I have a twin bed with a trundle underneath for a spare room. The room will primarily serve as an office and I would like to make the twin bed look more sofa-like unless I'm using for company.Any ideas on what kinds of pillows to use on a twin bed (the frame is black but you can barely see it - it has no decorative metal or wood or anything) to turn it into a sofa?
I used a twin bed as a sofa when I first moved into my house. What I did was get a king/queen sheet and fitted it to the bed(I sewed it up so that it looked like a big cushion.) Then I added two body pillows. The couch was against two walls so the pillows rested against the walls. On the other small side I put a roll pillow like an arm rest.
You could look into making a 'slip cover' for the top mattress out of upholstery fabric. It will make the top mattress match the decor of the room, and hold up well as a 'sofa' cushion. The trundle is hidden and not seen, make or find a bed skirt of the same or a complimentary fabric that skirts the edge to hide the trundle from view. Pillows...you can use the new European pillows, they are large square pillows, usually about 23 inches square. Make matching or complimentary slip covers for them. Pillow cases for them are sold at linen stores. These large pillows make the bed look more like a sofa when you use two or three of them across the back or wall side of the bed. You can use smaller square pillows or queen sized pillows as arm rests on the ends of the bed/sofa if you want to. You could use regular bedding shams and comforters or bedspreads and skirts, just choose heavier, well made fabrics.
This is a very easy challenge. Go to any fabric store and look at the selection of apolstery fabric that they have there. Pick out what you like. Take a FITTED sheet that fits the bed with you to the fabric store. That is the measurement you will use to know how much fabric to buy. (Add a four inches around the edge for a seam allowance. This means that you will have tuck some of the edges under to make the edges look clean and finished.) Use the fitted sheet as a pattern to sew the mattress cover. This way it will just be a 'cap' over the bed that is removeable if you want to take it off and use it as a bed again later. Get the clips that hook onto the corners of the mattress to keep it from slipping off the corners. Attach them and leave them on the mattress cap to keep the apolostery from slipping as people sit on the couch. For the pillows.... the challenge is going to be to make them big enough that they will take up most of the room at the back of the couch. You can cover them in the same apolstery fabric as the mattress cap....or just use coordinating covers. I suggest that you just make envelope slip covers for the pillows big enough to fit two bed pillows inside. Basically, you just lay out the fabric, wrong side out, enough to cover the two pillows front and back with about nine extra inches to overlap. This creates a pocket. Leave the pocket open but sew up the sides. Then you just stuff a couple bed pillows inside back to back to get the bulk you want. Decorate as you desire.
