Here is what I ended up doing: I ordered the Indonesian Daybed frame from World Market. It is not a living space but open to my living space. The cost was $329 as opposed to $849 Ballard bed, and the shipping was half of what Ballard charges. Of course I will still have to purchase a mattress. But I would've had to do that with the Ballard bed as well. I considered the bench, but since we do not have a guest room in our home, decided if we need an extra bed for an overnight guest, it would be great to have the daybed rather than the bench. We have lived here close to 5 years and have only had DH's brothers here in all the years we are here, so it wouldn't be that often, but it is good to have. I know it's a bed. We don't really sit over there anyhow. If I post a pic of what the space looks like now, you will all see what a vast improvement this will be. And since when guests come over, the space is the first thing they see upon walking into our home, I want it to look more like a defined space and not just a mish mosh of chairs, and toys, and baskets. I have 2 daughters, aged 6 and 8. Both are avid readers. It will be a fantastic place for them to curl up with a book. And to be honest, I look forward to doing this myself on occasion. I can't wait to put the room together. Hopefully this room will all be done by spring. Planning on new drapes as well, going to look at fabric tomorrow.

My first idea for you Carrie, since you mentioned yu have a single mattress to use, was to find a king size head and footboard to make into a day bed like you would make a bench out of a smaller bed. If you have a holliwood frame for your bed all you'd have to do was cut the footboard in half and attach it to the ends of the headboard and then to the frame. Plop on the mattress and dress the bed! My second idea is similar to Lynn's. Make a platform the size of the mattress with large pullout drawers. Only I'd find a simple twin head and footboard cutting the head and footboard to be just high enough to hold a bolster at each end looking more like a backless sofa. As for protecting the mattress, I agree that a waterproof mattress cover would take care of the worry of rain. And for the idea of a swing bed....here's one of my favorite beds from my inspiration albums. You wouldn't want to actually swing on it, but it could certainly sway you to a deep sweet dream filled sleep.

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

Yes, round table is the only dining space (2 ppl live here). Used to have small kitchen island in that spot and round table in a middle right under the chandelier, but we ended up never using the table and ditched the kitchen island