no visible wear or damage despite a cross-country stint in a storage container. For frequent movers, or those who live in walk-ups, it’s a bonus that the Floyd bed frame easily disassembles and reassembles without a single tool and stores compactly.

The Floyd arrives in two efficiently packed cardboard boxes, one with the panels and the other with the steel supports, along with adhesive cork floor protectors; you access the instructions online (video). Assembly is conceptually simple and relatively easy—like the Thuma, the Floyd does not require any tools to assemble, not even a hex key. It does call for some coordination to slot the first panel into its supports so that it will stand on its own, but since you can nudge the steel supports along the length of the panel to align them afterward, it’s a relatively forgiving task, even when done alone.

Due to the bed’s low profile, we found it a little awkward to loop them around the structural brackets, which you must do in order to tighten them properly. The ratchets you use to fully tighten the straps—which is necessary to hold the structure so that the bed can bear weight—can be irritating, especially if you’re unfamiliar with such mechanisms, but Floyd’s materials give clear instructions.

All that said, our tester assembled the queen-size bed solo the first time, although they found the task infinitely easier to do with a partner. We recommend enlisting an extra pair of hands to help.

Perhaps the biggest reason to consider a Floyd is that it’s the bed frame you won’t outgrow, since its modular design allows it to adapt to your needs. An expansion kit (an extra panel plus steel supports) costs between $340 and $460—significantly cheaper than buying another bed of comparable quality—and cuts down on furniture waste. You can also add a headboard for $390 to $490, depending on whether you have a full/queen or a king, and underbed storage.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: When we first published this guide, we listed this frame in the Competition section due to concerns that its 22-inch-wide panels, even with the gaps between, would not allow enough moisture to evaporate. However, our tester has been sleeping on the same Floyd bed frame for almost six years and is sensitive to indoor allergens, including mold and mildew, and has not observed any moisture concerns even in a climate with hot and sticky summers. We no longer believe that the Floyd’s design poses a health risk, but you may still want to think twice if you live in a perennially damp climate and do not sleep in a climate-controlled environment (since heating and air conditioning both dry out the air).

Keep in mind that the full/queen size and the king size (which accommodates both king and California king mattresses) are designed to fit both mattress sizes, so if you have the smaller mattress for the frame size, more of the platform will be exposed, creating a kind of ledge. This changes the experience of using the bed, including reaching bedside items and sitting on the edge of the mattress, potentially impacting accessibility. California king owners should also note that the mattress will take up too much room for the headboard add-on to fit. Last, the Floyd is the lowest bed among our picks, with the top of the platform rising only 7½ inches from the floor—a full 4 inches shorter than the Akron Street Mysa Bed—which may help or hamper accessibility and can make cleaning under the bed cumbersome.

In 2022, Floyd reduced its 10-year warranty to just one year, which gives us pause. We’ll be keeping an eye on quality and any other changes and update our recommendation if needed.

Top pick

A no-frills, all-oak bed

Akron Street Mysa Bed

This easy-to-assemble frame has a low profile and a spare, clean aesthetic. The Mysa is made of solid white oak, so we think it’s built to last, but it doesn’t come with a warranty.

$1,295 from Akron Street
(queen)

Best for: Anyone who wants a low bed without a headboard that works equally well against a wall or floating in the bedroom.

Why it’s great: Supremely simple, the Akron Street Mysa Bed is the bed frame Marie Kondo might pick. Its understated yet handsome aesthetic won’t clutter any space, and its low, 11.5-inch height (with an under-bed clearance of 6.8 inches) works especially well with tall mattresses and small bedrooms. In fact, the low profile, paired with wide-set legs, makes the Mysa look like it’s floating above the floor. And the appeal goes beyond its minimalist, Scandinavian-meets-Japanese style—this is a simple bed that’s built to last. Its frame is constructed of solid white oak (a sturdy hardwood, usually found only in pricier furniture, that’s resistant to warping) and supported by 15 acacia pine slats secured into individual slots for a stronger, more secure build. The wood is finished on all four sides, so it doesn’t need to be placed up against a wall (if that doesn’t work in your space), and it has an attractive matte lacquer finish (two coats, which gives it a little more protection from scratches).

