Perusing the internet as you do, or as one does, I came across this photo of a sleigh bed:

Into my head popped the fact that at Mom's place in France, many of the wooden headboards have not been attached to the mattresses, and therefore and hence, one could put a headboard as a footboard, and voila! You have a sleighbed. Now, if and when you think about unattached headboards, if you think about them at all, and you are not immediately inspired to create a sleighbed, well my friends, that is the difference between you and me. It may also be accounted for by the fact that you are thinking of other things, and, dear reader, I will give you the benefit of the doubt in this case.

I am now going to take you on a step by step of how I got from two twin beds to one adorable sleigh bed avec canopy.

Bedroom "before" with 2 twin beds as you recall.

Secondary 'before" view showing curtain and curtain rod that will serve for the canopy.

The Canopy begins to form... Here you see I have attached by overlapping the curtain that was formerly for the doorway.

The bed gets moved into place...

The second headboard is moved into place.

Now we have a sleigh bed/ day bed. The coverlet is tucked in to show off the striped bedskirt.

Curtain draping: the bottom curtain is swagged and draped over the right of the bed, the top curtain is draped to the left.

A secondary view to show you the top of the curtain rod.

Finally!!! The fun part! Pillows!!!! This is when it really becomes a day bed!

"Objets" are added for styling and to create a lovely vignette!

A more free form pillow arrangement....

A detail shot of the canopy experience...

And my favorite vignette, using the jet de lit as side table....

So that is how I created a sleigh bed/ day bed with a canopy. Now I strongly believe that this process is applicable in your own home. I have shown you how a curtain rod attached to the wall with overlapping curtains can be turned into a canopy. I have also shown you how two headboards can be made into a headboard and footboard to create a canopy bed. So I believe this look is completely diy-able for your own home.

A day bed is a wonderful spot for reading and relaxing and with a canopy and pillows makes for a gorgeous addition to any room.

In case you were wondering what exactly to do with your day bed, I recommend this: