Daybed

The easiest way to describe a daybed is as a bed that is placed in a living area (not a bedroom) and used as a daytime item of furniture, much in the same way as a sofa or a couch.

This perhaps sounds a little illogical, but the broader idea is that a chair or sofa restricts and limits how you sit (or sprawl) on it by virtue of one, its upright seated design and two, its dimensions that encourage a seated posture.

A daybed on the other hand is wider and deeper, and it can be of a variable height that does not require you to sit on it. In other words you can sit, lie down, collapse or sprawl on a daybed with ease and that is exactly what it is intended for. It should not limit, restrict or encourage you to adopt any particular posture. In short it is the ultimate piece of furniture on which to totally relax.

Daybeds vary in size from those that are almost of the magnitude of a double bed to those that are more of a scaled down and proportionately adjusted version. Because of their size most will be able to accommodate 2, 3, 4 or more people.

What a daybed looks like

The restriction free concept of a day bed extends to its design and this makes it hard to define. This means that a daybed can look exactly like a regular bed (or even be one), or it can resemble an oversized sofa with bed like proportions. Most are a combination of both.

Some daybeds have side arms and some form of backrest or head board, however most day beds are much shorter (but sometimes wider) than an actual bed and this makes them easy to recognise.

Because you can sleep on or in a daybed, one of the fashions is to dress it up with a quilt and pillows – a design that a number of sofas replicate with backrests formed from scatter cushions that do not match the seat area.

Daybeds can be based around specific styles of bed like the sleigh bed. When this is the case the daybed appears similar to a sleigh bed, but the bed is set up with its length running across rather than away from a wall. This leaves what would be the curved head and foot boards to the sides of the bed like arms.

Other novel styles see the backrest replicating an ornate tubular metal bed backboard, a French style headboard, or even including divan draws for storage.

There is no stereotypical typecast market for daybeds. They are as admired (or as ridiculed) by one person as they are by the next. However, they always draw attention and, although they take some adjusting to, most people who get the chance to use one enjoy the fluidity and freedom that it offers. At the very least they will be a talking point in any house in which they find a home.