Comfy sofa bed? (1 Viewer)

[Peter McDonald]

Currently, my bedroom is pretty cramped. The space is taken up by a bed, dresser, desk, etc... the usual stuff. So, I was thinking about getting a sofa bed. A place to sit, more room, and a place to sleep. This would be my regular bed (used every night). I've heard people who have said sofa beds are really uncomfortable. Are ALL sofa beds uncomfortable? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Peter

 

[JasenP]

Comfy sofa bed

Comfortable sofa beds are a myth. I have owned one and only one, plus if you ever plan on moving, a sofa bed will weigh 3 times as much as a true couch. As a warning: You will have to bungee down the damn mattress frame into the couch during your move or suffer the consequences of an unruly sofa bed.
Plus, they eat babies.

 

[Bill_D]

I have had 2 sofa beds and would prefer to sleep on the floor. Maybe upgrading the mattress would help.

 

[Peter McDonald]

Hmm... how about a Futon?

 

[Colin-H]

Ikea sells a pretty cool looking sofa bed. It's on their web site. It's also $500, which is a bit expensive for me.

 

[Michael*K]

Sofa beds are evil. Not only are they uncomfortable to sleep on, they aren't comfortable to sit on either. And they're a bitch to move too.

 

[JasenP]

Maybe you could consider getting a new bed frame with drawers underneath and ditch the dresser to save some space.

 

[Leila Dougan]

This depends on the size of your bed, but you could always build or buy a loft. Then, you could have your bed over your desk or couch and save space that way.
Something like this:
http://www.ikea-usa.com/rooms_ideas/...ost.asp?page=1

 

[JamieD]

Sorry to disagree with you all, but my parents bought a sofa bed a couple of years back. Very comfy. Very spacious (queen size bed), firm supports, no sag. Maybe we just fluked into a highend one or something, I don't know, but I wouldn't hesitate to have it in my living room/ rec room.

 

[Peter McDonald]

Thanks for the suggestions.

As far as getting rid of the dresser, that wouldn't be much help when it comes to space. Since it's already tucked away in a corner (I probably wouldn't have a use for the corner if the dresser wasn't there).

The loft idea seems interesting. How high would a ceiling need to be? Would 8ft be good enough? Are they stable?

Thanks Again,
Peter

 

[DonRoeber]

For our office/guest room, we bought a really nice futon. It's all wood contstruction, with a nice futon cushion/matress, and tri-folds. Works really well as both a bed and a couch. Not sure how I would feel about sleeping on it all of the time, but a good friend of mine sleeps on one fulltime, and is happy.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Peter, I've never had a loft but I know some people that did in college and they seemed to like it.

Basically, its a bunkbed frame without the bottom bed. I imagine its fairly stable. As far as the height goes, I'm not really sure how tall they are but they shouldn't be any taller than a regular bunkbed. Perhaps the best thing is to go down to a furniture store and just measure theirs and get a feel for the sturdiness to determine if its something you want to get.

 

[Peter McDonald]

Here's a layout of the room:
http://www.geocities.com/peternm_22/room.html

 

[Leila Dougan]

You could conceivebly get the loft bed (the one I linked to says it comes in Queen size too) and put the desk underneath it. If you get a frame that has some shelves in it, you could also get rid of the nightstand if you wanted to. This just leaves the dresser, which could do anywhere in the room. Just an idea.

If you're not so hot on the loft idea, maybe you'd be better off getting a smaller bed or desk, assuming its all drawn to scale.

 

[Henry Gale]

Is your closet arranged in a useful way? Is there a possibility of putting the dresser in it?
The idea of a queen size bed when space is at a premium may be worth studying. My full size bed works great for all sleep and play activities.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Peter,

How old are you?

When I was 18, I ditched my old bed and bought a sofa bed. My thinking was, (1) More room, (2) When I moved out, I'd have a couch for my house. Spent over $700 but got a really nice one. The couch is very comfortable and I slept on the bed for nearly a year with no problems.

However, if I did this again, I'd change a few things:

1. Making the bed up every morning is a pain. You have to completely remove the covers, find a place to stash them, fold the bed and replace the cushions. When you go to bed, you have to stash the cushions somewhere and remake the whole bed. It got old real quick.

2. You have to buy a nice one if you want any level of comfort, and it still won't be as comfortable as a real bed. I didn't mind; it was plenty comfortable for me, but you can't get one for under $500 and expect to be happy. Find one with the thickest mattress you can.

3. I still have that couch. It's getting old, but still looks brand new. The problem? I don't use the bed anymore. I've been married for five years so the sofa bed is now just a regular old sofa. I've wanted to buy a better couch (one with reclining seats & pop-out foot rests) for years now, but I have a perfectly good one, so it's hard to justify.

If I had it to do over again I'd buy a nice big couch with reclining seats as opposed to a bed. Then I'd simply sleep on the couch at night. If you're living at home and don't plan on being there more than another year or two, this will get you by just fine. Couches are comfortable, and if you get a big one, there is plenty of room to sleep on. Just throw down some bedding to keep the cushions nice and clean (skin oil/sweat/etc while you sleep will slowly ruin them, unless you sleep in your clothes).

Trust me - you'll appreciate having an actual sofa with reclining seats when you move out.

 

[Colin-H]

This is the bed I was referring to. It's designed differently than most sofa beds. Looks interesting. I haven't actually tried it out, so I can't vouch for it's comfiness.
The problem I have is that those extra 4" of LENGTH between a queen size and a full size make a lot of difference. I'm not a tall guy, but I sleep in kind of an odd way. In my dorm room, I had a twin extra long bed, and going home to just a regular twin was rough. My feet hang off the edges. heh.

 

[Peter McDonald]

I'm 17, and still in high school. So I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive solution. I've considered moving the dresser into the closet, but... the closet is full of books and clothes. I wouldn't mind getting rid of the night table, but I want to keep the desk. It's a good quality desk that I received as a gift a few years back - it's expensive, and built strong. I'm not really interested in replacing it.

The most desirable solution seems to be the loft idea, since I can get a real sofa. But I'm not too sure my mom would go for it.

Peter

 

[Chris Smith]

I had a loft all last year at college. It was a real pain in the ass climbing up into it every night (especially drunk, but since you're only 17, THAT shouldn't be a problem )
Also, though, I'm a BIG guy (in fact, joining the Weight Loss Support thread next week after my vacation ) So that didn't help the situation.
My room was absolutly tiny but I doulbed the size of it and had plenty of room for everything with my loft. Its a real good idea. And I built it for less that $100 out of 4x4s and plywood. Just gotta convince your mom .
Your other best bet would be the futon idea. Bed at night and can be made into a couch and can be really nice looking. Much more comfy than a sofa bed, but not as comfy as a regular bed. I would have gone with this solution if I had enough room for a futon AND a desk in the same room, but I didn't.

 

[Peter McDonald]

Getting too drunk to find my bed shouldn't be a problem
I'm going to measure out the area, and figure out if I can build a loft myself.
Peter