To find our nine favorites, we spent weeks researching frames and several sweaty days unpacking boxes, tightening bolts, and, yes, collapsing into bed.
All of our picks are durable, high-quality, and stylish. We also have a guide to our favorite budget-friendly options.
Why you should trust us
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.
The most color and fabric options: 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.
Buying Options
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 The 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.
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.
| Materials | alder hardwood frame; 100% polyester upholstery or leather; brushed-nickel metal or wooden legs |
| Finishes/colors | about 100 fabric and color options, four leg finishes |
| Sizes available | twin, full, queen, king, California king |
| Warranty/returns | lifetime limited warranty; 100-day return policy |
| Shipping | $250 Threshold delivery |
Quick and easy assembly, without tools: Thuma Classic Bed + Pillowboard
Top pick
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.
Buying Options
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.