Enjoy sweet dreams in a floating bed

First measure the smooth-edged planks that will be used as the slat frame for your mattress. You'll need 11 pieces measuring approx. 91 cm long. To measure the planks, you can use a steel square and the digital laser measure. Then use a pencil to mark up the wood so you know where to cut it.

You'll need two supporting slats measuring 200 cm long.

It's best to have the old wooden beams sawn for you at your local DIY store. You'll need two beams measuring 2 m long plus the wood thickness, and two measuring 91 cm plus the wood thickness.

Now saw the planks in the places you marked previously. To do this, secure the planks to your work surface using screw clamps and make sure you wear your protective gear, including work gloves, ear defenders and safety goggles. Then switch on the saw and cut the planks to the desired lengths.

As splinters of wood can appear along the sawn edges of the planks after sawing, be sure to sand down the wood thoroughly. You should also sand down the flat wooden surfaces, as this will prepare them for painting.

It's now time to give the sawn planks for your slat frame a lick of white paint. Cover the floor with a protective sheet or floor covering and put on your protective gear. Then stir the paint and pour it into the paint spray system. Spray the paint evenly onto the wooden slats and planks, then leave them to dry. You can find the paint drying times on the paint can.

Your hanging bed will slowly start to take shape as you screw the white-painted wooden slats to the underside of the wooden beams as a supporting structure for the bed. Secure them with screw clamps and screw the short screws into the wood. To make this task easier, you can pre-drill the holes for the screws.

Once the two rails are secure, it's time to build the frame for your hanging bed. Form a right-angle with a pair of short and long wooden beams. If you place the frame against your bedroom wall, you will be able to screw them together more easily without the frame moving. Make sure to pre-drill the holes, or it will be difficult to screw in the screws and you could tear the wood.

To enable you to secure your DIY hanging bed to the bedroom ceiling, screw the eyebolts into the corners of the frame. First, drill a vertical hole into each corner of the wooden beams from above using a 12 mm wood drill bit. You can then twist the eyebolts into the wood using a screw clamp threaded through the eyelet.

Now place the sawn smooth-edged planks into the frame to form the slat frame. Leave a space of approx. 4 cm between each slat.

Now it's time to find the perfect spot for your hanging bed. Using a cross-line laser, you can project straight lines onto your bedroom ceiling and mark the positions of the ceiling hooks. Before you do this, we recommend measuring the distance between the eyebolts on the hanging bed – that way, you'll know which measurements to mark out on your ceiling.

Then drill the holes for your ceiling hooks. The right drill for the job will depend on what type of wall you have. You will need to use either a cordless drill driver or a hammer dill. Once you've drilled the holes, screw in the ceiling hooks securely. For more tips about different types of drills check out our article here.

Before you start drilling, you should check the ceiling for electric cables and metal objects using a detection device. We recommend getting someone to help you to hold the ladder steady or hand you your tools. You can find more tips for drilling safely in our article.

Another tip: before you drill into the ceiling, you should find out its load-bearing capacity. Ask your landlord or a qualified architect.

First measure the height of your ceiling. This is really quick and easy if you use a laser measure. You can then work out the height of your hanging bed and the length of the ropes used to suspend it. Remember to leave enough rope to tie your knots – you'll need around one metre extra per rope. Cut the ropes to the right length with your knife and secure them to your hanging bed using a bowline knot.

First, lift the bed – together with your helper – onto a bench or several chairs. This will give you more room for manoeuvre when knotting the rope. Stand on a ladder and take the rope attached to one of the corners. Then thread the rope through the ceiling hooks, allowing you to slowly lift the hanging bed into the air. Your helper should lift the bed at the same time. While you're doing this, make sure that you are stood firmly on the ladder.

Knot the ropes securely onto the ceiling hooks one by one, moving from corner to corner. This time, use a hangman's knot: thread the rope through the ceiling hooks and lay it alongside the other, longer part of the rope, first from the front and then from behind. Then thread the end of the rope through the loop and pull everything tight. Now you just have to remove the bench or chairs and you'll be able to try out your new hanging bed.