Modern Platform Beds in a Changing Mattress Industry

Today’s platform beds incorporate many new design elements into both the construction and style that is found in these modern platform beds. In this article we’ll take a look at some of the new features and designs found in these beds. We’ll also examine why these beds were required to evolve based on the needs of the mattress industry.

Platform beds are considered a sub-category of bedroom furniture and to beds. Just like there are different types of beds like wall beds, day beds, storage beds there are also platform beds. These beds are defined as a bed frame that uses slats or other materials to create a foundation that allows this bed to be able to accommodate a mattress without the need for an additional box spring or foundation unit.

Traditional platform bed designs incorporate wood elements into their design. Wood slat systems are used which provide a foundational strength for the mattress by giving it correct support. Using wood slats has long been the way in which foundations were built for wood platform beds. This design element continues today in many of the modern platform bed styles.

With the introduction of memory foam and visco-elastic style mattresses in the early 1990’s into the mattress industry, new designs would have to be considered in the construction of modern platform beds. These mattresses were different than innerspring models which had a solid steel core to them. Memory foam mattresses used high density foam materials with different layers of air-flow promoting foam and support layers that would require more consideration when being placed on a bed frame.

Memory foam mattresses posed a unique issue for platform bed manufacturers in that traditional wood slat systems with 3-4” spacing between each slat would not be sufficient in supporting mattresses that were for the most part foam. Something else would need to be used or developed to help support these mattresses. Solid panel foundations began to be introduced in modern platform bed systems which would include a steel frame or steel cross bars that could then have solid paneling placed over the top to create a solid foundation for these mattresses.

Other design elements that have made their way into platform beds over the years have been in the way of design elements. Fresh approaches to storage needs have helped to create some very contemporary solutions to platform bed storage. One such system developed by a Canadian manufacturer features a metal platform on steel spring hinges built into the bed system. This platform lifts up on the hinges (including the mattress) revealing storage beneath the mattress. Similar to how a wall bed folds up and back down. By creating a built in storage feature like this it keeps a clean look on the outside without the need for bed drawers and at the same time allows all of the space beneath the mattress to be used for storage.

Another design element is in creating storage built into the footboard and sides of the bed. Although a traditional idea, the modern concept includes having drawers built into the footboard so that they can be pulled out into the room when wall space is limited requiring the bed to be against a wall. Additional design features can be anything from optional lighting features, customizable bed features and storage options.

Modern platform beds have had to be able to change with the times. Part of that change has come about because of the mattress industry and the introduction of new styles of mattress. Changes in how beds must be made to accommodate these types of mattresses would develop including new steel support framework as well as different types of foundations like masonite and wood paneling incorporated into the bed system. Newer design elements like storage lift systems and new types of storage like footboard storage and other features bring a different type of design that traditional designs never could have achieved.