How to make a sofa from an old bed yourself

Types of designs

Many people are interested in how to make a sofa with their own hands, since original models in furniture stores are expensive. Experts say that the job can be done by anyone who knows how to hold a carpentry tool in their hands and is patient . Furniture production does not begin until the type of product is determined . They are:

corner;
a book;
dolphin;
equipped with folding mechanisms;
sofa beds.

The corner view is made in the shape of the letters G or P. The design of the product depends on the size of the room. The “book” model is equipped with a transformation mechanism. The “dolphin” sofa is made in a corner shape. If the structure is expanded, additional sleeping places are created. The most compact type is considered to be an “accordion” sofa, consisting of three folding and unfolding parts.

Today, beds have given way to different types of sofa beds. The fact is not surprising, since the design is much more compact and easily fits into the home.

Modern models are made from high quality materials, making the furniture distinguished by convenience and comfort.

Everyone chooses the appropriate option for themselves

How to make a sofa out of an old bed cannot be answered in monosyllables; one drawing will not suit everyone. It all depends on what piece of furniture is intended for remodeling and what you need to get as a result.

First of all, look at the frame underneath the mattress. If the mattress is on a board, there won't be much work to do. The option of fixing the mattress in a frame is also quite simple.

Rice. 1. New corner sofa, made on the basis of a frame bed

In addition to having our model for work, you need to stock up on:

Chipboard according to the size of the sofa;
foam rubber and upholstery fabric;
Chipboard or plywood sheet according to the size of the back;
plywood sheets according to the size of the back and seat;
hammer, wallpaper nails, drill, furniture screws and screwdriver.

Rice. 2. An example of converting a bed into a sofa

Rice. 3. Laying depth of the mattress

Features of the sofa bed

These models are in particular demand among the population. The developers, having provided for all the positive qualities of sofas and beds, received the ideal design. The piece of furniture is placed in houses where there is no place to install an ordinary bed. The design is convenient and easy to transform. When creating a sofa bed with your own hands, you work with the following tools:

Table saw.
Electric jigsaw.
Drill and drill bit.
A screwdriver.

Work on assembling furniture does not begin until the design has been thought through and the drawings have been re-examined.

Materials used

The frame of the product is represented by a structure that takes on the maximum part of the load. When assembling upholstered furniture with your own hands, the following materials are used:

For the load-bearing part, they work with bars and boards made of pine, spruce, birch or alder.
Panel elements and fragments that fill the frame frames are created from plywood, chipboard and fiberboard.
Natural latex, cotton, and thermal fiber are added to the soft parts.
Pillows and side parts are made from non-woven fabrics and layers.
Upholstery fabrics: velor, flock, tapestry or genuine leather. When upholstering the product, use cotton or wool velor. Natural tapestry fabric washes perfectly.

Upholstered furniture assembly process

The frame can be made in any shape and size. Assembly is carried out using a screwdriver. Wood glue is applied to the joints and then reinforced with self-tapping screws. The inside of the back is left hollow. The upper and front parts are covered with mats made of foam rubber.

Cover the sofa with fabric according to pre-prepared patterns. Having covered all parts of the structure, the assembly is completed. Experts recommend sewing removable covers. The design provides for auxiliary supports and legs, thanks to which the load will be distributed evenly. It takes three days to make a sofa bed with your own hands.

What is the difference between an ottoman and a bed?

An ottoman is a type of bed with a longitudinal backrest. It combines the advantages of a sofa and a bed in one model. Unlike a sofa, an ottoman is always ready for sleep, it does not have a collapsible mechanism, and the surface itself is devoid of joints and irregularities. This functional piece of furniture will be appropriate in almost any room, and not just in the bedroom, as is the case with the bed. In other respects, the ottoman is similar to the bed: it is also made of chipboard, MDF or solid wood, has an orthopedic base, and, depending on the configuration, is equipped with a lifting mechanism. There are models with fabric or eco-leather upholstery. Therefore, when talking about the difference between an ottoman and a bed, they usually mean only the longitudinal backrest.

Assembling garden furniture

Sofas can be made from materials left over from used, disassembled furniture. Door leaves from an old cabinet are used to make the base and back. The old coating and dirt are removed from the sashes and cleaned with a grinding machine. Then paint is applied or veneer is glued. One leaf is equipped with supports. The second part is placed under the back. The backrest is attached to the base at a certain angle. The upholstered part of the furniture is made from a piece of foam rubber covered with dense material and covered with upholstery fabric on top.

