Would you post the hairpin leg design so others can do the same? Or similar?

be interested to know what this cost in terms of time and materials

Mahvelous! I have made several daybeds out of mdf but I have always used wooden legs. It never even occurred to me to try metal. I'm always looking for cat-friendly furniture and this is a perfect solution for a custom sofa. I can easily change out the covers when they start looking frayed. I'm so excited about making one of these!

Mark - I'd love to hear what upholstery videos you found most helpful. This is fantastic!

Amazing timing. I just ordered the foam from eBay to build my own version. I second the requests for additional information on upholstery techniques & the sketchup plans.

Great job. You are the man. Sleepless night obsessions are the best kind when the results turn out like this.

costs would be great

@ Daniel Michael
Where did you get your foam?

Honestly I have been looking for some type of couch setup for my home office. It is also the guest room which we use an air mattress in so if we put a couch in it would have to work as a bed too. It seem like you could take the ply and hinge it and make a back that could fold down when pulled away from the wall. An extra set of legs would be needed but it could work. I just really want to sit in there and watch movies on the computer and have somewhere good to sleep and then a place for people to sleep. Tempted just to throw a futon in there. But this would look 10x better

WOW! Very well done! I really love this!

Fantastic! I love the fabric that you chose and the design is classic and very well executed. Impressive!

BTW, those wedge pillows have fallen out of favor (but seem to be coming back) but are great to make a twinbed a daybed too...my brother had those in his 70s era dorm and they were so useful.

I always thought about hacking this IKEA and using just the legs and perhaps cutting the wood to make this daybed.. It's on sale for $40 (frame) Also there is a person on ebay who makes slipcovers to measure, sure it would be easy to do it this way even if you don't sew

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70122215

Awesome!

Next up: Eames Compact Sofa? That's the one I want to build.

Anybody know where you can get hairpin legs in Canada? (Ideally...Alberta?)

wow that is awesome!!! would also love to know what the budget is!

I've been thinking of doing things myself for a while. The only part I'm unsure of is the base. But the supplies are easy to find. Check ebay for hairpin legs: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=hairpin legs&_sacat=See-All-Categories

For foam, most cities have foam suppliers that will cut the foam for you. The next question is the covers.

I might just have to do this soon.

Beautiful!

Hmmm, do the haripin legs demand that they have coasters underneath to prevent scratching/ denting the wood floor?

nice job! please post your materials list and any tips you may have for selecting foam for making this daybed. thanks!

TOLGA legs are great IMO, I would make a bed with those base imediately - if they were aviable in europe!! :-/

You are my hero.

I'd also love to find what upholstery videos you found helpful. Upholstering a couch would be like a Mount Everest project for me. You did a great job!

Hello Boys & Girls, Thanks for the kind comments! I'm glad you guys like my project. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. First let me just say that the cost was some where btw $400, and $500. This because of one or two hit and miss purchases! Take your time! Once inside the fabric store the brite colors and smell of fabric and foam controlled my purchases. No real color or texture in mind. (NO PLAN!) Bad Idea all around! Finaly, the PLAN. Find materials close to home that can be purchased off the shelf, and used with little or no alterations. Home Depot, Lowes, Joe blow's hardware.
The internet is great for shopping price, but not for holding things in your hands! The biggest cost was in foam and fabric. You have to sit on the foam. No way around it. The advice from both upholstery shop owners I talked to. The upholstery shop owners can translate foam into names and numbers for you. You can take a cushion from your favorite chair or sofa into the upholstery shop. They will have foam to sample and compare with what you find comfortable. (SIT ON IT!) I chose something called (HD-36). Firm but a lot of bounce back. They both explained that modern foam textures can create any comfort level, with or without the use of springs underneath! At 6'2' & 260,lbs I wanted to make sure the foam would not bottom out or hit bottom when I sat on it. My choice of the (HD-36) at 5" thick worked great! One more foam lesson. The foam will respond differently uncovered as compared to being covered with batting and zipped into the fabric covering. I was allowed to take a sample cushion home over night. I was told to sit on it for 20 to 30 minutes to get a good idea. It worked.

