If you have read our blog in the past several months, then you probably have been tracking the progress of my oldest son’s Vintage Airplane themed room. But what you didn’t know; is that I have simultaneously been working on my younger son’s Vintage Car themed bedroom. Today I will be sharing the first of many posts for this room, a DIY Upholstered Bed Fame.

Well, let’s get right down to it.

Bed Frame Supplies

Drill
Screws
Tape Measure
Circular Saw
3 ½ yards of quilt batting from the roll – cut in half width wise to have a total of 7 yard total.
3 ½ yards of fabric – cut in half width wise and sewed together to make a long strip
Plywood – cut to 38″x74″
Rectangular frame – (2) plywood cut to 38″x14″, (2) plywood cut to 74×14″
Support board- (1) 2×4 cut to 4’3″, (2) 2×2 cut to 7″- attached 2x2s to 2×4 with screws (see picture 6)
Box Spring support rails – (2) 2x2s cut to 6′, (2) 2x2s cut to 1′

First, my handy husband used a circular saw to cut each wood piece indicated in the supplies section. This frame is for a standard twin size bed measuring 38×74.

Next, he built the outside of the bed frame by lining the frame boards up in a rectangular shape and drilling screws in for attachment.

Then, the rails were added to the inner part of the frame 6″ from the bottom. We used a level to make sure our son wouldn’t be sleeping on a slope. These will hold up the main plywood piece that the box spring fits on.

After that, the plywood board was carefully placed and attached to the side support rails.

Then, to the give the main plywood piece some additional support, he adhered the support-board to the bottom center of the large board. We made a mark for the center, then attached the board with two screws equal distance from the center.

Here is what the bottom looked like after the support board was attached.

To give this fame a little softness, we wrapped the entire outer portion of the rectangle with quilt batting and used the staple gun to secure it. First we tucked and stapled the batting to the top. Then we did the same to the bottom.

Finally to finish off the look of this bed, we used the same method as we did for the quilt batting to add the fabric. I picked up my fabric at Walmart for $1 per yard. Score! This is how it looked with just what box spring in it.

If you like what you see, come back soon and check out part two of this post to see the final results! Headboard and all!

*Update: Final Results have been posted! Come check out how the bed turned out!*

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We’ve had quite a few projects that we’ve done in the past which started out as side of the road finds. So, when Emily brought me an ugly old stool, I could have just told her to take it back to where it came from, but we could both see that it had potential. And after a little brainstorming, I decided to gussy it up as a painted grain sack stripe bar stool.

As you can see below, this little seat was pretty freaky looking. I’m not quite sure what the previous owner had planned for it, but it had obviously gone terribly wrong, hence it’s curbside location.

So, I grabbed some paint and got to work. For the legs, rungs and stripes, I used the color Stonington Gray by Benjamin Moore and the top got a couple of coats of Super White.

To make the stripes, I used Frog Tape. I started with the middle stripe, sort of eyeballing the width that I wanted, and taped it off. (TIP: To get uber clean lines, run a damp paper towel over the edges of the tape before painting. Remove the tape after painting, but before the paint dries.) Once the middle stripe was dry, I spaced and taped the outer stripes and painted those as well.

Behold: The power of paint! Doesn’t it look a million times better??

Since we do not have any sort of bar type counters in our kitchen, I needed to figure out another use for this cute stool. I contemplated using it as a plant stand or cutting the legs some to create a small end table, but then another need came to mind. If you’ve been following along on Instagram (Erin’s Instagram/Emily’s Instagram), you’ve probably met our sweet kitty Rowan. He has been a wonderful addition to our family, but he has gained a few habits that I’m not totally crazy about.

Like most cats, he loves to be up high so that he can see out of the windows and watch the birds and squirrels and one of his favorite places to do this is on our breakfast nook table. Eww. To say that I’m not a fan of his table preferences is an understatement. So I decided to add this stool to the corner of our breakfast nook and try to train him to use it instead of the table for his aviary observances. And it worked! His table time has been dramatically cut down and he loves to sit (and sleep!) on his little perch.

Doesn’t he look cute up there on his little stool? This was such a fun before and after transformation because it was quick, drastic and helpful for our kitty situation. Plus, having some cat furniture in the house that isn’t a complete eyesore is always a win. What do you think? Do you have any furniture transformations that also function as something for your pets? Let us know in the comments below!