How To Build A Faux Daybed

Today I am so excited to finally share our DIY daybed build that we created for our oldest daughter's room makeover in our previous home. We wanted to create a bed that fit well with the overall design of her rustic bohemian room, but also was an easy build and all done on a small budget.

Since we already had a metal bed frame for her bed, we chose to cut down on costs by only creating a faux daybed frame around her actual bed. This may sound a little unconventional, but it turned out to be a great solution to cutting wood cost and utilizing what we already had, plus with a bed skirt you can't even tell that the bed is sitting on a separate frame.

Let's dive into the build and the materials that we used:

*This post was sponsored in collaboration with Milton & King Wallpaper - wallpaper material gifted.

One other unique aspect to this build was that we used wallpaper instead of wood. Yes, you heard that right, wallpaper. Let me explain; Originally I had the idea of cutting reclaimed wood pieces into a chevron or a herringbone pattern then attaching those pieces to the plywood backing and sides of the bed. After pricing out materials, it was going to be both costly and time consuming. Not to mention the weight that the bed would actually come out to be when finished. That's a whole lot of wood. Here's where the light bulb went off in my head... why not use wallpaper that looks like actual wood!

Wallpaper is not what it used to be, there are so many realistic looking patterns out there now and many of the styles are easy to work with and apply, even for beginners. Milton & King has a great selection! From real looking shiplap, to reclaimed wood to patterned tile.
For our project, I decided to go with the Rustic French Chevron.

While you may look at the price and question spending that amount on a simple diy project, let me break down why we went with this option over actual reclaimed wood. As stated above, I did my research on the cost of actual reclaimed wood. Let me tell you friends, it is not cheap. They make you pay for that rustic goodness! When working with reclaimed wood, you will need to over-buy to over compensate for any cuts that may go wrong, along with the fact that many bundles of reclaimed wood are not all of the same lengths, therefore there is bound to be a lot of wasted material. Secondly, all of those cuts take time... a lot of time. Piecing them together like a puzzle. Maybe you are someone that enjoys the challenge, and kudos to you! I on the other hand am what you call a "lazy builder". Give me the fastest, easiest way to complete a project!

This project is for the fellow lazy builder or maybe someone that is just diving into their first build and may not have all of the tools or experience to make all of those angled cuts, but loves the look.

As for the plans that we used, we went with this one from Ana White.

This plan is just for the BACK and SIDES of the bed. Again, we assembled the 3 sides to fit around the existing twin metal frame and bed.

Wood & materials you will need:

2 - Sheets of sanded plywood, 4 feet x 8 feet
1 - 1x4 @ 6 feet long
3 - 1x2 @ 8 feet long
3 - 2x4 @ 8 feet long
2 - 1x3 @ 8 feet long
1 - 2x2 @ 8 feet long

1 roll of : Rustic French Chevron - Milton & King Wallpaper

Tools you will need:

DRILL OR IMPACT DRIVER
MITER SAW
CORDLESS NAIL GUN
SPRAY ADHESIVE
STAIN SEALER
1-1/4" KREG SCREWS
120 GRIT SANDPAPER
GLOVES
COTTON RAGS
PAINT BRUSH

After we had all of our main pieces cut to size, the first step was using our Kreg Jig to drill our pocket holes into the sanded plywood. *This is important to do before adding the wallpaper! Also, do not assemble any pieces together until you have wallpapered your plywood and have allowed it to dry overnight.

With any diy, there are always bound to be some trial and error mistakes involved, and with wallpapering raw wood, we just had to dive in and see what worked best. I started off by using regular wallpaper paste which was recommended to me by the Milton & King team. Unfortunately, because of the weight of the wallpaper (which is amazing quality I might add) and the fact that I was applying the paste to the absorbent wood, the paper wasn't sticking like it would to drywall. After brainstorming, my husband was the one to suggest a heavy duty spray adhesive. We tested it on a smaller leftover board first and it worked better than we had anticipated! It was a winner!

Follow the directions of the spray adhesive as stated on the packaging, and always remember to spray in a well ventilated area. 

This is important: 

You will want to ONLY apply wallpaper to the sides of the plywood that DO NOT have pocket holes on them FIRST. You will apply wallpaper to the other sides (with pocket holes) AFTER the legs are assembled to them.

Before spraying the adhesive on your plywood, cut all of your wallpaper roughly to the sizing of your plywood, leaving an extra inch or two hanging off of the edges that you will trim up later. The brand of adhesive that we used stated to spray 3 coats quickly, let stand for 1 min until tacky then apply paper. I highly suggest that you have 2 people when working on applying the paper. You will need to work quickly, and because you are papering a smaller surface than a full wall, the paper has a tendency to curl up and be difficult to lay flat without 2 sets of hands. Once your paper is placed down, smooth out with your hands, making sure to always work outwards all of the air bubbles and extra adhesive.

After your paper is glued and dried to the 3 sides of your project that DO NOT have the pocket holes, flip the pieces of wood over, place a mat underneath the wood then use an utility
 knife to trim up the extra wallpaper around the edges.

Next, you will attach the 2x4 legs to the sides of the bed using your Kreg bit and your 1-1/4" pocket hole screws. Once both legs are attached, you can then wallpaper over the sides with the pocket holes in them.

First cut your wallpaper approximately to size again. Before beginning to use the spray adhesive, use a piece of cardboard, a scraper tool or tape the legs off to block the spray adhesive from getting onto the legs. You then can begin spraying and laying down your sheets of wallpaper and trim up the excess after it has had ample time to dry.

Once your side pieces are wallpapered on both sides, you can assemble each side to the back headboard, creating a 3 sided frame when complete.

Once your 3 sides are assembled, you are ready to slide your twin bed (on it's metal frame) into the 3 sided frame you just completed for an easy DIY (faux) daybed!