Buying a prebuilt daybed wasn't an option because a) they're expensive and b) we had specific dimensions in mind. So, inspired by all of the handiwork I've been doing to outfit our new office, I decided to build one.
We went to Resource and bought an old door to make the top. We had them cut it down to fit perfectly in the southwest corner of our porch. It was solid wood so we didn't have to do any reinforcing, which was nice. Then we went to Home Depot and had them cut a 4"x4" rough cedar tie into four 1-inch legs. We drilled the legs to the top with some 4.75" heavy duty screws, and then added locking casters to the bottom of the legs so that we can move the daybed around to clean the porch (or find the biggest patch of sunlight!) I painted the top with some high gloss, bright white paint I had leftover from another project.
Because the daybed is not a standard dimension (it's 6 feet long and 30" wide, which is wider than most lounges), we had to make cushions. I went to JoAnn fabric to buy foam, and EVERYTHING was 50% off. I bought 2.5 yards of 4" foam, two 24" pillow forms, and two bolster forms. I also picked out some outdoor canvas to cover the 3 cushions and 4 pillows.
I had to call Spencer to get advice on blue vs. brown cushion fabric.
I chose this fabric for the bolsters.
I ended up going with the blue for the cushions and this crazy floral print for the big pillows. My sewing machine ended up breaking midway through the first pillow, so they are still under construction.
At this point, Spencer and Churro lost interest in the project and decided it was best to take a nap.
After the daybed was constructed, it was time to make the cushions. I bought some weather-resistant plywood and had it cut to be an inch smaller on each side than the foam. JoAnn only sold foam in widths of 24", so I had to do three 30" x 24" cushions instead of one long one. I used spray adhesive to attach the foam to the plywood, and then upholstered the cushions using stainless steel staples.
Not the prettiest upholstery job, but you can't beat $35 a cushion! (To be fair, it was my first time!)
Ta daaa! Now, to get it upstairs... (Very sturdy = very heavy.)
I used industrial Velcro to attach the cushions to the base. It gets very windy up on our second-story porch, and I didn't want them to blow away. Sadly, even though the bed is perfectly level, our porch membrane is not, so it does rock ever so slightly if it's in the wrong spot. Still, for less than $300, I'm quite satisfied.
Even though it was cold out when I finished the bed, I made sure to take a short nap on it with El Churro.
Here's a view from inside our bedroom. (I was pretty psyched about the unintentional color coordination with our rocking chair.) Now we just need to figure out some sort of temporary dining table solution. TV trays? Tall side tables? Laps?
