How to Build a Bed Seat

Lay out two 14-inch 2-by-4 boards on the ground. Put their largest surfaces facing down. Arrange them to be parallel. Put two more of these boards on top of them. Make them perpendicular to the original boards. Arrange the four boards so they make a square that overlaps at each corner.

Drill two holes through each corner, making eight holes total, and set a 2 1/2-inch wood screw in each hole. Tighten the wood screws with a drill. Repeat these steps to make a second, identical square frame.

Stand these two square frames upright and set them about 2 feet apart from one another. Lay four 36-inch 2-by-4 boards across the square frames evenly so that there is equal board on either side of the square frames. Consider these boards the seat boards.

Drill two holes through each seat board and into each square frame, for a total of 16 drilled holes. Set a 2 1/2-inch wood screw into each hole and screw it all the way in with a drill.

Place two 8-inch 2-by-4 boards along each end of the seat boards, standing upright. Position these boards so that their largest side is facing forward, and each pair is about 8 inches apart, with the pair centered on the end of the seat boards. Drill two holes up through the seat boards and into the bottom end of each of these boards, which are the arm rest support boards. Set a 2 1/2-inch wood screw in each hole and drill it up into the arm rest support boards.

Set a 12-inch 2-by-4 arm rest board on top of each pair of arm rest supports. Drill two holes down through the top of the arm rest board and into the end of each arm rest support. Insert 2 1/2-inch screws in the holes and tighten them to finish the bed seat, which should be a level of flat boards suspended on two square frame legs with an arm rest on either end.