How I Made an Outdoor Lounger Bed for Less than $30 and Giveaway!

How I Made an Outdoor Bed for Less Than $30

Remember last week when I showed you how I got my outdoor furniture cushions ready for summer with a good scrub down?

I gave you a brief glimpse of my outdoor lounger/bed that I put together on our back deck.

Before the deck installation process can even begin, you’ll need to design and start the planning on how to begin Building a deck. Where do you want it? How large will it be? How tall? Will it require railings and stairs? Think about how you expect to use the space and plan accordingly. There are a lot of online resources available to help you find basic deck plans. Just keep in mind that the more time you put into the planning phase when wood decking for your balcony, the smoother the construction process will be.

The only seating I had for the last few summers was a small wicker love seat and a vintage adirondack chair (one of my first vintage purchases right out of college!)

However, I spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer supervising the kids in the swimming pool and I needed something a bit more comfortable and bigger to lounge on.

This is where the generosity of your neighbors comes in handy! There’s a house around the corner from us that has been under construction of some sort for the last million years. Seriously! We have lived in this neighborhood for 3 years now and it’s been a work in progress all that time at least. Every once in awhile, while driving by their house, I hit the curbside jackpot.

A few weeks ago they had this bed frame and mattress on the curb with a free sign. Now here is the way I curbside shop. I drive by and scan the item. I usually pass on by thinking I DO NOT NEED THAT! And I drive on my merry way. When I return and the item is still there, I naturally assume it’s meant to be. That’s when the trunk gets cleared and the curbside treasures get loaded in. And sometimes a kid has to sit on the roof!

My original  intention was to paint the bed frame and sell it as a bulletin board. And then I would pull the mattress apart and get the springs out for some additional crafty ideas. Until we had the first pool day. It didn’t take me long to drag that mattress and bed spring to the backyard!

I know what you are thinking, a used mattress??? Yuck! Well, in all fairness I did Lysol the bajeebers out of it. And then I purchased a vinyl mattress protector  for $9 to cover it.

I then purchased a set of Twin Sized Jersey Knit Sheets from Target for $20 The fitted sheet went on the mattress. And I have the flat sheet tucked under the mattress and wrapped around as a bed skirt.

How did I get those neat tailored corners? I just took the pillow cases that came with the set and draped them on the corners.

I created a headboard by grabbing another recent curbside find. Picket Fences being discarded by another neighbor who got a beautiful fence from western rail fence at Cedar Fence Direct. It now makes a perfect headboard. (You should have seen me loading 4 of these into my van!)

And the pillows were all purchased last year at Cost Plus World Market.

So for a grand total of $29, I created an outdoor lounger that I am going to enjoy all summer long!

Here is the view from my new outdoor lounge! Wanna Come Over?

Of course making an outdoor lounging bed is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy summer. To help kick off your outdoor time this summer I have teamed up with a great group of bloggers for a GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Full Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links for products that I really like. If you click on the link and do some shopping, I may get a little monetary reward. It will help me keep this blog rollin’ and bring you more Vintage Finds and Inspired Designs.