How to Choose a Bed Frame

Frame types and who they suit

Choose the type first; it constrains height, storage and cost more than any other decision.

• Metal platform — cheapest reliable option, strong, often noisy unless joints are padded. Good for guest rooms and budget builds.
• Wood platform — quieter and warmer-looking; verify slat spacing, since decorative frames often ship with wide gaps.
• Upholstered — headboard comfort for readers, but fabric traps dust and is harder to clean.
• Storage frame — drawers or a lift-up base; excellent in small bedrooms, heavier to assemble and to move.
• Adjustable base — a motorised alternative that replaces the frame entirely; see our adjustable base coverage.

Get the height right

Comfortable bed height puts the top of the mattress roughly at your knee, so your feet reach the floor with hips and knees near level when you sit on the edge. Total height is frame deck height plus mattress thickness, and a 14-inch mattress on a 16-inch frame produces a bed most people have to climb into.

For older adults and anyone with hip or knee problems, this is the most important spec on the page — a bed that is too low makes standing up hard, and one that is too high makes sitting down a controlled fall.

Do you still need a box spring?

Not with a platform frame — that is the point of one. A traditional box spring is only required if the frame has just a perimeter rail and no slat deck, or if a specific innerspring warranty calls for it. Stacking a box spring on a slatted platform simply raises the bed and adds nothing.