Hooray it’s Friday and we have another gift build plan to share with you! Today it’s a crib mattress sectional sofa perfect for the playroom or teen lounge space.
A DIY tutorial to build a sectional style sofa using two crib mattresses for cushions. A sofa you can build yourself and reuse old crib mattresses.
This gift idea is for the whole family, the kids will enjoy their new comfy digs and the parents will enjoy not having to listen to those endless laugh tracks on the kids shows!
Save that crib mattress once your kids have outgrown the actual crib and repurpose it into a sofa. Ana White made some easy modifications to her ever popular outdoor sofa and she now has plans which incorporate crib mattresses.
Ana and I have been busy bringing you new gift plans every Friday, this is week 4 of the 12 week series and by far the biggest bang for your buck. Two crib mattresses and about 16 studs is all you need to make this beauty, that’s less than $50 in lumber and I know a lot of you have a crib mattress on hand.
My kids came home from school and proceeded to jump right onto the new sofa and lounge about making good models so you can see the proportions and sizing, it’s quite generous.
You should know Ana and I work week-to-week on the Handbuilt Holiday series. We have a general idea of the gift plans we aim to complete but we usually don’t have a firm decision on that weeks build until Monday afternoon. This week we particularly had a tough time nailing down the final idea, we started with a crib mattress daybed idea and had two different sketches working on that (one very streamline version, one with book storage) and then we completely nixed those and decided to modify the outdoor sofa plans because it’s an easy, fast build using only 2×4 studs.
Needless to say I haven’t quite finished the finish on this sofa because of time constraints and these photos were taken on a really dark and rainy day but that doesn’t mean this build isn’t great because it’s FANTASTIC!!!
I really don’t mind seeing studs in my home 😉 especially because they are functional and useful.
If you’re eyeing the green chalkboard it’s DIY here and the giant blue sideboard plans are here.
And bonus! A place for kids sleepovers:
The kids schoolhouse desks in the back are DIY, Ana did the plans awhile back as well as the storage hutch above.
This crib mattress sectional sofa is super simple to assemble, you can build it in sections and then finish the final assembly once in position.
Ana has the plans here. Below are some build process photos and a few notes, read through before beginning your project.
For the slat construction and assembly I opted to use 2×2 cleats attached to the 2×4 support set down 3/4″ because I had the lumber on hand. Then I attached the 1×4 slats directly to the 2×2 cleat. This also eliminates the extra step making all those pocket holes in the 2×4 slats.
Using the crib mattress also makes this sofa easy to clean, simply pull off the sheets and wash! No zippers or impossible slipcovers to fuss with and you have a huge variety of colors and patterns in the crib sheet department.
Be sure to check out all our Handbuilt Holiday gift builds and check back every Friday for a new plan.
What a fantastic idea for a kids' room. Thanks.
I love the idea of upcycling the crib mattress! And this is so practical.
Thanks Sarah. Feels good to repurpose those crib mattresses after the kids are no longer babies 🙂
Absolutely going to try this for an outdoor couch! Curious if you would share the BOM list needed for this project?
We followed your plans to a T! I’m so very thankful for Pinterest, and stumbling across your blog. I was looking for an inexpensive couch for his playroom, and this is exactly what we were looking for. My husband is not a handy man by any means, and was able to do this. So very proud! Where did you happen to find the pillows to the line the back of the couch?
Thanks for sharing Sarena, I love hearing from readers who’ve built the project. The back cushions are from Target here: https://www.target.com/p/rolston-2-piece-outdoor-seat-back-replacement-chair-loveseat-cushion-set/-/A-11903547?clkid=6274a740Nc647959baae02ac1e517af35&lnm=78775&afid=rewardStyle&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002 for an old outdoor set we had awhile back. Not sure if you can purchase just the back cushions.
I love how you created the image/ instructions! is there a program you use to create these?
Thanks Marissa, I use SketchUp to create the digital drawing and plans.
Hello! For some reason I cannot access the page you have plan for the crib mattress couch posted.
Any other way you think I could access the plans? Thank you!
Hi Angie, Thanks for the note. I believe there was some technical glitch on Ana’s site yesterday. I just checked now and the plans popped up. Try again: https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/kids-couch-2×4-diy-sectional-crib-mattress-cushions
Hello! Just saw your cool build. I’m wondering how this has held up? I was thinking of doing this for possible outdoor furniture for adults.
Thank you!
Thanks Reese. It’s good but I wouldn’t say it’s the most comfortable for lounging for adults.