An idea sparked by beer bottles made a Waikanae Beach man richer by $3000.

Steve Sandvoss, a carpenter, was watching TV while drinking beer when he began to think that there must be something he could do with beer bottles. That was two years ago.

Sandvoss then took a look in the family garage, where they have been collecting beer bottles. He gathered more beer bottles from family for a year.

Then he began designing a plan for his beer bottle bed.

"They (the bottles) were all mouldy and disgusting. It took about 20 hours and two litres of turps to clean them up," Sandvoss told Dominion Post.

He continued to work on his project during weekends for a year before it was completed.

"I really like the bed and I wouldn't mind just hanging on to it because I really, really like it. I wouldn't mind having it in my lounge, I think I'll get really emotional when I sell it."

The bed is made up of a top and bottom wooden plate with the bottles rebated into the timber, so they would not smash from the weight, he told Dominion Post.

Sandvoss completed the bed with 212 full bottles and 106 half bottles that sport a single mattress with a florescent green light housed in the base. The beer bottle bed had 73,000 views before the auction ended last Wednesday.

His beer bottle bed eventually got sold on online auction website Trade Me for $3000. Trade Me user 'pen25' was the highest bidder, after he traded on the bed with a reserve price of $2,500.

Sandvoss admitted he has grown quite sentimental over his project, and he was not all thrilled that it would be sold, but the proceeds would go to a worthy cause.

The creative carpenter told Dominion post the proceeds of the sale would go to his upcoming wedding.