Back during earlier days at my apartment I decided that perhaps it was time to finally have a bed that reflected my age as opposed to a college style futon setup. Since I was wanting to make my bedroom a mini dungeon anyway, it seemed going fancy with a BDSM capable bed was the way to go and the Depot Bed did not disappoint.
For starters my apartment was overall small so I couldn't just have all kinds of bondage furniture around, therefore a nice bed seemed to be great bang for the buck when it came to functionality, price, and space. Additionally, I planned to sleep on the bed as my main bed to add to the uses pile. Fortunately I was able to see some Dungeon Bed examples in person at MR-S leather however I did the usual intensive internet research on BDSM beds. Even after seeing many other variants I still really liked the Dungeon Bed overall look and functionality. It was certainly a perk where depending on version and presentation it could pass as just a nice bed and not a super obvious sex dungeon bed. Coming from janky futon beds the Dungeon Bed is a bit of a price jump, yet is actually pretty reasonable compared to nice vanilla beds.
Dungeon Beds offers several different bed designs so they generally have a little something for everyone. Each bed is custom made so the additional options can further tweak the overall look. For my tastes the Depot Bed fit best for a modern / minimal look I wanted. The Dore Alley Bed was also a consideration, but I liked how the Depot Bed was just a little bit more simple. Back to space considerations I decided queen would be a good size to have plenty to play on while not totally taking over the room like a king size would and not feel a bit cramped as full size might. Another big plus was I was able to get the bed as a platform version. The space saved by not having a box spring mattress allows for a good deal of storage options under the bed. Since the height can even be customized as well, this gives an opportunity to decide on the overall height one wants the bed. At first many may not care that much, but I knew final bed height would be important for comfortably bending subs over the bed. Notably there is even the fun option to make the whole under-bed portion a cage; however this would be a bit too overt for what I had in mind and make accessibility of storage more difficult.
Other interesting options include: finish, votive/candle holders, top crossbars, additional restraint hoops, removable curtain rods, and to have the footboard top rail closed off or not. I went with a black finish, no votive holders, the crossbar package including top rail hoops, and no footboard top rail. Although the top hoops project a bit more "hey this is a bdsm bed" I wanted the functionality of the top cross bars. They are quite handy as modular connection points and I think when attached, actually make the upper hoops look more vanilla normal. It has been so long that I forget the exact reason why I didn't get the footboard top rail, but I think likely with the thought of easier to walk in and out of the bed. I also knew I could use one of the modular top cross bars to function similar to a footboard top rail. Another notable accessory is that they offer sling extender bars for attaching slings and a ST Andrews cross specifically made to connect to the bed.
Communication was overall great with Dungeon Beds; luckily they didn't mind answering all kinds of questions as I decided on the final configuration of the big purchase. A note worthy detail was that they declared the beds no longer had the large rings attached to the main hoops as shown on some of their older pictures. Although they did indeed look cool which is which I first requested, they were able to talk me out of them as the reason they were no longer used is that they made a crap load of noise. I was certainly happy I took this advice as I still ended up wrapping most of my hoops with 550 cord or gripper material to tame metal on metal noises. The top rails in particular weren't too hard to get moving while the bed was a rockn' with use and then I went ahead and did others where I was connecting carabiners to frequently. That said, I don't want to infer the bed is rickety, overall when all put together tight the bed is very sturdy and feels solid.
Upon receiving, the bed was well packaged with each part being well wrapped in foam or bubble padding. Unfortunately the stairwell to my apartment was quite a tight fit so the corner of the headboard took a pretty good ding at some point by the delivery crew. I didn't see it till after unwrapping and at first was pretty upset about it since a lot of money to me. Fortunately the place that got dented is covered by the upper side rail so I felt would be more hassle than needed for everyone if I requested a return. Nonetheless I let Dungeon Beds know about it while I thought about it and they were totally ready to send me a fix if I wanted one. Finish wise the bed generally looks nice, but fair to say it isn't perfect. There are going to be some small places that look a little rusty, have worn marks, or extra material from welding. I was able to make my peace that with use I was going to make marks similar to these anyway and that thus no need to obsess with it looking perfect forever. As hopefully proven on the pictures, one has to really look for these small issues and are not glaring problems that can be seen from a distance. If it's a big issue for someone I recommend the distressed finish and then it would all just look rustic on purpose.
