Sofa bed

A sofa bed uses a clever design that enables a sofa to morph into a bed for unexpected guests or visitors. Most sofa beds spend the greater part of their life as a sofa and in many cases they are unrecognisable as anything other than an item of living room furniture.

Simple sofa beds are sometimes referred to as futons or futon beds. These are very simple chair-bed combinations where the mattress folds over to create a basic chair. They are functional, but lacking in aesthetics.

The other temporary bed alternative is the fold away bed that can be stored when not in use.

How a sofa bed works

A sofa bed can become a single, or more normally a double bed. There are two basic versions of the sofa bed, a simple one and a more mechanical and cleverly operated one.

The basic sofa bed utilises the seat cushions and backrest cushions which open out to form a bed. In most cases the bed projects outwards from between the arms of the sofa, however some beds do open out longitudinally (i.e. between the arms).

The more expensive and mechanically operating sofa beds hide a side sprung mattress under the sofa seat. The sofa is transformed by removing the seat cushions, under which a mattress and opening legs are concealed. To convert the sofa into a bed the mattress and frame are opened forwards out of the front of the sofa and the legs are set on the floor. In most cases it is easy to tell when all parts are in place because the retractable mechanism self locks to provide a sturdy temporary bed frame.

Appearance

Sofa beds can be basic and functional, or they can look like good quality sofas with rounded armrests, chunky cushions and all the other features that you would expect from a normal sofa.

Fabrics and patterns come in a wide range of choices and, with all but the budget priced sofa beds, it is hard to tell a normal sofa from a transformational one.

From a comfort an support perspective, the better quality sofa beds can be very accommodating and even the cheaper ones are fine for a night or two. Obviously these bed types do not offer the same levels of support as an orthopedic bed, however their purpose is a temporary one based on convenience rather than quality of support.