I know there are tons of woodworking forums, but I was curious if anyone here has built their own bedroom furniture?  I am talking bed, dressers, night stands, etc.  Wife and I have some old wood furniture that is very dated that was given to us for free.  We have been looking at new furniture, something that will last us a lifetime and we are looking at $6-7,000 to get what we want.  We are not interested in Rooms to Go veneered, but rather solid wood quality stuff.

I DIY just about everything and have done plenty of woodworking over the years.  I have built lots of random things like book cases, entertainment stands, step stools, black power pistol loader stands, tool boxes, stove covers, etc. but never tried a dresser or something with drawers.     My timeline is basically unlimited as the furniture we have now works.  But I am wondering if I would be stepping into more than I can bite off.  I realize that time and effort (and a few additional tools) would likely cost me $7,000 but I do enjoy the process of making things myself.   I know I could do the bed, but there isnt much point if I am not matching the other pieces.

My last two small projects:

Not me, but my father built a queen bed frame for his and my mother's bed, as well as a rotating mirror and stand.  He built other furniture, but that was it for bedroom - no dressers or end tables that I can recall.

Mike

What tools do you have and what tools do you think you need?

At a minimum you'll need a good table saw, a jointer, and a thickness planer.  A bandsaw would also be highly recommended.  If you're handy, and since you like building things, check out woodgears.ca.  He's got plans to build a 12" jointer from a salvaged thickness planer (much cheaper than buying a factory one) and plans for a few different sized bandsaws (I'm currently building the one that can also double as a light duty bandmill).

With the first three things you'll be able to re-saw rough cut lumber which will save you money quite quickly over buying S4S or S6S lumber.  You'll also have true to square lumber which is paramount for furniture.  Bandsaws are great for resawing bigger/thicker pieces down for maximum yield but you can do some operations without them.  I decided to build mine because I wanted to, and because I could build a bandsaw with better specs than a factory made one at about 1/3-1/2 the price (even with a new 2HP motor)

If I tackled this I would likely end up having to purchase a jointer / planer, which I have wanted for some time.  I have a smaller band saw, but have access to a floor model at a friends shop.  I have most other tools covered.  I might use the process as an excuse to pick up a better hand planer, maybe some new chisels,  and some dove tail guides.  There are always new and better tools I would love to by.  But for the most part I am able to make due and get things as I really need them.

Are you familiar with wood movement?

What about moisture %'s in wood?

If not, you need to read up on it.

I have been reading up as I am not nearly as familiar with this as I want to be.  Ive been shopping around for places to get quality millwork done, to either find the rough cuts, or have wood cut to my specs.

Your projects show you have the tools (some of them anyway) and skills.
If you have access to reasonably priced lumber, I say go for it.

If you have the skills and time, do it!  100 years from now family members will be talking about " how you made all these things..."  Damn the cost of tools.  You can always keep using them to build more stuff.  I bought a shit load of tools for building a display case for my models. It was something like a 5 or 8 year plan. It started when I remodeled our bathroom and took down the huge ass glass mirror. Told myself this would look great in the back of a display case.  A couple years later, we remodeled the upstairs bathroom and I got a second matching mirror.  Hmmm..... Stand these puppies up on end, side by side and I can have an 8' wide display case that is about 7' tall.  
I bought a biscuit joiner, dowel jig, Kreg pocket screw jig, router and router table and a couple of nice Diablo blades.  No regrets.  Since I have completed that I'm now moving on to building display cases for my diecast car collection.  They resemble vintage gas pumps with light up globes on the top.  Still working on the prototype, but planning on 3 more after this one is done.  Just last night I threw together a scaled down "screen door" that is going to be "antiqued or distressed" with chalk boards instead of screens.  It will go in the kitchen next to the fridge. Wife wants the lower half to be for the grandkids we still don't have. LOL!

In my limited experience building furniature/anything.  My biggest hurdle was time and space.   Do you have enough space to menouver around a partially completed bed frame and/or Chester drawer?   When I'm limited on time, space, etc I cut corners.