Another option is a sofa made from pallets. Production begins with pallets, they are sanded, primed and painted. The cutting of two bars is carried out at a certain angle .

It is the angle that determines what the backrest tilt will be. Using fasteners, tighten the bars with the pallet.

The back is made from prepared sheets of plywood or MDF panels . Having assembled the frame, it is installed on supports. Blanks for backs and seats are made from foam rubber. The blanks are covered with upholstery fabric and stapled to the frame. This is how they make upholstered furniture with their own hands from easily accessible material.

Unusual sofas

They are often made from scrap materials. Especially if the product is intended for a summer residence. The base and back of this furniture can be made from used door leaves. The parts are cleaned of old coating and dirt, and then treated with a grinding machine. Next they need to be painted or covered with veneer. One door leaf is mounted on wooden supports. The second door is used as a backrest. It should be attached to the base at an angle convenient for you.

A cozy home always contains beautiful upholstered furniture.

The mattress is cut out of foam rubber. The piece of material should match the size of the seat. The resulting blank is first covered with thick fabric, then a beautiful fabric of good quality is put on top. When making such furniture, special attention should be paid to the reliability of the frame base. It should easily withstand the load that will arise from several people sitting on the sofa.

They are often made from scrap materials.

Beautiful and cozy lounge furniture can be made with drawers in which it is convenient to store bedding and clothes. Thanks to the high functionality of the design, there is no need to additionally install a chest of drawers or a wardrobe in the bedroom. This will save living space and make the room more spacious.

The product includes the following components:

back;
seat;
a pair of armrests;
drawers.

It should easily withstand the load that will arise from several people sitting on the sofa.

Each part of the product is knocked down separately. The back is assembled from long planks. To ensure the necessary rigidity, the planks are reinforced with short transverse beams. To achieve a sloping back, the back slats must be longer and the front slats shorter. Chipboard sheets are installed on top of the resulting frame, which are then covered with foam rubber and covered with fabric.

A similar frame is mounted for the seat. Its only difference is that it does not have a beveled part. Armrests are attached to the sides. They should be fastened with long screws in several places. Drawers are made frameless. Chipboards are also used as a material here. To ensure that both drawers can be pulled out easily, special mechanisms are installed on the frame racks.

Beautiful and cozy lounge furniture can be made with drawers in which it is convenient to store bedding and clothes.

After all the parts are covered with foam rubber, padding polyester is laid on top of it. Further, to protect the soft material, the entire sofa is covered with strong fabric. The appearance of the furniture depends on the quality of the final covering. If you want your product to look fashionable and respectable, you can use leather or a good leatherette. Nowadays there are a large number of similar materials on the construction markets.

Types of sofas by purpose

All types of this upholstered furniture can be roughly classified according to their intended purpose:

On office sofas.
For the living room.
For kitchen.
To the hallway.
For a children's room.

At the same time, the types of sofas and their mechanism may differ, so you need to decide on a specific model that is suitable specifically for your purposes. Most often, it is the material with which the sofa is covered that determines its purpose.

So sofas covered with leather or similar cheaper materials are usually intended for offices or kitchens.

Sofas for children's rooms are usually covered with bright, but at the same time practical materials from which stains can be easily removed.

Sofas by size and number of seats

All sofas can be divided into compact models for 2-3 people and large structures for 5 or more seats. However, there is no uniform standard for the size of this upholstered furniture. One manufacturer produces a 2-seater sofa with a length of 1.6 m, and another company produces a 1.9 m long sofa.

Please note that the model you like does not occupy all the free space in the room and does not block the approach to the balcony, coffee table, or TV. Before purchasing, be sure to measure the area of the room and compare it with the size of the sofa. Happy shopping!

The video below will help you decide on the choice of sofa for certain needs.

What is better for a child, an ottoman, a bed or a sofa?

Children usually have the smallest room in the house at their disposal. Many parents prefer to buy a sofa that is also used by children as a place for leisure and night rest. Is this the right decision?

If you are choosing between a sofa and an ottoman, it is better to opt for an ottoman. It has a slatted base for the mattress. It is especially important for children to sleep on high-quality mattresses with pronounced orthopedic properties. Sofas are created primarily to be sat on, not slept on. Therefore, in terms of orthopedic characteristics, sofas leave much to be desired. Sleeping on the sofa can hardly be called beneficial for a child. Read more about how to choose a mattress for a teenager here.