http://www.foamandupholstery.com/

Now for the fabric, sewing and upholstery stuff. I purchased a DVD from http://upholster.com/, Upholstery Fundamentals. No cinematic master piece, no special effects just basic stuff. At $49.00, money well spent. The rest I picked up from YouTube...my favorite is basic Upholstery Seams. Link below. Nice and simple! All of his videos are great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pawRXvTZnRo
The hardest part was setting up the machine. For those that don't sew, myself encluded, the numbers on the needles and thread and machine all mean something. Heavy thread used in upholstery needs a heavy needle. The thread chart will suggest needles to use. Read the chart! Find some scraps to practice on. A small square of foam and an old pillow case or towel were used to get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect. Not all fabric is good for upholstery! Check the weave. Hold the fabric up to the light, see how much light comes thru. Less light, tighter weave. Good stuff. How does it feel against your skin. You might not want to sit on something that feels like sand paper. Upholstery shops carry hundreds, I mean thousands of samples in the sample books. You will be dizzy. Wait till you see the price. Bring a loan agent with you. This will knock your DIY budget out of the ball park. Ask for the sample books that are in your price range. The shop owner knows what they cost. Look for a fabric warehouse in your area. I just found one about a 45 min drive one way. They had nice upholstery fabrics at less than a third of the price I paid at a well known fabric store! Two bolts of the same stuff I paid $14.00sq yd for. That was at 40% off. Too late to cry about it now. If you choose to shop at the big name fabric store then check the clearance and scrap table first. I think it took about 6 to 8 yards for the project. Happy Hunting.

Next the base, nothing secial here. It's a solid wood door. No smoke and mirrors, just a door. Right off the shelf of Home Depot. Whats called a 4 or 6 panel door. I prefered a completly solid door, but not a stock item. By the way it weighs a ton! You may find a solid door at a fixture salvage store. I paid $118.00 for mine. I chose the door because it needed no alterations. Just drilled the holes for the hairpin legs and back braces, done. I will add a piece of 1/4" hardboard to flatten out the surface later. Hardboard, is pegboard without the holes. Get it cut at the store. Remember the object of this project was to grab stuff I could put together like a kit. Cost little or nothing to let them cut it. I used a 36" x 80" door. The original size of the Case Study is about 33" x 75". Doors come in different sizes. So go for the 32" x 80" door. I went with the larger size for my own personal comfort. You could have someone build the Case Study frame as seen on the web sight. I didn't want to turn this into a government project so a door it was. Don't mean to simplfy George Nelson's design but I haven't received my stimulus package from my uncle Sam yet, and $1500 ain't in the sofa budget right now.

On to the hairpin legs. First choice Hairpinlegs.com. Nice work but at the 12" height I needed to the 3/8" rod diameter he uses was not heavy enough. They would flex too much at tweleve inches with the weight it needed to hold. The owner agreed. He did't carry the stainless steel in the 5/8" diameter I wanted. Ok, 12" leg height plus 1 3/8" door thickness plus 5" foam thickness= 18 3/8" seat height. I downloaded the free design software Sketchup and designed the legs to it Green's Welding...GreenWeld@peoplepc.com. He did a great job and offered suggestions. He plays with steel all day so I was all ears. I hope this info helps. Any questions find me here.
MarkMcMorris@Sbcglobal.net

P.S For the short version of this project. Forget the DIY and purchase the version offered at UrbanOutfitters.com Then get rid of the back bolsters. Order new back bolsters from the foam shop that did mine and order some hairpin legs from Hairpinlegs.com or Green's Welding & Repair In WestLand, MI

You can even order metal online. My source
Metalsupermarkets.com

I used 5/8" diameter stainless rod.
Quality..something called ( 304 )

Quantity, 4...26" long. leaves enough room for grinding and alterations after bending. This for a height of 12".

quantity 4...3"x 6" stainless flat bar stock 3/16" thick or .188 also # (304) quality.

If someone decides to alter the Urban Outfitter sofa you will have to get a look at the frame before ordering hairpin legs for it. Note: Pay attention to the location of the legs on the original Case Study DayBed. They are not at the far ends of the sofa for a reason. The frame will flex in the middle a bit. I image if there is a spring support hidden underneath the Urban Outfitters version, the weight will be better distributed over the surface of the foam and springs.
Good Luck!

My next project..an Eames conference / coffee table made with a disgarded Eames conference table base.

The sewing machine, well this entire project was done with an Elna 1010 machine. Nothing special about it. Not an upholstery machine at all but as I mentioned before with the correct needles, thread, and machine adjustments it worked fine. I did get a bit heavy handed with it in the beginning. Believe it or not I started making a dinning booth. I was sewing vinyl. After taking it in for service the repair person told me that it should be able to sew vinyl and gave me a few needles to get me started. Much smoother operation after adjusting thread tension and installing the right needle. Don't be afraid to blow the dust off the machine in the basement and give it a try.

Don't forget the free 3D software. It has helped me with several design projects. Not to mention that carpenter, welders and any skill tradesmen appreciate some kind of drawing. A few days of practice and a couple of youtube video tutorials you will get the hang of it. Become your own modern designer. There are also several pre made furniture pieces on their web site. All Free.

http://sketchup.google.com/download/index2.html

I cannot find this shape of foam for any reasonable price. How much had you paid for it?

Hi - you can now get hairpin legs in Canada at hairpinlegs.ca