As with a few of our other picks, the Mysa’s assembly is reminiscent of piecing together something from IKEA (though this bed’s quality is far better). All of the Mysa’s hardware comes clearly organized in a clear, vacuum-sealed pack. The main sections of the frame assemble quickly—it took our team of two less than 10 minutes—and require only the included hex wrench to securely lock together.

There’s one quirk we noticed while building the Mysa: After connecting the rails, adding the four corner supports, and screwing in the dowel legs, you’ll need to flip over the entire frame to attach the center beam. It’s an easy task, but you’ll probably need two people to safely handle the frame.

Topped with our test mattress, the Mysa distributed weight evenly, providing such comfortable support that our testers were tempted to take an afternoon nap. Those with tight bedrooms may find that this compact frame is just the sort of minimalist upgrade they’ve been looking for.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The Mysa’s slats aren’t connected to one another or to the frame. Each slat fits into an individual slot that holds it in place. Even so, we noticed some creaking while getting in and out of the bed. We also noticed that a few of the softwood slats arrived slightly bent, but we assembled the bed anyway and, in the end, didn’t notice any instability.

We began by researching bed frames from large home-furnishings retailers, online vendors, and several direct-order brands. We homed in on modern styles because the aesthetic is adaptable to a wide variety of decor schemes and also because the simpler construction makes these beds easier to assemble than more complicated styles.

In 2019 we researched 28 models and narrowed down our search to six bed frames. In 2021 one of our editors researched a few more bed frames and added a pick. In 2022 we reassessed our criteria and added two more picks. We looked for the following features:

• a contemporary design that would work with a variety of decor styles
• a total weight capacity of at least 500 pounds
• a price between $600 and $1,800
• supportive slats spaced no more than 3 inches apart
• all necessary tools included

We tested a range of frames and found that, regardless of a model’s design, materials, and weight, we needed at least 3 feet on all sides to work with — setting a frame too close to walls or other furniture is just asking for trouble. In assembling the beds, we looked for models that:

• two people can easily assemble, disassemble, and move
• have a sturdy frame, ideally made with hardwood or steel-reinforced supports
• ship in boxes that two people can handle comfortably while going up stairs and through narrow halls and doorways
• come with easy-to-follow instructions
• have a good return policy and warranty (hassle-free, no-fee returns, as well as warranties lasting beyond a standard 30- or 90-day policy)

A bed frame needs to safely support the combined weight of a mattress and one or two people over and over again, and that’s why mattress makers often cite a conservative “no more than 3 inches apart” rule for the slats on platform bed frames. The specification is recommended by the likes of Casper, Leesa, and Purple to ensure that there’s sufficient support for a mattress to be laid across a slatted frame without a traditional box spring. By not following these specifications, you can void the warranty.

According to Jeff Chapin, co-founder of Casper, the 3-inch spec isn’t a hard-and-fast rule since the dimensions of the slats—particularly their thickness—matter more to the overall stiffness of the base and support for the mattress. But asking customers to seek slats with a specific thickness-to-spacing ratio is too great of an expectation, so Chapin notes that the 3-inch guideline operates as a fairly dependable rule of thumb.

Slats are also preferable over a solid platform because they permit airflow, keeping moisture and mold away. In addition, you can buy a bunkie board (which drops into the frame to add support) if you have a bed frame you like but the slats are bent, broken, too thin, or spaced farther than 3 inches apart.

We're looking at several new models to test, including the latest version of Thuma’s Signature Bed, Room and Board’s Anton bed, Nectar’s Bamboo Platform Bed Frame, Burrow's Chorus Bed, Blu Dot's Homecoming Storage Bed, and West Elm's Miles Wood & Upholstered Bed.

This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Christine Ryan.