I have a pretty white/iron daybed in my living room...which is actually my office. (The sofas are in the family room, with the TV.) We needed something in front of the big bay window and if I have to watch the phones early in the morning, it's nice to lie down and read a book...also great for a place to sit back (feet up) have a cup of tea and watch the snow fall. My mom used twin beds with bolsters in our rec room (as kids) and they were great. The trick is to have enough bolster and back pillows, to make the seating depth the same as a sofa. Easy to remove, if you need guest room space :)

Oldbat those lamps are spectacular! Unfortunately ours are set in stone, in fact they are sitting in the storage area downstairs....it is like a staging area for a Decorating War :-). However, ours may have a bit more style than I originally thought because instead of the arm going up, on this one the arm goes down and the drum shade is suspended over the table from the arm instead of being held up over it, if that makes any sense. I am hoping these do install the way I've described, not as the picture. They were very pricey though, so I can only imagine what those fab things in your photo cost! I am also loving the mini mattress for the pups. I had wanted to do built in beds on either side of the fireplace but got built in end tables instead. Arapaho, I have also loved that carpet for years. I found out yesterday it is actually made by Helios and is private labeled by Karastan. The more I find out about this stuff the more i realize how easy it is to overpay as a retail customer. Thank you, WMA. I appreciate that. Our basement was fairly typical and served a useful purpose for many years. I am excited to be stepping it up a notch! Whoa, oldpbat--- just looked at the site and your lamps are from the same place mine are, and are actually less expensive. I am going to send the photo to him, thank you! This post was edited by kswl on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 22:50

Let me clarify a few things about the space. First we rarely sit over there. The sectional in the living room right next to it is normally where we sit. When guests come over, usually everyone is in the dining room or hanging our around the kitchen island. Second, that space in the front porch area is what everyone sees when you first walk in the house. I am more looking for aesthetics, but if I could pull off something like a daybed in the space that could do double duty it would be better. I initially wanted a loveseat, but was thinking maybe I could use a daybed, and store the toys underneath. Third, I have a console table. It is currently in my bedroom. There is no way I can anchor it, and with my crawling 1 year old who pulls himself up on to furniture, it wasn't safe there. I am worried it will tip. Fourth, we rarely have overnight guests. Usually it it DH's college aged twin brothers that will crash on our couch after watching some sort of sport, I doubt they would mind they didn't have their "own" room when staying over. I don't really care that its a bed, or it's awkward to sit at, since we rarely sit there. I'm really just wondering if you all think it will look weird there, since it is open to my living room. I have been stumped for 3 years on how to deal with this area of my house. All suggestions are greatly appreciated. This is the bed I want to get: Here is a link that might be useful: Ballard Daybed

I used to have a business and one of the things that I use to made were long cushions for benches and window seating. I went to a dealer who sold high density foam and bought good stuff from them. I still have a long cushion that I made for myself out of what I had left over from a job. It is a couple of decades old and I use as a foam mattress on the floor for young grandson when he is here. A window seat cushion and is very much what you are trying to make, it seems. I can completely understand what you say about the upholstery. That shade of blue does look dated. What you want to do seems perfectly doable but those arm rests are going to be very hard to lean your arm on or to prop against if you don't have something to cushion them. I am assuming that you would want to get into a comfortable position for sitting and reading, and that seems to usually be some reclined position, unless you are one who relaxes sitting straight up with your back against the back cushions and your feet on the floor. Not many people do that. The existing cushions will probably be fine for you to reuse. If they were used in a professional upholstery job, they are likely to be just fine. You might even consider leaving the seat cushions as is and making one large padded casing that you put all three cushions into, You could put a zipper opening around the back side so that it all zips up snugly into the casing, and that would keep it from slipping around like a slip cover would. And, you could still create a short drape over the front of this casing that would fall down in front of that decking that you are hoping to hide. That way there is no need to disturb the integrity of the seat cushions. Just encase them, as is. Once you start cutting into those cushions you are into quite a mess. As it is, it appears to be a neat job of upholstery and structure. Don't destroy that. Make that work for you. You might also consider using some type of mattress topper rather that batting. The back cushion is a bit more problematic. I would also recommend that you not disturb that, either. Your best bet is to basically make a fitted slipcover of some shape to fit down over it. Perhaps you could fill in the area between the "ears" with an arch shaped piece of foam insert in some manner.. Be careful of adding too much padding to the back cushions as it will take away depth from the seating deck and make your couch more narrow. I have done many such things as this in my many years. Some were stunningly successful and some were not worth the effort and expense. After having been around that block a time or two, I see the potholes in the road. I wish you luck and I assure that you can do it, but I really think the you are trying to turn this little couch in to something that it is not ever going to be and was never intended to be.. Perhaps there is somewhere else in your house where it can just be itself. Or, you can just do as so many others do and cover it up with laundry that needs folding or hang your clothes off of it. Not recommended!