Sofa Beds – Go From Couch Potato To Sleeping Beauty

The sofa bed is arguably one of the most popular space saving beds/sofas around today. With the exception of storable airbeds, sofa beds are the most economical on space and since they have two uses, they really cannot be beaten in terms of practicality.

If you have a friend or a family member coming to stay on short notice, or if you need an extra bed for whatever the reason, sofa beds seem to give you the best options. The great thing about them is that during the day they can act as a recreational, communal or social piece of furniture that provides seating space for you or your friends to laze around on. It’s a great two-for-one deal.

Okay, so they lack the creature comforts of a regular bed such as the comfy mattress, the big blankets and the luxury headboards, but they can be used as a cost efficient and space saving alternative.

Sofa beds can be purchased in every size, style and design you can possibly imagine. The variety is staggering.  Here is a quick list of the popular types of sofas on the current market:

The Fold-out sofa bed is usually the most expensive of the lot. It also looks the most convincing as a normal sofa. They are easy to operate so that all you need to do is flip or unfold the sofa seats onto the floor. The bed lies out at the bottom of the sofa and often they have separate mattresses that are placed on top to make it more comfortable. The reason why the cost is greater with these sofa beds is primarily due to the fact that they can blend in and be bought as quality furniture items for the home. They can come in sets of furniture and match chairs and tables.

The Flip-over sofa bed is different from the Fold-out in that it does not need a separate mattress to accompany it. The sofa seats, when flipped open and out, have foam on the back that become the cushioning of the bed. These are not ideal for elderly people or anyone with mobility problems as they can be hard to get up from. They are perhaps best intended for children.

The Drop-end sofa bed is incredibly efficient. The amount of space that can be saved from using it is considerable. It is lever operated and the arms fold down to turn the sofa into a chaise lounge. These arms can be used to turn this into a bed of choice, whether that be a single or a double. Drop-ends are highly useful sofa bed types to have in the home.

The A-Frame sofa bed is essentially where the seat and the back form the bed that you sleep on. They are often spring hinged so you can manipulate the sofa frame to fold-out flat. The sofa cushioning then spreads out into a mattress. It is probably the easiest sofa bed to use. No muss, no fuss.

These are four of the main types of sofa beds you will find, however, there are sub-category sofa beds within each of these types. If you want a funky-looking sofa bed that puts an aesthetic style over comfort, or if you want a bargain sofa bed that is economical on space and simply gets the job done, you cannot fail to discover your ideal one. The choice is veritable and practically endless. Start your sofa surfing today.