Thoughts on outdoor bed

[annielinz]

I have this old bed, that was my dads, then mine and then my kids. I can't part with it. It has been in the garage for years and is driving DH crazy, he wants to get rid of it:eek:. I've always thought it would be cool to have it set up as a bed under the overhang in the backyard for the summer. Can't you picture laying out there enjoying a good book.
Well I put it together(since DH is out golfing) and before I drag the mattress out what do you think, am I crazy?? I was even thinking maybe a twin blow up bed mattress would work due to the outside elements. Please excuse the dust on the springs and the bed frame color. I was going to spray paint it black as a summer project. However, is it worth it to do? I don't have a big yard or deck and already its getting crowded with outdoor furniture. Please give me your honest opinions.
The last two pics are from the other side of the deck, behind the sitting area.

[yarborough house]

Okay here goes - my honest opinion. I LOVE IT. I think it goes well right there against the brick and will look awesome painted black. I also have an old iron bed up on the rafters of the garage - it was left here from the original owners when the garage was the barn for the cows..anywho - I am going to put it in the yard next summer as we will be working on the back yard then. I was going to buy chaise lounge cushions once on clearance - who cares what color then enclose them in a sheet to make the mattress. But yours is under the porch so you could also just make a big pillowcase out of outdoor fabric for your mattress and it would be fine.
My oldes kid said he'd love to go out there in the spring and fall and just lay down and read a book. We may also put a makeshift pergola over it so we can drape misquito netting for when the misquitos get out of control.

But I love it and love the pillows on it. I had a sofa out of the fabric on the middle pillow..haha
Keep it you will love laying on it sleeping or just reading a book or magazine. Your back area looks great.

[annielinz]

Thanks so much Tammy for your honesty.:D

Well, before I even read your response, I ended up going back in the house pulling the extra mattress off the bed and setting it up outside. It looked so comfortable I preceded to lay my bu** down make a call to an old friend, it was glorious! I really think it'll get lots of use this summer. DH came home and I showed him and he actually thought it was a great idea. I have a feeling I will find him snoozing out there. I'm thinking of hanging fabric from the overhang like Lisa did to block out more of the sun so maybe it'll keep it more protected and a tad cooler during the midday.

[ChapterTwo]

Oh, you lucky Californians, being able to keep something like that outside. Here in the East, it'd be soggy in no time!

I think it looks great, Mary Ann, and the pillows are almost like the quilt on my couch (see my album). I love it...Both thumbs UP!

[yarborough house]

Mary Ann - could your hubby run wiring under the overhang so you could install and outdoor fan above the bed? That would keep it cool or at least the air moving..
I bet he will nap there - especially after a round of golf in the heat.

Enjoy.

[annielinz]

Oh Tammy, I almost spit my ice tea out when you said...maybe hubby can run wiring:p, he's a great guy, but not one iota of DIY in him at all, especially anything with electricity! I'll just bring out one of my indoor fans if I need it.

Chapter Two thanks for the 2 thumbs up. I was just laying out there reading, very comfy. We are a bit spoiled here in Calif. We are having hi temps today in the uppers 90's, but normally its very pleasant.

[RoseMary]

Mary Ann, that looks great! What a wonderful thing to have from your dad! And a fantastic way to use it. Your hubby may just become handy so he can fix up an overhead fan:p!

If it weren't for my allergies, I would love to have a sleeping porch. Both of my grandparents had them and I grew up promising myself that I'd have one someday, too.

[Gigi]

OMGOOOOOOness that is just beautiful! I LOVE this bed, the setting, the covering, pillows, etc....

I would never part with it- such a great idea!

[CohenCottage]

It looks wonderful and like a perfect place to nap! I'm so jealous. If we tried to do that here, the mattress would be moldy even before it rained. Dang humidity. Do you need to put a plastic mattress cover on it for the occasional rain shower?

[ChapterTwo]

We are a bit spoiled here in Calif.


That's okay, Mary Ann...you enjoy it! I've been to CA four times in my lifetime and absolutely loved it. We drove down the coast a couple times, and I have many happy memories of that! :)

[annielinz]

Thanks guys for all the positive input.
I was going to look for a plastic/waterproof mattress cover tomorrow just in case. I was just laying out there tonight and thinking with this hot weather it would be so nice to sleep out there and then I heard them....the #$@*&% mosquitos. Well I high tailed it into the house lickity split. I can't stand the buzzing:eek:

[yarborough house]

That is where the cool misquito netting would come in ...hee hee of course it only holds the dang bugs outside it doesn't curb their buzzing.

[Zuzu's Garden]

Nope. No good. PM me and I'll give you my address so you can ship it to me to get rid of it.

Oh! You wanted honesty? How about, "OMGoodness! It's fantastic!"
:D
Zu

[annielinz]

Well, I finished spray painting the frame black and its ready for napping.

[yarborough house]

Awww dang Zu she already spray painted so I guess she is keeping it.
Mary Ann - it looks amazing...you are certainly a go-getter-done girl aren't you? Now what is your next project?

