Platform Bed vs. Box Spring: Mattress Support Options on Amish Beds
This week’s blog post was written by Jake Smucker, who has served as the product manager for bedroom furniture. We wanted to pass on what he has learned about how mattress support works in our Amish beds.
What’s the difference between slats and a platform? What’s the purpose of a box spring? What type of support do I need for my mattress? We’ll answer these questions and more in this Mattress Support Guide for Amish Beds.
Mattress Airflow Basics
Traditionally, mattresses have been built to provide a springy, cozy resting place that you can sink into while staying at a comfortable temperature. It may feel like a solid surface beneath you, but your sheets and the mattress fabric are made to breathe. They’re designed to allow air flow straight through and out the bottom, although different mattress materials allow this to varying degrees.
This airflow is good for your comfort, but it’s also good for sweat. No, you may not want to think about it, but it’s very common to sweat at night. And where does that sweat go? Into your sheets and down into your mattress.
If your mattress doesn’t get the airflow it needs, many people worry about moisture accumulation and all its associated problems: smells, mold, and rot.
What Type of Mattress Do You Use?
Your first consideration in selecting a support system is your mattress itself. Whereas traditional mattresses were heavily reliant on springs topped by various types of foam, modern mattresses may not conform to that model.
The mattress of the 2010s is the mail-order mattress. You’ve heard of some of these startups: Casper, Purple, Tuft & Needle, and so many more. They deliver your mattress in a modest-sized box, compressed and vacuum-sealed into a tight roll. How did they do that? It’s simple: they removed the springs! These spring-free mattresses claim comparable or better comfort with a much lighter-weight all-foam design. We’re not mattress experts, so we’ll withhold judgment on the accuracy of these claims.
Regardless of where you got your mattress, we highly recommend that you check the information provided by your mattress manufacturer to find out how they recommend supporting your mattress. For example, some all-foam mattress companies claim that a box spring doesn’t offer enough support for their mattresses, recommending a solid platform instead.
What are the Most Common Types of Mattress Support?
- Slats and a box spring
- Slats and a plywood platform or bunkie board
- Slatted Foundation
- Under-bed storage platform
Slats vs. Platform
So now you know why airflow is essential. And it may now seem obvious why slats are better than a platform: 4 to 6 slats allow significantly more air to flow between them than a solid platform.
But put your mattress directly on the slats and you’re presented with a new problem: a saggy mattress. Mattresses are soft, springy, and pliable, not rigid planks.
So, whether it happens immediately or over months, your mattress will lose its shape and become a wavy mess—lifted only where slats and sagging in between support it. Not only is that uncomfortable to sleep on, but it’s also bad for the durability of your mattress.
What’s the Purpose of a Box Spring?
A box spring evenly distributes the pressure across the mattress, helping to prevent sagging that would occur if the mattress were laid directly across the slats. The box spring sits on top of the slats, supporting the mattress while allowing airflow to prevent mildew. A box spring enables the mattress to keep its shape and last longer.
Reasons You May Not Like a Box Spring
- Your mattress: check your mattress requirements. If your mattress requires more consistent support than a box spring can provide, you may be better off with a solid platform.
- You don’t like the look. Not a fan of the double-stacked look on your bed?
- You don’t want your mattress that high off the ground.
- A box spring is more expensive than a platform and isn’t worth the cost to you.
- Your bed design is made for a mattress only. Minimalist design and mid-century modern beds may look unusual with their thin frames piled with both a box spring and mattress. Even many Amish shaker beds would suffer the same imbalance. Similarly, Murphy wall beds, with their moving parts and ability to hide the mattress away, can’t fit a box spring. Their built-in platforms are typically made for just a narrow mattress.
What are the Alternatives to the Box Spring?
There are many reasons box springs have fallen out of favor in certain circles. But if your mattress needs support, what option do you have? You have several options. We’ll start with the simplest.
Plywood Platform for Mattress Support
The plywood platform is the simplest mattress support. The DIY solution: buy your plywood at a hardware store, cut it to size, and there you have it—support for your mattress.
Or, you can go the more straightforward route and order one with your bed. All of our Amish wood shops can make you a perfect plywood platform, cut precisely to size and often stained to match your bed, just in case it’s seen.
Bunkie Board
The bunkie board is an option with a few of our woodworkers. Like plywood, this is also a solid platform to support beds. It sits atop slats at just an inch or two tall. However, unlike the plywood option, the bunkie board is covered by fabric. This means that if the edge is viewed from the side, it’ll appear more like the top edge of a box spring or something that belongs on a bed.
It may come as no surprise: the name bunkie board, also spelled bunky board or bunkie board, comes from the bunk bed. A platform to support a kid’s mattress without a box spring. The bunkie board, however, has evolved from the bunkbed to Amish beds of all sizes.
Slatted Foundation
I’ll never understand why they missed the opportunity to call this design a “slatform.” Still, the slatted foundation is basically a platform made of slats spaced a couple of inches apart across the entire length of the bed. This hybrid slat/platform design, sometimes referred to as a mattress foundation or slat foundation, strikes a balance between the two extremes. This slat-based design approximates a platform while providing consistent support underneath the mattress.
