Sleeper Sofa Guide: 3 Benefits of Sleeper Sofas

A sleeper sofa is a piece of furniture that features a collapsible bed frame inside of a sofa. When folded up, a sleeper sofa resembles an ordinary couch, yet beneath the seat cushions of the couch is a pull-out mattress that extends to accommodate overnight guests.

Most sofa mattresses are collapsable and have a thin innerspring construction that folds up when the bed is retracted. Other sofa beds come with an air mattress that’s inflated when the bed is pulled out. Over time, air mattresses may provide more durability, as the cushioning of a collapsable innerspring can wear down with repeated use.

The terms “sleeper sofa” and “sofa bed” are often used interchangeably, but the bedding industry uses these terms to describe two distinct products.

• Sleeper sofa: A sleeper sofa appears like a standard couch, but beneath its cushions lies a collapsible mattress. Most sleeper sofas are wide enough to comfortably fit two people, either on a full-size mattress or a queen-size mattress.
• Sofa bed: A sofa bed does not have a collapsible mattress within its frame. It contains a single surface that can be laid flat for sleeping or folded at an angle for sitting. The most common iteration of a sofa bed is a futon.

A sleeper sofa serves dual functions for seating and sleeping in home offices, living rooms, and guest bedrooms. When not in use, simply treat your sofa bed as a standard couch. You can select different upholstery patterns when purchasing a sofa bed, and you can decorate with throw pillows for added comfort. In a living room or family room, sofa beds can be part of a sleeper sectional, a type of couch with multiple sections, one of which is a pull-out bed.

To use a sleeper sofa as a bed, simply remove the seat cushions and pull the bed frame up and out using the handle in the unit’s center. Cover your mattress with bed sheets, blankets, and pillows to aid a good night's sleep.

Sleeper sofas provide many practical benefits in both small apartments and large houses.

1. 1. Space: In studio apartments or small guest rooms, space is at a premium. Multipurpose furniture frees up space.
2. 2. Size: Sleeper sofas are available at many price points and sizes. A two-cushion loveseat will pull out to form a full-size bed, while a three-cushion sofa will pull out to form a queen-size sleeper.
3. 3. Aesthetic: There are many upholstery options for sleeper sofas, making it easy to match other furniture. You may even be able to buy a sleeper sofa as part of a living room furniture set.

When it comes to space-saving sleeping arrangements, today's buyers have multiple options:

• Trundle bed: A trundle bed is a two-in-one bed: one mattress tucks underneath the frame of another mattress. Roll-out trundles and pull-out trundles make good use of small spaces, and trundle bunk beds offer expanded sleeping in a kid's room.
• Daybed: A daybed is a hybrid of a sofa and a bed. It does not contain moving parts, and it almost always comes with a twin-size mattress that sits on slats or a platform. Daybeds work best with a spring mattress, as a memory foam mattress will provide too much sink when used as a couch.
• Sofa bed: Like a daybed, a sofa bed doubles as both a couch and a sleeping space. However, a sofa bed has moving parts that make its surface flat (for sleeping) or angled (for sitting). Sofa beds tend to make better couches than daybeds, and daybeds make better sleeping spaces because they can accommodate high-quality mattresses that do not fold.
• Futon: A futon is a simplified sofa bed. Its entire sleeping surface is exposed when used as a sofa—one side of the mattress functions as the sofa backrest, and the other side functions as the seat. When transformed, the futon can lie flat so that the entire sleeping surface is level. Futons come with both metal frames and wood frames.

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