DIY Day Bed on a Budget

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Are you thinking about making your own DIY day bed? In this post, I’m sharing how I made my own day bed on a budget.

After we cleaned out our guest room, I wanted to find a day bed for the room. But all of the options I was finding were pretty pricey.

I wanted something simple and on a budget. So, I decided to make my own DIY day bed.

We found an old vintage door and I knew I wanted that to be the headboard.

The rest was just a matter of building a frame and finding affordable bedding.

DIY Day Bed Materials:

Old vintage door

2″ X 6″ X 8″ – 3 used

2″ X 4″ X 8″ – 2 used

4″ X 4″ X 8″ – 1 used

1″ X 3″ X 8″ – 4 used

Stain – I used this Dark Walnut Stain

Screws

Wood glue

Nail gun and nails

Bedding:

I found the twin mattress for $50 on Facebook Marketplace. Someone had just ordered it, but it didn’t work for their bed. So, it was brand new and about half the price of the brand new one on Amazon.

I found these affordable sheets on Amazon.

The comforter and shams are from Walmart.

I used throw pillows we already had at home.

DIY Day Bed Instructions:

1. Make headboard.

I used an old vintage door for my headboard. It just needed cleaning, and two coats of white paint.

I painted over the knob and the hardware, also.

2. Build frame.

Next up was building the frame for the actual bed. Here’s my super professional plans:

I used 2″ X 6″ X 8″ pine wood to build a box frame. I cut 2 at 78.5″ and 2 at 38 3/4″.

These 4 pieces were glued and screwed together to form the box.

Then, I added a 2″ X 4″ on the inside of those pieces so I would have something to nail the slats into.

You will want to space these down just a couple of inches so your mattress can sit inside the frame. Make sure these are even and level, so your mattress sits level.