It uses the same slats as a typical slat bed, but instead of just 4 to 6 underneath, the slats fill the bed, spaced about 2-3 inches apart. This provides an excellent base and plenty of support to prevent the mattress from sagging.
This provides a strong foundation for your mattress while allowing some airflow between the slats. Many of our shops can build a bed this way, but you may have to request it with custom pricing if it’s not available in the options.
Supporting an Adjustable Mattress
What if you plan on using an adjustable mattress? Many Amish-made beds can support an adjustable mattress, but storage beds and platform beds cannot. We must know if you plan to use an adjustable mattress with your custom bed, so we can ensure the bed you’ve chosen will accommodate it and notify the woodshop accordingly. When building your bed, the craftsmen will leave out the slats so that the adjustable base and mattress will fit down into the bed frame. We go into this topic in more depth in our blog on Amish beds with adjustable mattresses.
Under-Bed Storage Platform
Most Amish Beds at DutchCrafters offer the option to add under-bed storage drawers. (Pro tip: even if it’s not listed as an option, ask about it. We can likely make it happen.) Whether you’re adding the standard 6 drawers (3 on each side) or just 4, 3, or even 2 footboard drawers, that change will always be accompanied by a switch from slats to a solid platform over the drawers.
Whereas the typical plywood platforms sit on top of slats, these under-bed storage platforms will be large boxes that connect to form a solid platform.
One last under-bed storage design worth considering is the lift storage bed, a unique design that allows you to lift your entire mattress and platform, like a car hood, to access an open storage area beneath. This is only available on a few select beds here at DutchCrafters.
You may wonder about the use of plywood in solid wood Amish furniture at all. And we’ve actually written an entire blog post on the topic! Anytime plywood is used in DutchCrafters Amish furniture, it’s used to enhance the durability of the piece, not cut costs and cheapen the product. This is the case with your platform beds; high-grade plywood is the best material for the job!
Height of a Platform Bed
What if you don’t want your platform bed mattress to be closer to the ground than a bed with box springs? There’s a simple solution to this; we can ask our woodworkers to raise the height of the slat attachment to account for this. Give us a call if you’re ordering with a platform, and we’ll be happy to request the height be raised.
Amish Platform Beds at DutchCrafters
So now what? Let’s shop! Hopefully, you find it worth spending some of your hard-earned savings to invest in a bed that will last for generations: one that you can customize to match your home’s needs. If so, you can start your shopping with the most extensive collection of Amish beds online here at DutchCrafters. You can begin with the Platform Beds or Storage Beds pages, or with all Amish Beds, and then ask us to add a platform or under-bed storage once you have selected a favorite.
If Amish furniture isn’t right for you today, we wish you luck finding a solid bed that correctly supports your mattress. We hope we were able to assist you with your search in some way. Thanks for reading!
Do You Need a Box Spring With a Platform Bed?
You do not need a box spring with a platform bed. The platform bed is designed to support the mattress without a box spring to give your bed a low profile.
Mattress Support Comparison
| Support Type | Best For | Foam/Hybrid Friendly | Airflow | Height Profile | Key Pros | Consider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slats + Box Spring | Traditional feel, innerspring mattresses | Sometimes (check brand) | Good (air under box) | Taller | Even support, easy way to raise mattress height | Some foam/hybrid brands don’t recommend box springs |
| Plywood Platform | All-foam & many hybrids needing continuous surface | Yes | Low (solid deck) | Low / modern | Full, uniform support; simple, sturdy | Less airflow; edges visible unless covered |
| Bunkie Board | Low-profile solid support on slats | Yes | Low (solid deck) | Low | Cleaner look than raw plywood; slim height | Similar airflow trade-off as platform |
| Slatted Foundation | Broad compatibility; foam/hybrid when slats are close | Yes (with ~2–3″ spacing) | Moderate | Medium | Even support across frame; some airflow | Requires close spacing; center rail + legs on Queen+ |
| Under-Bed Storage Platform | Max storage & clean, built-in look | Usually yes | Low (solid deck) | Medium | Drawers replace slats; strong continuous base | Less airflow; check adjustable-base compatibility |
| Adjustable Base | Reading, reflux, snoring relief, recovery | Yes (check model) | Varies | Medium | Head/foot articulation; replaces slats/box | Needs compatible bed frame; not for most storage beds |
| Notes: Many foam/hybrid brands specify a solid platform or slats ~2–3″ apart. Queen and King frames should include a center rail with support legs. Always confirm requirements with your mattress manufacturer. | ||||||
More Resources on Amish Bedroom Furniture:
- Shop: Amish Beds
- Shop: Amish Bedroom Sets
- Dresser vs. Chest of Drawers
- Should I Get a Sleigh Bed?
- History of the Hope Chest
- 6 Reasons to Choose American-Made Furniture
- Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Bedroom Set
- How to Fix a Squeaky Bed Frame
- 5 Types of Murphy Beds
- How to Choose a Wooden Bed Frame for an Adjustable Mattress
- Panel Beds vs. Platform Beds
- How to Select the Right Bed Frame
- 5 Reasons to Get a Headboard Only
- Bed Size and Dimensions Guide
- Bedroom Furniture Buying Guide
- Best Wood Types for Beds
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