My husband and I are downsizing and will be living in very tight quarters. We do not want to give up our extremely limited space to a queen bed and want to purchase something comfortable enough to sleep on every night but something that we can use as a couch by day. Any ideas and/or suggestions? I have been told about sectional sleepers and murphy beds but do not know which brands etc to consider. Thank you very much!
Well…I believe Murohy beds fold up into the wall or a closet so,they would be very difficult to use as a couch by day.
Is this going to be a permanent arrangement? If so, I’ll give my opinion. A sleep sofa is usually not the most comfortable sofa to sit on, and it’s not the most comfortable bed to sleep on. The support section under the cushions is actually the part of the fold out bed. It’s not as firm as that under the fusions if a regular sofa. The mattresses have improved considerably over the years, but they still would not be my choice for daily sleeping for the duration.
If you are going to have a bedroom, I would suggest getting a bed.
Years ago, we had a sofa with a foam cushion seat that was supported by slats, rather than springs. To convert into a bed, the front was pulled out and the top half of the seat was flipped out to create a mattress. It really was quite comfortable to sleep on, and not too soggy to sit on. Ikea has something that looks a bit similar: Friheten http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70243038/ Later we had a futon sofa that was not horrible to sit on or sleep on, but probably could have benefited from a different quality of mattress. I’ve also seen (but never tested out) daybeds with trundles, where the trundle can pop up to the level of the day bed creating a king-size sleeping space.
But I’ve got to ask: Do you really, truly want to be putting your bed together every single night, and taking it apart every single morning? I think a Murphy-style bed would be less of a headache, provided you can keep the space around it clear enough to drop it down at bedtime.
Would there be any merit in simply downsizing from a queen mattress to a full mattress?
Some futons make into couches. I have a nice loveseat that makes into a bed, but not that comfortable for more than a week.
If I was living in a studio, but with someone else, I would probably get two twin beds, that I made up as day beds, when I wanted to have people over.
How tight is “tight”? For a permanent living situation, a real bed is a must. If this is a studio set-up, get a real bed and separate it from the rest of the living quarters with a screen. Sleeping continually on a sofabed or murphy bed will only lead to back problems and exhaustion.
A Murphy bed can actually be comfortable. BUT as I said earlier, it folds up either against a wall. Or into a closet, so would not be available for seating during the day…at…all. As noted by another poster, the area where the bed will be each night needs to be clear…so you can drop it down (with a sofabed, you need to have room to pull it out…every night).
I had a daybed in one of our guest rooms, which doubles as an office. It was not a comfortable bed…and it was not comfortable to sit on. The width of a twin bed is just too deep for most people. And the day bed had a spring instead of a foundation. The only thing it did was keep guests from staying too long.
For permanent use…you should get a bed for sleeping, and a couch or chairs for sitting.
@questbest, how big is the space you’ll be moving into?
Someone showed me this when I was looking for space-saving furniture for a small den/ study. I haven’t seen it in person and don’t know how expensive it is. Some of the Murphy bed solutions look pretty cool.
If I had to choose between the two, I would get a Murphy bed. I have yet to encounter a comfortable sleeper sofa…
Some ideas on what it would look like:
http://ithomedecor.com/ideas-of-murphy-desk-for-decorative-items.html/murphy-bed-desks/
One thing to consider: if one of you needs the desk to work late, the other can’t go to bed early.
Quest…in a previous thread, you were discussing the possibility of having a sofabed in a bedroom so it could sort of be a TV room or den. Is that what you want this info for?
If so, I would suggest you make the bedroom…a bedroom, with a bed. And put the TV elsewhere where there is seating.
agreed to most above . . . you can get a real mattress with a murphy bed. sofa sleepers are hard on the back after a few nights. lots of ideas with google images too.
My pull out sleeper bed has met the test. It is easy to pull out, and the mattress is quite thick. That said, I have never been on a Murphy bed.
We slept on a Murphy bed that converted to a sofa at the Kauai Marriott. The bed had a regular Marriott mattress and was very comfy. Imagine the look on my face when we walked into the room and instead of the promised queen bed we saw only a sofa - I was going to march down to the office and have a nice talk with them. Fortunately, we quickly realized that the wall of shelves above the sofa could be lowered down… Voila, and there we had a nice bed!
Just one more thing… Murphy beds are NOT cheap. Here are some prices of the ones sold by Costco:
We just ordered a pair of sleeper sofas made by American Leather. The sofas are designed for people who use them primarily as beds. They feel like a REAL bed and don’t have the awful springs & metal hardware exposed on the side of the mattress. There are different options for mattress firmness (including Tempur-Pedic) and mattress size.
There are different back & armrest profiles & fabric/leather options.
BB, the OP is looking for something that can be used during the day for seating. A Murphy bed…nope that won’t work. It folds up into the wall or into another piece of furniture like shelves. You can’t sit on it during the day.
Quest best…what is your budget for this “bed”?
Thumper, some fold into the wall above a queen sized sofa. Like the Murphy bed at the Kauai Marriott I mentioned above. You would not believe the illusion. I thought we were given a room with a sleeper sofa.
Here are some like that:
http://www.decoist.com/2014-05-14/murphy-bed-couch-ideas-space-savers/
The backrest pillows have to be removed, and the bed drops down above the sofa.
http://resourcefurniture.com/product/swing/
Here’s another example of a murphy bed that folds down over a couch. Resource Furniture has a bunch of different couch/ murphy bed combos. They probably cost a fortune, though.
ETA: oops, I see this is the exact same bed as in BB’s link. It is also from the same line as the video I linked to way upthread.
Important point: Can you fold up the bed with its sheets, etc., still on the bed, or do you have to strip the bed before you fold it up? Big difference, if this is something you’re going to do every single day.
The examples in the links above are configured so that sheets stay on. The other great thing about the Resource Furniture examples is that the wall unit that holds the bed is only 12 inches deep (unlike other ones that are 24" deep).