When choosing between a bed and an ottoman, pay attention to the area of the room. If you can freely place both a sofa and a bed in it, choose a bed with a high headboard so that the child can comfortably lean on it if the child likes to read or watch TV in bed before bed. If there is little space in the room, the best choice is an ottoman.

Benefits of making a folding bed yourself

Nowadays, the topic of comfortable arrangement of your own home is actively gaining momentum. More compact and stylish sets are beginning to prevail in the furniture solutions market. The reason for this trend is the oversaturation of the market, and accordingly our apartments, with various products, household items and furniture, which are almost crowding out their owners.

It is not uncommon for your living room or bedroom to not be large enough to accommodate a large dressing table or a wide double bed. But what if you try to combine two or more furniture components in one solution?

A folding bed is not new to the furniture market for a long time. Numerous modifications from different manufacturers have filled their niche to capacity. But the price of compactness and technology is by no means small, and besides, all the whims and wishes of the client will not always be taken into account.

If you want to protect your wallet from unnecessary expenses and not turn your home into a cluttered warehouse, then a DIY folding bed is your option.

A bed built into the wall will allow you to competently and tastefully save all the free space even in a very small room.

The advantages of self-assembling such a bed are obvious:

reduction in the cost of the product by 2, 3 times in contrast to store-bought analogues;
universal design that takes into account all your needs;
use of known quality materials.

Options for using a folding bed.

Assembly does not require any special construction or engineering skills from you. You just need to follow all the instructions and have minimal experience in assembling accessories to bring this matter to the final result. Prepare all the necessary tools and drawings for more productive work.

A few general notes:

work should be carried out on a flat surface;
do not forget about personal safety equipment;
at each stage of assembly, check the perpendicularity of the corners using a square;
use high-quality, undamaged lumber;
start making a bed only after studying the drawings.

What's better than a sofa bed? And what disadvantages does it have?

The bed is designed for comfortable sleep. Manufacturers of modern furniture use technologies and materials that support optimal back position and weight distribution of the sleeper. A quality bed will allow you to relax all your muscles while you sleep. What is better sofa or bed? The answer to this question can only be obtained after studying the main advantages and disadvantages of each of the presented types of furniture. Personal preferences and needs should also be taken into account.

Advantages - why a bed is better than a sofa:

Standardized dimensions. Although single and double beds are in demand, models in non-standard sizes are also available.
There is no transformation mechanism, that is, the furniture does not need to be folded and laid out every day.
Not only the mattress, but also the design of the bed itself has orthopedic properties. For example, a special base (frame) with lamellas is used to provide orthopedic support.
The mattress can be purchased separately, thereby regulating not only the level of comfort of the sleeping place, but also the cost of purchasing furniture.
Many models are presented with a box for storing linen, and it occupies the entire space under the bed.
There are no mechanisms and fasteners that wear out quickly.

Unlike a sofa, a bed always provides a comfortable place to relax. It is worth giving preference to purchasing such furniture in the case of arranging a spacious bedroom. Here the bed will be the central element of the interior. The decorative and functional elements of its design include the headboard, footboard and linen drawer.

Disadvantages of a bed in front of a sofa:

Dimensions and problems with ergonomics. Sometimes the bed takes up all the free space in the room.
Only wealthy buyers can afford models with orthopedic bases and mattresses.
Some beds are sold only in combination with expensive mattresses.
There are significant limitations in terms of design variability. Moving a bed is extremely difficult, so the bedroom interior remains unchanged for decades.

The sleeping area of a typical double bed is limited to 190-220 cm in length and width. Height varies from 30 to 50 cm. Mattresses are manufactured taking into account standardized dimensions. A bed of an unusual shape or size will have to be made to order.

Bed design and construction with necessary drawings

There are many models of similar transforming beds. But a do-it-yourself folding bed, the drawings of which only you have, is already a unique exclusive and a highlight of your interior. You determine its design yourself, based on the dimensions of the bedroom.

Such furniture is perfectly complemented by various dressing tables, chests of drawers, drawers or ordinary shelves, technologically built into the design of the cabinet. A variety of decor is responsible for individual style - this element is determined last.

The standard configuration of such models involves the following components:

cabinet frame;
bed base;
lifting mechanism;
decorative elements.

Even children can disassemble and assemble the folding bed.

The seemingly simple design carries with it a number of strength requirements that will directly affect the geometric appearance of the product. Therefore, based on the size of the bed, the frame of the cabinet is designed and the force of the power device is determined.

