Finding room for relatives and friends to stay can be tricky, but having a sofa bed or futon in the living room means you don’t need a separate guest room.

Sofa beds and futons are real space savers that allow you to use rooms for more than one purpose. They are probably the most commonly used dual-purpose items of furniture. Refined by manufacturers over the years, modern versions are comfortable to sleep on, as well as to sit on, and they certainly do help with making the most of small-space living.

With a sofa bed or futon, you can turn a child’s bedroom into a teenager’s study-cum-bedroom, or an under-used guest bedroom into a workroom or sewing room. You can also solve the problem of limited space in studio apartments extremely effectively.

The type of bed you choose depends on who is most likely to sleep on it. While children and teenagers are usually happy to sleep anywhere, older people need a bed that provides more support and comfort. Also, consider whether the bed will be in constant or occasional use.

Futons, which are thick cotton bed rolls with wood or metal bases, are generally a little harder than a sprung or foam sofa bed, so when buying either a sofa bed or a futon, make sure that you lie on it to test it – just as you would with a normal bed. Test it as a sofa, too. It may be that, with certain convertible options, comfort and support are less important than the overall look.

Sofa beds provide both seating and a bed and they are designed to transform from one to another with the minimum of fuss. Sofa beds can look every bit as stylish as normal sofas. With the top of the range models, it is hard to distinguish between a conventional sofa and a sofa bed. They can also be just as comfortable as normal sofas and come in almost as many different shapes and sizes.

With the large range of choices of modern or traditional styles, including upholstered or show-wood frames and printed, woven, or damask cover fabrics, you can be confident of finding a sofa bed to complement your decor. However, some manufacturers offer customers an “own cover” service if you prefer it.

One point to remember about sofa beds is that they are deeper from front to back than a conventional sofa. You should take this into account when you plan to replace an old sofa with a sofa bed, and want to place it in exactly the same place.

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