DIY Daybed

 

I am excited to share with you a project I worked on last week.

The main reason I’m excited about it is that I did not spend one cent on it!!

Okay, I know, it doesn’t take much to get me up in the air about something, but seriously that’s the greatest thing ever, to be able to create something using what you have and pretty much getting the look you want and not spending a penny!

It started out with moving my craft room/studio down in the basement and our youngest son into the room that used to be my studio. You can read all about that here.

That left a room upstairs available to use as a family or sitting room. We moved the TV into that room and have thus far used camp chairs to sit on and a twin sized mattress & box springs to lounge on. Last Thursday I began to think of constructing a daybed, using the mattress. The thought turned into action, prompting me to go out to my stash in the shop to look for something to use to make the daybed…

I know, this all looks pack-rattish but it comes in handy sometimes!

I found these closet doors that my bro-in-law was ready to throw on the fire and I rescued last minute. :)

 

My plan was to use the raised panels, which are hollow inside, as a base for the day bed.

I cut off the long raise on each door…

The two long raise pieces were going to be the front of the bed and the other two pieces the sides..

I needed to connect the two long raise pieces together to make one long front. I had measured the mattress and knew what size I needed it to be. I connected them by sliding a piece of wood into the hollow panels and attaching using screws.

 

After connecting the two, I set them on the floor to get a visual on how this would look…

I needed a piece of plywood to hold the mattress and four “posts” to support it..

So, basically the former closet doors would just be wrapped around this contraption for looks…

I did the rest of the assembling in the family room. Hubby’s interest was even piqued a little by this time and he lent me a helping hand.

I had an old door that was all chippy that I wanted to use for a back.

Here’s what it looked like without the mattress…

 

This is all a very simple contraption that anyone could make. I used a thin strip of wood to hide the seam where the two door panels came together in the front base. I also added a header to the old door, giving it a finished look.

So before showing you the finished product, I’ll share with you what I used for the mattress cover and cushions.

We had an old twin sized comforter that I wanted to use but didn’t want the color for this bed, so I decided to make a duvet cover for it. I used an old white flat sheet to make it. I cut off some of the comforter so it wouldn’t hang down so far over the edge of the bed. I then made the duvet cover to fit the comforter. It will be nice to just pull off that cover to keep it clean and not have to wash the comforter every time.

I also brought out my large collection of old pillows from storage and decided to use the insides of them to stuff a few cushions.

I also used a piece of fabric from a few years ago to make the large over sized cushions. I didn’t get any pictures of the cushions in progress, but they are very simply made, basically just large, square pieces of fabric sewed together.

 

So… here is the end result I got (again, for absolutely FREE!)…

 

 

 

I added the little French cushion using parchment paper to transfer. Like I always say, hopefully it says something pleasant. :o

For now, the treasure map mural will stay. I had made it a number of years ago for our son’s nautical themed room and spent a lot of time on it. I’m just not quite ready to paint over it. :/

So, now we have a place to relax and unwind, all created without spending anything!

I hope you enjoyed this and are inspired to think twice before tossing old closet doors, pillows, or anything that could possibly be used to create..

Happy Monday!

-Mary