Ensuring a Sleeper Sofa Meets Criteria for Comfort and Convenience

When many people finally get their own apartment or condominium sans roommate, the prospect of having visitors from out of town is much more appealing.

The problem, particularly with loft or one-bedroom living spaces is the lack of a dedicated guest room. Out of necessity, a good place to turn is to a piece of everyday furniture that can also be used as a functional, full-sized bed.

Probably the most familiar and popular form of convertible seating is the futon. This venerable form of sitting and sleeping for students, artists and the space-conscious everywhere started in the homes of Japan. Traditional futons are thin, quilt-like pieces of bedding used to cushion the 3-foot by 6-foot, 2-inch thick tatami mats that were ubiquitous throughout Japanese homes. They were rolled out for sleeping, then stowed in the morning, freeing up space.

When the futon migrated to the United States, the concept evolved from a cushion rolled out on the floor to a thicker mattress on a frame - a great idea for homes with limited living and sleeping space.

There are two problems with many modern futons, though. When used as a sofa, the single-piece cushion/mattress tends to shift, requiring frequent readjustment. The second problem is that the cushions suffer from the sitting, often resulting in an uneven sleeping surface.

Another form of combined use furniture is what many of us know as the sleeper sofa. This is essentially a full-sized bed that folds up for storage inside what otherwise looks like a normal couch.

Sofa beds have been the brunt of many "visiting the in-laws" stories, jokes and sitcom plots, often for good reason. In the past, they had a tendency to be terribly uncomfortable, with thin mattresses and framing that could be felt through the mattress to make guests feel like they were being subjected to an evil sleep deprivation experiment.

To make sure you don't have your own cranky, sleep deprived guests, take a few steps when buying a sofa bed. First, see how it works as a sofa. If it's not good there, forget it because that's likely to be the element of its function that will get the most use.

Second, examine the bed itself. Make sure all surfaces visible with the sofa cushions removed are fully upholstered. The fold-out mechanisms should be smooth and require little exertion, and the mounting plate, which is the heavy-gauge steel structure that attaches to the sofa's wood frame, should be bolted on, not screwed.

Third, make sure the mattress is a coiled, inner-spring model. Do a test lie-down to ensure that the frame can't be felt through the mattress. Keep in mind that heavier guests will be more at risk of this. Finally, ask what size bed linens (queen, full, etc.) the mattress will accommodate.

Another option is Istikbal sleeper sofas, sold in the U.S. through Furniture Outlet Warehouse (furnitureoutletwarehouse.com), which take the best of futon design and reinterpret it for greater comfort and convenience.

Cushions are part of the entire sofa, so won't shift when in the sitting position. Even better, the sofa tilts and opens into the sleeping position much like a futon. The under-seat area that would store the bed frame in a normal sofa bed is used instead for storage, providing a great place to stash sheets, blankets and pillows.

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