My projects always take up more space than the wife likes, but she tolerates it because of the results.  I have a 3car garage that we dont park in.  While my trailer, atv, and hunting/camping gear occupy most of one space the other side a tandem double is effectively my shop space.  I have refinished large dressers in there without issue.  I do most of my larger tool work on mobile tables in the driveway.  It limits my heavy work time to nice days, but I have plenty of internal space for fit, finish, assembly.  I am about to start on a 7ft long tandem dog kennel that will double as a laundry folding table for the wife.

I fully expect that I would be working on this furniture for several years.

Going to build a queen bed soon. Already have the walnut.

Watch Lowes or Home Depot. They have returned planers and will make you a deal. I got a Dewalt for about 250 off and all I had to do was change the blades. Looked like new.

From your examples I'd say no worries about being able to do it, and you need a jointer & planer anyway.  

+1 on the moisture content research.  Careful buying from a mill; it's usually green unless you specify (and they can provide) air- or kiln-dryed lumber.  Using green wood will result in disappointment.

Sleigh bed, night stands, lamps, armoir, chest of drawers, full length mirror.  All made from maple with cherry panels.  I used plans from Wood magazine.

So yeah, it can be done.

I built most of my furniture. I just used oak plywood and modified Woodsmith magazine plans for the tools I have. I look at furniture as nothing more than a basic cabinet that I would dress up with crown molding on the top or bottom.

Like you, I suffered sticker shock when I finally got to a point in my life where I wanted to upgrade from Sauder to better furniture.

I started making my own furniture 15 years ago and one of my first major projects was a craftsman influenced bed in local cherry.

Since then, I have made:

hall table (cherry)
woodworkers workbench (maple)
Barrister bookcases (walnut)
coffee table (butternut and walnut)
futon frame (red oak)
dining room table (walnut)
pie safe (pine)
jelly cupboard (pine)
two corner cabinets (one each in pine and poplar)
sideboard (cherry)
shaker bench (cherry)
sofa table (red oak)
murphy bed (red oak and plywood)

and various shop cabinets, workbenches, boxes, etc.

I'm on my phone right now, I'll post pics later I made everything in my bedroom out of reclaimed barn/ pallet wood. It's not for everyone but I love the rustic look so it works for us..

You can absolutely furnish a bedroom with the equipment you have assuming you're not trying g to do anything crazy.

I have a nice cabinet saw, 6" jointer, 13" planer, small drill press, small bandsaw, and a collection of smaller power tools like routers, palm Sanders, etc. Those basic tools cover all my needs  I  have some other "nice to have" equipment like dust collector, large compressor, spraying equipment but none of that is necessary.

I've been an avid woodworker for years and even when my collection of equipment was much more modest I made a ton of furniture. And not some cobbled shit but high quality solid wood furniture.

On the subject of true solid wood furniture I would advise you not to get hung up on that subject. The presumption that solid wood equal quality and veneer equals cheap is total nonsense. I spent most of my professional career in furniture manufacturing working g for manufacturers of some of the most expensive high end high quality furniture money can buy and I can tell you most of it is not solid wood. In fact, for some components, particle board and veneer is far superior to solid wood. And there is a difference between cheap particle board and high quality particle board. But I digress.

It takes a lot of knowledge about the behavior of solid wood to make true solid wood furniture. If you don't know what your doing the seasonal changes will result in all sorts of shrinking swelling and warping that can wreck your project. If you dont know the construction techniques to accomodate the behavior of solid wood you'll end up with dressers that have drawers swelled shut, joints cracking and failing, etc.

So my advise would be go for it. Make some furniture. Don't invest in any new equipment until a specific project requires it and there won't be many that require more capability than you have now. And lastly, rather than designing your work yourself, look for sources of detailed plans from reputable sources. If you do that you won't make the mistake of choosing the wrong techniques and joinery and your projects will last. And you'll learn a lot.