Boring Lillehammer Bedframe Goes Mid Century Modern Daybed

Materials: Lillehammer twin bed frame

I’ve had this blah, but functional, bed frame for several years. We originally got it in the ‘As Is’ section to help us stage our former home for sale. It ended up in our new house as an afterthought, but it is a decent guest bed. When I needed a quiet place to read away from the TV in the living room, I decided to convert it to a chaise lounge style daybed with a mid-century modern look.

I added two panels of 3/4″ plywood to the end and side both being the width of the bed (41″) and at the the same height of 12″ above the frame. I judged that height from another very comfortable piece of furniture in my house. I then added 3″ thick foam to the plywood using spray adhesive and drilled holes for the button tufting. I also added a few L-brackets for sturdiness. I had the hardware store cut the plywood for me and I cut the foam myself with an electric bread knife. It took me only about 3 hours to do the construction.

Then it was just cutting the batting and fabric and stapling it to the frame. I tacked the batting on with spray adhesive as I went to make it easier to work with. The buttons were the hardest part to do and I finally went and bought a 4″ long upholsterer’s needle. I already owned an upholstery staple gun, which is an inexpensive and totally worthwhile purchase. The trick to using one is to press firmly and to pull the fabric taught and evenly.

I wanted a fabric that would be cat-tolerant but have a good mid-century modern vibe. So, I bought the fabric online from a US company that offers high-end upholstery fabric remnants for great prices (www.modern-fabrics.com). Remnants are perfect for a small project like this one; it took 9 yards to do this job and I used almost 100% of it. I love the red color, and it’s reversible to orange, so that’s what I did for the bolster pillow. The fabric is quite as bright as my photo makes it look. The mattress cover is about the only sewing for this project. The cover is fitted over a standard American-size twin mattress wrapped in batting for extra fluffiness and velcroed closed on the back so I can removed it for cleaning.

The fitting and stapling and the sewing took me another two days of work with a total of about 18 or so hours of solo effort. The fabric cost me $150 and the foam and batting were another $100 or so. With the plywood and a few other supplies the project cost me about $300. I’m really happy with the result. It’s comfortable both as a sofa and as a bed and it’s looks really great in my humble opinion!

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