Makeshift DIY daybed for lockdown napping

Spending more time inside, we needed a narrow, temporary DIY daybed to stretch out and nap on. However, we only had a little niche with a water view.

Materials used:

HYLLIS storage units | IKEA.com

One tall and one short IKEA HYLLIS outdoor steel shelves
2 plastic covers, one for each size
12 floor protective felt covers for screws on bottom
Padding/ foam/ old quilts for cushioning the sleep surface
“Earthquake goop” or removable sticky adherence
Perhaps a SELF INFLATING camping pad, narrow and 1 inch deep to add extra cushion to the sleep surface
Staple gun with big staples to puncture the plywood
Sufficient fabric to “finish” the cushioned board by stapling it over the padding attached to the board
3/4 inch plywood

HYLLIS DIY daybed instructions:

We had bought the steel garden shelves and matching plastic covers to make mini green houses but decided napping was more important. We built the shelves as directed. But we did NOT put on the plastic covers until later.

One tall one and one short one, with their tops attached to each other at the center gives double support at hip level when reclined. It is also the initial sitting area before lying down.

It is long enough for extra pillows and tall people. Attach the two tops with sticky “earthquake goop”. Place them end to end, on their backs, butting the two top shelves against each other, top to top.

You could screw or clamp them together. But the goop is easily removed later if you want to move it or change it back to two standing shelves.

Our unit is wedged between a fireplace and wall so they can’t separate easily as configured in our niche.

MAKE SURE YOU ADD FLOOR PROTECTOR SLIDES OR PADS ON THE BOTTOM SCREWS. When exposed, the sheet metal screws are sharp.

Making the padded top

Add a precut piece of plywood. (Ours measured exactly the length of the combined short and tall units.)

The self inflating camping pad (72” x 24”) also fits perfectly. So we could pad it and still have it fit in the existing niche.

Do take into consideration how much “wrap” you plan to use as it will extend outside your board.

We did not plan to use this platform bed outdoors so we did not consider what should be used as padding when exposed to the elements.

Instead we used what was available.

We laid the board on top of a mix of thicker fabric we already had. That included moving blankets, clean under-carpet foam and a doubled up old quilt. We pulled it all taut with the quilt on the bottom the layers, then the board on top.

Staple it down about 1” from the edge all around.

When you flip it over the quilt is taut on top with the board sitting directly on the shelving frames. That part required two people: one to pull taut and one to staple.

Keep your staples close to the edge. Later, you will add a pretty piece of fabric stapled down over the top of the batting to make it taut and looking like professional upholstery work.

Extra padding

When we flipped it and sat on it to test … it was too hard, just not comfy enough for napping.

We added a very cheap camping sleep mat that SELF INFLATES. (As it keeps the thickness to an added inch ….pump up ones are too thick).

We blew extra air into the valve for more stiffness. Then, taped it down to the stapled side of the board. It was very comfy and then ready to staple the pretty fabric of your choice.

Sequestering and closed fabric stores left us with insufficient fabric at hand to finish the project. So we draped a thick tablecloth over it as a temporary cover.

Last step for our DIY Daybed

Before we secured the padded board and self inflating pad to the frame, we pulled the plastic covers over the ends of the frames to meet in the middle and taped them closed with clear packing tape.

If the black plastic foot covers won’t stay in place when you start to “dress” the frames in their plastic covers, goop them in place so the feet ends stay padded and the plastic is not torn by the legs when pulled taut to the middle.

We chose to use the plastic covers to avoid having to clean dust from under the bed. It also hides the goop or hardware used to secure them together top- to-top. It also creates an clean industrial look we liked. The board can be secured with tape, earthquake goop, or screws to keep it from slipping off the steel frame.