Besides the pieces being pretty heavy, being metal and all, the bed construction is overall simple. Two people at least to build is recommended, but if a weirdo like me, with some support straps one person can do it too if you want it bad enough. Core pieces are the headboard, footboard, and then upper sides and lower sides. The headboard and footboard have upper projections to mount the side pieces over to then lock it all together. Most of the fastening is down low where each corner uses 3 bolts, then the upper corners just use small hex screws to add a little tension and prevent rattle. I was surprised the main bolts were fairly exposed by default and seemed to generally be a scratch hazard when it comes to play or just changing the sheets. Luckily a cheap fix was to buy some screw cap ends, I went ahead and painted them black to keep the silver minimal on the bed. Considering how cheap they are, I recommend Dungeon Beds includes screw cap ends with each bed in the future.
Since a platform version of the bed it comes with 7 slats, 3 being wide and 4 slim. To be a little nicer to the mattress I was pretty sure a more flat platform would be a good idea. I looked into support slats / bunkie boards, but decided for the price I'd just make my own. With a bit of planning, trip to Home Depot, and vinyl material from the fabric store I was pretty happy with what I ended up with. This way I was able to get the added support while still matching the black appearance. Design wise I made the platform 2 pieces to make handling generally easier and lucked out the vinyl is fairly non-slip so don't have shifting issues. Between the bed, metal slats, and platform there can be a bit of height play however, so usually there are a couple places I'll sneak in some thick cardboard wedges on top of the slats to make a little tension and prevent unwanted noise.
A recent addition I snuck in was to add some sort of headboard pad. Kate was doing a lot more accidental head banging on the headboard than we were using it for tying to, so after some research I decided a cheap way to add one on was to get one made for typical platform beds. The internet was not very good about giving stats for little things like distance between mount bars, but to be on the safe side I got a "full" size headboard addition instead of a queen size so that I could slide it in front of the existing metal headboard (LexMod Emily Queen Vinyl Headboard). The extra mount legs are somewhat of a visual con, but a decent compromise since I didn't want to drill or generally modify the metal parts. To add tension stabilization for the padded headboard I also used some flex cuffs (with key opening) which seemed to work ok. For the latest test I replaced them up with leather cord to get a tighter look.
Although Dungeon Beds makes a nice Bedside Hanging Self for holding extra things on the bed, it is a bit pricey. It doesn't look near as nice, but to save a little I found a that a good fit was to hang a garden rack from the top bar with webbing straps. It works out great for hanging all kinds of toys and I'd be curious to see Dungon Bed's take on the idea as it is still a bit different than the hanging shelf. While talking about add-ons, if curious about the boxes under the bed they are a Husky toolbox and an IKEA MALM storage unit (doesn't look like they make it anymore)
As hoped my imagination is pretty much the only limit when it comes to play options on the Depot Bed. Connection points are everywhere I'd ever want them, the only exception being not on the lower legs. I totally could have had some added there, but felt it would overly BDSM the look or get in the way when I could just tie rope around the legs anyway. I'd say the only position problem I ran into was I couldn't really make the bed work as a pole with sub in a kneeling position. To clarify the specific version of that BDSM furniture would be a platform with a pole in the middle to connect to. Even with that in mind, it is more of a result of the Depot Bed design and being in a platform style, yet other versions like the Naked Bed could work better for that position. I was happy I splurged for the top cross bars as they end up as a great way to try out horizontal suspension. This let me experiment and learn, but if anything were to go wrong, the sub would just fall on a nice soft bed. Dungeon Beds recommends spreading out the load when suspending from the cross bars, but since I'm a mere 130lbs I can totally do pullups on a single cross bar without issue.
For an overall summary I think Dungeon Beds does a great job offering attractive bed designs with a full set of feature options to make even the most particular BDSM enthusiast quite pleased. The core bed options they offer is a great starting point and then each is custom so one can further tweak any design to their specific needs. It is nice to have so many good options available that can be mixed and matched rather than having to pay extra to super customize everything from scratch. Hell, for the price some of the more simplistic beds totally would be a good option even for pure vanilla people. I've been plenty pleased with the functionality and durability, but it's worth noting since made for those in the Gay community, you can count on Dungeon Bed's products to be made to withstand heavy and rough use as them boys play hard! If you only had to have one piece of BDSM furniture I think the Depot Bed worked out great for that theory as well. One can add on more features and parts to the bed or can just get totally separate furniture later, but the variety of play options the bed offers is really hard to beat as a strong starting point.