[annielinz]

Tammy, I guess I am. Well I've only got 6 weeks off from work so I've got to squeeze in as much as I can. Want to paint the small master bath next week, still need to find the paint and decide on a color, looking at a grayish light blue.
A dear old friend invited me to Lake Tahoe for a few days leaving next Sunday, so it does cuts into my project schedule :rolleyes: but I think I can handle some time away to enjoy some clean fresh mountain air:D

[shabbychick]

Mary Ann, that bed out there is absolutely gorgeous. It looks perfect. As a former Californian, I can attest to the wonderfulness of being able to lie down outside and nap on a warm day. Up here in the Pacific Northwest, there are many fewer days when you can do that (at least without a blanket).

For anyone else who discovers an old bed in their attic, I saw an article in a magazine where the homeowner had run chains from their bed frame to the porch ceiling to hang the bed up off the floor. That would be fun, wouldn't it? You could almost literally rock yourself to sleep. :)

[Zuzu's Garden]

Looks great, Mary Ann! :)

I'm a former Californian too, from 1972-1988. Lived in Saratoga, San Jose, Willow Glen, Campbell and Hollister. Mary Ann and I might have bumped into one another without knowing it!

When did you live there, shabbychic?

Zu

[shabbychick]

I grew up in Los Angeles, 1956-74 before my family moved to Washington state. Then I went back to California and lived in Moreno Valley (about 70 miles east of L.A., near Riverside and San Bernardino) from about 1985-88. Sometimes I really miss the heat.

[vintage girl]

What a great idea!!! It looks wonderful. With the porch ceiling overhead, you could easily hang netting over the bed to curb the bugs. I have been bugging hubs for ages to make me a sleeping porch. I have two covered porches, but neither one is enclosed. That bed would be great for sleeping under the stars. I think I may have to look on craigslist for one. I have lived in CA for the past 40 years. I love the weather, but it has become very crowded and the traffic is horrendous. I live in Southern CA, but lived in Northern CA for a few years (San Francisco). I much prefer the Northern part of the state. Not quite as hot. This weekend we got to 105 in Riverside County:eek: I am dreading my electric bill when it comes.

[Lisa S]

That's just beautiful.

We all must have a little Californian in us. Me: 1977 - 1980 San Clemente1968 - 1969 Alameda

[cheapdiva]

I want to live somewhere that has at least 7 months of good weather (this is said in a very whiney voice!!). Last night my husband and I went out to dinner and then saw Diana Krall in concert. We walked from the restaurant to the theater - about 4 blocks, along Milwaukee's riverfront walk way. It was a perfect night . . . but we have so few of those. I was bugging him about living someplace where we could have many more of those kind of nights.

I love the summers here but we truly have virtually no spring - it was 47 degrees on June 7th and 90 last week. Today it is in the upper 60's - which is fine. I just want to live somewhere that you don't freeze your a** off more than half the year!!!!!

So, if you can put a bed outside for most of the year - watch out, you might find me on it some morning!!!!:eek:

[vintage girl]

I love CA weather for the most part, but in the summer it can be awful. I live in the Inland Empire and it gets very hot. Yesterday we were 105. It is supposed to remain above a 100 for the rest of this week with about 44% humidity. I would much prefer temps under 80 degrees. But the rest of the year it is magnificent. I hate the cold, so would not do well in that weather. For the first 12 years of my life, I lived almost exclusively in Europe and spent some really cold winters in Germany and Greenland. But when you are a kid the weather doesn't bother you. Now that I am older:rolleyes:, I prefer moderate temps. I was definately wanting a sleeping porch last night. Our house was warm. We put on the air in the bedroom, but than it got too cold. We do not have central air or heat. We have window air units. They work well and do not cost as much, but they are noisy and we do not leave them on all night. I bought a hammock last week that hubs still needs to put up for me. I might just buy the mosquito netting for it and spend the rest of the summer sleeping my yard. I have a big chow to keep me safe and also 4 little chihuahuas that bark and attack anything:D

[shabbychick]

We're nowhere near 105 degrees here in the Seattle area, but I fell asleep out on my porch swing long enough today to get an unpleasant sunburn on my lower legs. Ouch! I've lived in apartments, even in Seattle, that got unbearably warm on hot summer days, and of course, there's no yard to sleep in. That's when you wish your bathtub was long enough to lie down in.

The last two places I've lived...the 1920's house and the condo I'm in now, rarely get too warm. I have a fan upstairs in my bedroom window that I turn on if it's warm (or I'm having hot flashes) and it usually cools things down to the point where I need the blankets. I'd sleep outside but then I'd die of blood loss from the mosquitoes.

When I was growing up in LA, all we had was a window-mounted air conditioner. That was fine for the living room, but it didn't help much at all for our bedrooms, and my mom would never let us open the windows at night for fear of burglars. Those were some uncomfortable nights!!

What I miss most, really, living in the Pacific Northwest, is thunder and lightning. We have very little of it here, at least on the west side of the mountains. I love thunderstorms.

[Lynzee]

The bed is beautiful, Annie! I know where I'd be spending the rest of my time off. :cool:

I love thunderstorms.

