The chair bed that you can make according to this plan has a simple construction and is easy to make; by its design, it is ideal for cottages, log cabins or any room that is furnished in rustic style.
The picture shows what this chair bed looks like when folded (a chair) and unfolded (a bed). To make sitting and sleeping on it more comfortable, you can make or buy adequate cushions. The whole construction consists of 3 sub-assemblies (one chair and two similar sub-assemblies (Leg sub-assembly and middle sub-assembly) that form the bed) which are connected to each other by hinges to enable folding and unfolding. The basic construction of these 3 sub-assemblies is the same, which in fact is a square-shaped frame made of 654mm (25 ¾’’) x 100mm (3 15/16’’ x 19mm (3/4’’) boards joined together with a box joint. We have chosen the box joint to make the finished bed chair look visually nice, but since it is not a joint that is made easily and quickly, you may choose another joint or even connect the boards with fasteners. Depending on the sub-assembly, the legs and the parts that form the back and armrest are attached to the frame. Boards are mounted under the horizontal sheets so as to avoid plywood sagging when sitting or sleeping. We recommend that you make the construction from solid wood bought at the local stores, and the horizontal sheets from plywood.
Unfolded chair bed: L 1994mm (78 1/2'') x W 730mm (28 3/4'') x H 684mm (26 15/16'')
Folded chair bed: L 718mm (28 9/32'') x W 730mm (28 3/4'') x H 884mm (34 13/16'')
The interesting thing about this double fold out chair bed is that you can make it in two ways:
- - The first is the fast way: buy standard construction lumber and plywood, sand them, cut them to the required dimensions, connect them based on our plan using fasteners… And voilà! Your chair bed is ready! Of course, you can protect it with some agent and buy some nice cushions, too.
- - The second way is to make this bed chair a beautiful piece of folk furniture: buy some quality wood with a nice texture, use visually appealing woodworking joints (box joints, dovetail joints, miter joints with spline ...), decorate the whole construction with chip carving technique (which is characteristic of folk furniture decorating), protect the construction, and then ask your wife to choose some nice quality fabric to make the cozy cushions. In this way, you will get a chair bed that will captivate with its beauty and functionality - on the one hand, it will be a useful chair, and on the other hand, you will easily unfold it and have an extra bed when your guests come to visit.
This chair bed is also useful if you have a lack of space where you live because you can very quickly change a chair into a bed and vice versa, all according to your needs. It is up to you to choose the variant, all depending on your experience, needs, creativity, amount of free time… By the way, we got the idea for this construction when we paid a visit to a household dealing with rural tourism. A chair bed like this was housed in a log cabin where we stayed for a few days, and we thought how it fit perfectly into the wooden interior. Out of curiosity, we unfolded it to check what it felt like to lie on it and there was quite enough space. So, if you equip your chair bed with adequate cushions, it will be quite comfortable to sleep in!