This piece of furniture serves a dual purpose — providing a comfortable place to sit during the day and an extra bed when entertaining overnight guests. DIYer Joana will take you through the Simpson Strong-Tie hardware she used and the process of building this sofa bed.

I’d been very unhappy with my previous sofa for a while. It was too squishy every time we sat on it and it was uncomfortable. Also, every time my brother came to visit, I felt bad about not having an extra bed for him. Meanwhile, I was challenged by Simpson Strong-Tie to come up with some simple DIY projects that required little more than just their fastening screws. And that’s when the idea of building a daybed hit me!

I have to say, planning was the most important part of this DIY build. I was really scared it would look too much like a bed, so decided to go with a Japandi inspired design style. This aesthetic is a mixture of Japanese and Scandinavian design creating a minimal style, with the idea of blurring the line between bed and sofa. I also wanted to incorporate the side table into the build, to make it all look very clean.

Finally, I put together a cut list to make sure I used every little piece of plywood that I bought (because lumber isn’t cheap). I had the lumber cut at Home Depot, which, trust me, saved me a few hours!

I started by gluing two panels of the same size for each leg (I did three legs total). For the Mattress base and the back, I cut some extra strips of plywood and glued themto the long panels  to form a trim and create the illusion that these panels also had two layers of ply.

Finally I placed the panels over the legs and used Simpson Strong-Tie Finish Trim screws to attach it. These screws leave such tiny holes, I didn’t need to cover them (I dare you to find them in the picture!).

To secure the backing panel, I used gusset angles and an L bracket (because it is against the wall, this was sturdy enough).

Finally I protected everything with Danish oil in Medium Walnut and it was ready for the mattress!

Honestly I think I’ll never be able to have a normal sofa again. This one is SO comfortable! I love just sitting there and I have already fallen asleep there multiple times at night – It’s dangerous. And to think it cost me less than $200. I swear I won’t have a bad sofa again in my life.

What about you, are you ready to build your sofa now?