good design….

Before I start a project, I ask myself a lot of questions.  The biggest question is why.  Why should I make this thing?  Why would somebody want this thing?  What function does it serve?  What function does it replace?  Can I make it affordable?  How will it improve the life of the person who buys it?  And, will it be good enough?  That’s a lot of questions.

Below is a bed frame/foundation we’ve just introduced.  It’s simple, but it’s beautiful in my mind. 

The objective in making this was to maximize storage opportunities in existing space.  With storage room at a premium, how do we find more?  Instead of adding a closet, we thought we’d try another way.

Some of the greatest users of space in any house are beds.  They have these box springs that bring the bed off the ground to a height that is comfortable to the user.  Box springs really serve no purpose other than that, except to maybe knock a picture off the wall when you move it in.

In identifying this opportunity, we needed to find out how to maximize it.  We could make a very expensive thing that would have drawers or levers or something cool.  But, in study, we found that most people have bed skirts, or could have bed skirts that would cover up whatever we did.  So, vanity needed to take a back seat to utility.

So, we came up with this, this simple frame with birch slats, with simple storage boxes, that can be moved in and out.  And, with it all covered up with your bed skirt, the utility screams at you.  Nothing fancy, nothing complex, just storage.  And, at a retail price of $129 for a twin size bed foundation with two boxes, it’s affordable.