How to Build a Day Bed
A day bed is used for both a bed and seating area. Children get more use out of a day bed since most of them do not use a mattress bigger than a twin size. Day beds take up less space in a room than a regular bed and can still provide enough comfort for a good night sleep. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Drill
- Mortising Machine
- 4 Sheets of plywood (39" x 77")
- 14 Rail clips/screws
- 1/2-inch Router bit
- Saw
- 4 Wooden bun feet
Instructions
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1
Build the sides of the day bed. Make two posts 1" thick and 3.5' long. Cut two boards. Both boards will need to be 41" long. Cut the top board 6" wide and the bottom 10" wide. This will be done for each side of the railing for the day bed.
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2
Use a mortising machine to cut into the side boards. Use a 1/2" router bit and cut dados from the wood cut out. The dados will be 6" long and 1/2" wide. Do this for the top and bottom boards.
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3
Develop slats to place into the two boards for each side. There will be three slats needed for each side. Each slat will be 1/2" wide and 6" long. Place glue inside the cut area on the two boards. Place the slats and dados in the cut areas. Place each dado between the slats. Allow the glue to dry once the dados and slats are fitted to the top and bottom boards. Allow at least two hours for it to dry and harden.
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4
Cut for 2 rail clips on each board. The two rail clips will allow the posts to be attached. Use the mortising machine again to cut a rectangle shape of the length width of the clips. Cut into the wood 1/2". These clips will have the hook for the posts to connect. On each side of the post make a 1/4"-deep rectangle to fit the rail clips. Take the measurement of where the boards will meet the posts and make a mark to cut for the clips. Then connect the boards with the posts.
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5
Put together the back of the day bed. There will need to be two boards that are 77" long. Then follow steps 2 through 4. The only difference will be that on the back board there will be a total of 6 slats rather than 3.
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6
Attach the front board for the bed. Cut a piece of wood 77" long and 4 1/2" wide. The thickness should be at least 1". Attach the lower board to the clip on the post. Screw in a board that will sit into the day bed. Screw the board on each side to stabilize it. The final step would be to place a bun foot on the bottom of each post. These can be bought online or at any hardware store.
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7
Place bun foot on the bottom of each post. These can be bought online or at any hardware store.
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Tips & Warnings
This will fit a twin mattress.
