Sofa Bed Recommendations?

[Resonance.Of.Life]

My hubby and I are moving to SD from OC and we got a 2bed /2 bath apartment. Since we will be having friends over for the weekend occasionally... I was wondering if PSers had any recommendations regarding sofa beds? We're sort of enamored with the Ikea Manstad and the Moheda (they both have a pull out additional cushion which doesn't require much effort to pull out unlike a traditional sofa bed, which we love). Or... if we should just shell out the extra cash for an extra bed ?

Granted: we will be using the 2nd bedroom as a guest bedroom/office... so there will be a desk in there as well.

 

[Roxy]

I think you're on the right track w/ the sofa bed. Most of the time it'll be an office, so the "sofa" is more useful than having a bed in there. I've see where some people have put "day" beds in the office but I don't like that look very much. So my vote's for the sofa bed!

 

[zoebartlett]

I was going to suggest a daybed or a daybed with a trundle underneath. I think daybeds can look really nice, especially if you have a lot of decorative pillows along one side.

Sofa beds are HEAVY and the matresses in them aren't very comfy. That's my experience anyway.

 

[Karl_K]

imho Friends don't make friends sleep on sofa beds.
I would rather sleep on the floor than a sofa bed.

 

[kenny]

imho Friends don't make friends sleep on sofa beds.
I would rather sleep on the floor than a sofa bed.

+1.
Costco sells those folding foam futon things cheap, and I find them very comfortable.

If you must get a Sofabed I recommend going to Sofa King, because their prices are Sofa King low! (say it out loud)

 

[Karl_K]

Have you considered a wall bed?
http://www.texaswallbeds.com/wallbeds.html
The good ones use a regular bed mattress and are just as comfy as a regular bed.
They are expensive however.

 

[Alexiszoe]

I think so long as the sofa bed is comfortable, it should be fine to host a friend/family etc. One of my dear friend's sofa bed is by far, one of the MOST comfortable bed I have slept on (weird I know). They spent quite a bit on the sofa bed precisely because their tiny apartment in the city did not have space for a guest bed, and yet they wanted to be able to host guests and make them feel comfortable. I believe they purchased their sofa from Design Within Reach (DWR). Good luck!

 

[stephbolt]

We have a dedicated guest room now, but once we have another child we plan on getting a queen sized air mattress for guests - sofa beds are heavy and in my experience uncomfortable! They even make some that are elevated off the ground if that's your concern.

 

[Roxy]

I was going to suggest a daybed or a daybed with a trundle underneath. I think daybeds can look really nice, especially if you have a lot of decorative pillows along one side.

Sofa beds are HEAVY and the matresses in them aren't very comfy. That's my experience anyway.

I totally agree Zoe, I really didn't mean to sound negative about daybeds. In most cases I think they're great (in fact I had one in my apt and LOVED it), except OP mentioned that they were going to use this in their office.

While I love decorative pillows on everything (& I mean EVERYTHING ), I try to keep all of the furniture in our office very "office-looking", you know what I mean? So that's the only reason I was leaning away from daybeds in this case.

@Resonance: DH and I got one of the queen sized air mattresses w/ legs, etc that Steph mentions below, and those honestly are very comfortable and can be used in any room of the house.

 

[dani13]

ROL, I actually DO NOT recommend a sofa bed at all. We are going through a hassle with Macys right now for a replacement for our MAJORLY SAGGING sofa bed we bought a few years ago. Thankfully, Macys has been wonderful, and they are taking the couch back and we are getting a credit. We will be purchasing a regular sofa this time for sure.

Our friend is a furniture salesman, and he told us recently that sofa beds are just horrible and tend to sag easily because of the lack of support. If you look at our couch right now, it looks like a "V" with major sagging in the middle. It looks terrible. Besides all that, the actual bed in there is SO UNCOMFORTABLE, I wouldnt even want my dog sleeping on it!

My suggestion? Get a good air mattress. They are super comfortable, and can be stored away very easily. My brother has the Wenzel Insta Bed with the built in pump and I love that thing. http://www.amazon.com/Wenzel-Insta-Bed-Raised-Bottom-Built/dp/B000ETXX1U
I will be purchasing one soon. You can get it on Amazon for $85-100 bucks depending on the day. I would take that any day over a damm sofa bed. JMHO. Good luck!!

 

[LetItShine]

My brother use to own a Florida villa that was primarily a rental. It was professionally decorated with high end furnishings. In the office was a really nice leather sofa. It was a sofa bed that pulled out and housed an inflatable mattress. It was light weight and extremely comfortable. I'm not sure where you could buy one but might be worth checking into.

 

[Hera]

There are some pretty good reviews for the Ikea Manstad and the sofa bed becomes a bed in a much different fashion than traditional sofa beds so I don't think it's a terrible idea. I didn't google the other bed so you may want to do that to see those reviews.

Despite this, I think in a two bedroom, I would skip the sofa bed and just buy a good air mattress and spend the money on good office furniture. It's really a judgment call on your end and relies more on how often you'll be having guests etc.

 

[Kunzite]

I have the Manstad and it is very firm, both as a bed and couch. If that's what you're into great, but it's my least favorite couch I've owned. Both my MIL and niece sleep on it pretty frequently and they both assure me it's fine. I think they're just being nice because I slept on it once and it was awful for me.

 

[aviastar]

Hmmm, we have also been looking at the two Ikea couches. We're in an old log cabin with exactly one bedroom, so the sofa bed was important to DH, but I'm not willing to sacrifice actually wanting to sit on the thing to get it. Ikea is over an hour away...guess I'll have to make the trek!

Helpful thread, ROL!