A sofa bed is a functional dual purpose item of furniture that can turn any room or interior into a bedroom or guest room. Traditionally Sofa beds were notoriously uncomfortable offering a less than perfect nights sleep for most who were to use them. More recently the quality of sofa beds has increased considerably and some models can now claim to be as comfortable as a regular bed.
It is more than likely that your new sofabed will be used mostly as a sofa so you should initially look for features that you would look for when shopping for a regular sofa. Comfort, style and size are obvious factors to bear in mind before looking at the bed aspect of the sofa bed.
Measure carefully
When buying any new items of furniture it is always really important to measure carefully to ensure that the item fits comfortably in the room in where it is intended to be placed. This is crucial when buying a sofa bed as you will need to measure twice. Once in the form of a sofa and secondly when the bed action is unfolded. It is also worth considering any other items of furniture that are in the room such as coffee tables, can these be easily moved out of the way if the space is needed to unfold the bed?
Sofa bed mattresses or sleeping areas do not conform with standard bed and mattress sizes so it is often worth bearing in mind the differences in sleeping areas between different models. If you have an idea who may be using the sofa bed, it may be possible to dismiss smaller models that may be unsuitable.
Look for a quality mattress
A quality mattress can mean the difference between a good nights sleep and a sleepless night. Thicker mattresses in sofa beds aren’t necessarily better quality or more comfortable, some thinner models can offer more support and comfort. Its always advisable to try out a sofa bed before purchasing both as a sofa and as a sofa bed.
Test the mechanism
Along with lying on the sofa bed, test out the mechanism. A quality sofa bed should have a smooth, easy to use action. Open and close the sofa bed, you should not have to strain and no part of the bed frame should catch on any part of the sofa. Any rubbing or catching could lead to tearing over longer periods of time.
Is the sofa bed comfortable to sit on?
Sofa beds are generally designed for occasional use as a bed and more often as a sofa. For this reason it is important to consider how comfortable the sofa is to sit on. Due to the internal mechanism found in sofa beds, it is not possible to offer pocket sprung or other types of seat suspension, this is a drawback of investing in a sofa bed. This said there are quality sofa beds available that can be just as comfortable as most standard sofas.
With a little forethought and prior planning to making a decision on which sofa bed to buy you can ensure that you choose and purchase the most suitable sofa bed for you and your family.