Day Bed Provides Extra Sleeping Space

For do-it-yourselfers with lots of friends and family, here’s a chance to build a convenient, space-saving day bed for the family room, den or spare bedroom.

During the day, this day bed serves as a comfortable and attractive sofa. At night, it easily converts into two beds. This style of day bed is characterized by the “trundle,” the bed section that rolls out on casters from under the main section.

The one shown here holds standard twin mattresses on both the upper and lower beds. With quality mattresses, these beds are far more comfortable than lumpy sofa beds.

Materials required for the day bed project include pine and Douglas fir lumber, two 4-by-8 sheets of birch plywood and one 4-by-8 sheet of pine plywood, along with wood screws, wood buttons, nails, casters, sandpaper, stain and finish.

The completed day bed measures 88 inches long by 44 inches deep by 34 inches tall.

The Day Bed plan, No. 810, is $7.95 and includes step-by-step instructions with 17 photos, full-size traceable patterns, exploded diagrams and a complete shopping list and cutting schedule.

In addition, a package of two futon sofa bed plans, No. C86, is $11.95. A catalog picturing hundreds of do-it-yourself projects is $3.95. Prices include postage and handling (for first-class mail, add $1 per item up to $3 maximum).

MEMO: To order by mail, clip this article and send it with a check or money order to U-Bild Features, c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2383, Van Nuys, CA 91409-2383. To order by credit card, call (800) 828-2453. Please specify plan numbers.