Sunday, June 3, 2012

DIY Outdoor Project: Phase 2 - Making the Outdoor Daybed

I received a comment from a very nice reader yesterday about the first phase of this outdoor project, painting stripes on a fence. She loved the colors of the stripes on the white fence and told me I must have a ton of patience. No patience, Pat. It was all about using the product FROGTAPE. It worked very well for the surface I was putting it on and I highly recommend it.

Today is Phase 2: Making the Outdoor Daybed!

Oh yes! What is an outdoor room without some place to lounge? My husband and I got the idea when he was eyeing a Balinese Bamboo Outdoor Bed in a local store. The price, $1500. I said we can make that! And that is what we did. Of course we had limited room and it would not be made out of bamboo but it would be the best outdoor longing place we would have. And it definitely would be less than $1500.



The frame was easy. We first measured the size of our enclosed patio (which was 8'x10') to determine how large our daybed could be. We also have a sliding patio door and did not want the bed to extend into or obstruct the entrance . We decided that 43" deep and  the standard length of a sheet of plywood 8' would be fine.

We used:
4- 2x4x8' douglas fir studs
1 - sheet of 3/4" AC Plywood (this is good on one side)
1 - 4x4x8' douglas fir posts
Box of 2-1/2" exterior deck screws
1- piece of exterior siding
1 - tube of exterior caulking to seal seams
Exterior Paint of your choice

We than made our frame as shown above using the 2x4 studs and cutting them to our size. The 4x4 posts were used as legs, securing them into the corners with the deck screws for strength as well as height. Remember, a center piece of wood is necessary for support because of the size and weight that will be on this daybed. 

Finishing sides: We used an 8" x 10' single piece of outdoor siding for the edges. We ripped our's down to 6" wide since we wanted the legs to show. We also attached the siding with exterior deck screws to the front and one side that would be showing. We cut holes with a hole-saw into the top of the plywood so that it could be removed easily. We also notched out our top to fit around our fence posts. This is not necessary if you are placing your's against a wall or flat surface,
All painted and done! Well Not yet....come back tomorrow to see the
BIG REVEAL !
Thanks for taking a peek ~
Sharon :0)



12 comments:

  1. Wow! This is so creative and looks fantastic. Great job!

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  2. I really love your project! Can you tell me if you used one piece of plywood for the top or if you cut in half? in picture # 1 (the one with the dog) it seems as one piece, but in picture # 2 (where it is sitting on newspapers) it seems you have 2 pieces. Thank you!

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  3. Oh! also would you mind sharing where you got the foam for the mattress? ( I also live in Southern California, LA area), I have been researching for a while now, and it seems that the standard depth of a roll of foam at Joann's is 24" deep. All the custom cuts I found online are a bit expensive. I was planning to do a sectional so I'll end up cutting anyway, but 24" deep is a little too shallow to be comfortable. Thank you! Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Hello~

      Thanks for the Inquiry! I/We used 1 sheet of 3/4 plywood (good on one side-.....most lumber yards call it 4x8x3/4"AC Plywood).

      Purchase your foam at a Canvas Shop or GOOGLE Foam Rubber online. There are a ton of places you can order from and at a reasonable price. Do not buy it at JoAnns because they are limited by size and thickness and you end up spending your money on a piece of foam that isn't quite right when you could search the internet and find an upholsterer in your area that can get you EXACTLY what you need! They can show you thicknesses and have it cut exactly to your dimensions! I purchased regular interior foam because of the price. My fabric was Sunbrella (which is an exterior fabric)Exterior foam let's the water go right through w/o rotting but very expensive. Also, just bring your cushions indoors when it rains, which is not much here in So Cal! I hoped all this helps... email me again I would love to hear and see how your project turns out! Thanks!

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  4. Thank you so much for your quick response! I'll take look downtown LA it's a great place to find foam and fabric. My balcony is covered so I too could use regular foam but outdoor fabric (for sun exposure). I will definitively send you pics! :-)

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