Come on down to southeast Alabama, Shabby. We have one at least once a day.

[Breezy]

That's just beautiful.

We all must have a little Californian in us. Me: 1977 - 1980 San Clemente1968 - 1969 Alameda

I was born in California and my family moved when I was almost 10. I loved (and still do) looking at the ocean and running barefoot. Ah the good old days!:)

Mary Ann - the bed is great - so inviting!

Shabby - we get the thunderstorms here - some of that thunder is LOUD!

[ChapterTwo]

Has anyone seen the cover of the July issue of COUNTRY LIVING? There's sort of a daybed on the porch of a home in the Hudson Valley, NY - I thought of your Dad's bed, immediately, Mary Ann! :) I wish I had a photo to show you...

[mac78]

The bed, the porch, I love it all. You did an amazing job. And you ladies sure do sound like you live a much more exciting life than where I am at, NW Ohio. I really would like to move....to South Carolina.

[annielinz]

Marie, I can't believe you said So Carolina.:eek: I have been thinking non stop about it. Everywhere I turn someone just got back from So Carolina, or I pick up a magazine and theres an article about So Carolina. I went to a shop and admired some carved sap buckets, the owner says "this guy in So. Carolina makes them". I told DH.... its a sign:) we are to live there!

Like you Marie I want to retire by the beach. And I put the seed in DH's head and we've been looking online at real estate. I even told my kids if we move you guys have to move too-LOL, no way could I move across country away from them. Affording a home in Calif is a pipe dream for them.

Well, moving to So Carolina is a pipe dream for me too. It was fun thinking about it but I'm a California girl born and breed. Take the good, the bad and the ugly, Calif is my home. We are a 25 minute car ride away from the beach, (granted its over a mountainous road I'm too afraid to drive) but its there. Maybe when the time comes to retire we'll move over the hill to the beach.
So I'll have to live thru you guys, with your charming homes and small town environment that I crave and create my little oasis in my backyard.

[mac78]

I saw a show on HGTV on Summerville, SC (I thnk that was the town), about 2 hours from the ocean.

My daughter always says she is moving to S.C. and I keep telling her I am going to follow you.

[memmey]

That is the nicest setting. Your bed is wonderful, very inviting. I forgot who said that theirs would be moldy from the humidity....mine too. Even my pillows in my chairs get this funky smell and mold after a while.
Back in the day a sleeping porch was a necessity, they tried to catch a breeze anyway they could, it's a nice luxury now.
I love your coverlet on the bed and the pillows look great with your brick wall.

I know I am not the only one living in the extreme heat right now but it is so hot here it is hurting my feelings. We have not had rain in three weeks. I have not cut my grass for 2 weeks. I refuse to let my front yard die so I am watering the best I can. I am soooo afraid of my water bill next month.

I would love a cool porch and a daybed on it to read and daydream. Heavenly:)

[RoseMary]

Did you say 'cool', memmey?? What exactly is that:confused::p! Gosh it's hot here, too. Near one hundred or over it the last two days. We had a break from a two week over 100 degrees everyday, but now we are back to it. Right now, at 7 o'clock at night, it is 95 out there:eek:. Our grass is crunchy.

As for the CA in all of us~I was born in Santa Monica:)!

[chyna]

Good grief am I the only one here that has never lived in Cali?!!! I've visited twice though. :)

I saw in some magazine (probably Romantic Living) where this lady had her bed out in the yard and not under anything. I was in awe. ;) I love the idea and have some somewhat similar on my porch. Understand though that my porch is enclosed, I would kill to have windows that opened correctly. :o

[Heather]

My porch is enclosed too Chyna but I've got a day bed out there for napping in. It's great having the extra room in the house there for the summer - it's too cold in the winter.

[vintage girl]

Well I have not gotten a daybed yet, but hubs hung a hammock up for me this past weekend on one of our covered porches. Did not get a chance to use it until last night. Oh my gosh it was lovely. The stars were out, there was a lovely breeze. Fell sound asleep. Woke up about 9:30pm. Sensed something funny. There was a "huge" barnowl (they live in our trees) perched on the tree that one end of the hammock is tied to. I almost wet myself. I don't think I will be sleeping outside unless I enclose one of the patios or get a tent:D

[chyna]

Wish I could say that sleeping out on my porch is nice but the porch is narrower than a bed so I had the mattress folded up the wall and since it gets direct sunlight in the afternoon..... I may of Nordic heritage but Swedish sauna isn't it!!! :p I would love to try out the bed at night though. I did talk my dad into installing a ceiling fan out there so it is slightly better. :rolleyes:

[shabbychick]

LOL Vintagegirl. Maybe the owl was just watching over you to make sure no mice climbed on your hammock. :)

[mac78]

I have never been to California. I don't have any place to put a sleep porch, my son would hog it anyways. ;), I do sometimes go to the front yard and lay in my yard swing and snooze, well until the neighbors drive by and yell "Wake up Marie". Turkeys. I just love brinh outside. The different porch ideas mentioned sound so neat.