All necessary dimensions are displayed on the drawings - dimensional and assembly. Particularly important is the installation drawing of the power element, which is the most important part of our bed. It is also worth paying attention to the cutting of the panels (if you cut the material yourself) and the display of the main fastening points on the drawings.

Necessary materials

The material for the cabinet and base can be chosen according to your taste and color, the main thing is to take into account all the loads when determining the thickness of the workpiece. It is recommended to use ordinary chipboard - a material that is not picky to use, which will meet all strength requirements and preserve the durability of your mattress. The following dimensions are based on a single bed.

Single bed built into the wall with plenty of storage space.

So, we will need:

2300x400x25 - 2 pcs., cabinet side panels;
1700x400x25 - 2 pcs., top and bottom panels of the cabinet;
1700x150x25 - 2 pcs., reinforcing partitions for the frame;
2050x150x25 - 2 pcs., side panels of the bed base;
1620x150x25 - 2 pcs., bottom and headboard for the base of the bed;
1700x2300x15 – front panel;
lifting mechanism – 2 pcs. (it is better to purchase it in a specialized store, having previously specified the required force to lift the bed and fix it in the desired position).

Euroscrews 5x70 – 30 pcs.;
self-tapping screws 4x12;
self-tapping screws 4x22;
corners 20x20 mm, 10 pcs. (furniture);
reinforced corners 60x60, metal;
anchor fasteners 10x80 mm;
powerful magnetic latch to secure the bed in the raised position;
hidden legs for the bed;
decorative elements for facade decoration.

You can choose the option of legs for a folding bed that will suit you best.

roulette;
angle with measuring ruler;
level, half a meter long;
pencil;
fine sandpaper;
adjustable wrench;
perforator with a minimum drill diameter of 10 mm;
wood drills 5 and 8 mm;
screwdriver;
protective glasses;
jigsaw

The folding bed can easily be transformed into a comfortable sofa.

Step 1: assembly of the frame and strength elements of the box

Before starting assembly, level the walls and floor - maximum deviations should not exceed 5 mm per meter of length. The process begins with making the box. Since the side panels are overhead parts, they are drilled into a plane with a diameter of 8 mm.

The remaining elements of the box are internal, and accordingly they are drilled into the end. The entire box is tightened with Euroscrews. To absorb the load that occurs when raising and lowering the bed, two stiffening ribs will be sufficient. They should be located at a distance of 700 mm from the base and top. There is also an option with built-in shelves inside the cabinet body, which can also act as reinforcing elements. Having carefully marked and installed the fixed parts of the lifting device on the side panels, do not forget to check the structure for mutual perpendicularity.

Step 2: Bed Base Assembly Step

When designing a closet, they usually take into account the size of the bed, which, in turn, depends on the dimensions of the mattress. Using corners and 4x22 screws, we assemble two side walls and two backs into one frame. We fasten the front panel with 4x12 self-tapping screws to the furniture corners.

There is one important nuance in this matter - you need to start fixing the wall at 4 corners, and only then, aligning it on all sides, fix it completely. Thus, possible distortion is eliminated. At the headboard, having previously marked it, secure the reciprocal movable part of the lifting mechanism. To secure the mattress to the bed, use strong straps.

Step 3: the stage of installing the box and securing the power mechanism

We install the box on a flat floor or on wooden blocks. At the location where the frame is installed, cut off the plinth. The box should only be secured to a strong concrete wall. The rotation axis of the mechanism and the upper horizontal are selected as the base. Here we use only reinforced corners and anchor bolts, since the main forces will be perceived in these places.

The connection of the box and the bed occurs by joining the mating parts of the power device. For proper operation of the structure, namely its fixation in any position, it is recommended to use a power mechanism based on a gas spring.

At this stage, the work is almost complete, and you can be proud of such an achievement as a DIY bed. The folding system is installed and functions perfectly. Secure the mattress with strong straps.

The final stage is decoration

The facade of the final product is often decorated with false doors - an overhead element that is part of the decoration, onto which handles are attached. Do not use mirrors in such beds under any circumstances, as they are not designed for such loads and may soon crack.

Even the simplest folding bed design can fit into any room interior.

This will also affect the weight of the structure being lifted, which may affect the durability of the mechanism. Be sure to install the legs into the pre-drilled holes and magnetic latches. Now the work is completed, and the new decoration of your interior is completely ready for your relaxation.

A single folding bed can be installed in the front room, and no one outside will even think about its presence, since it will be disguised as a closet.