Spare Bed or Sofa Bed: Which Is Best?
Many people are unsure whether to buy a spare bed or a sofa bed (sleeping sofas) for their home so they can accommodate unexpected guests.
It happens to most couples: they buy their new home with a standard three bedrooms, and have loads of room for overnight visitors.
Then they have a family, and are reduced to one spare room.
Then another is born, and you are reduced to none.
Sure, the kids will share, or even sleep in mom and dad's room in an emergency, but what happens when they get older and refuse to share - particularly if you have a boy and a girl? It's not as if new parents wring their hands with the news and wonder what they will do about spare rooms! That's the last thing on their minds.
In such cases, a sofa bed would be the ideal solution.
You can purchase it and use it as a sofa for a few years, and then all of a sudden (or so it seems) you need spare sleeping accommodation.
Sharing Rooms is Not an Option Unless you forget you have a sofa bed, then that solves your problem.
However, if you have the room for it, what is best: to purchase a spare bed or buy a sleeping sofa? You first have to consider where the spare bed will be situated.
Your kids won't be happy having an unused bed in their room - not unless it can be used for sleepovers, so that's a good bargaining chip you have.
On the other hand, would you be happy with your husband's drunken friend sharing a room with your son or daughter? Thought not! So maybe a sofa bed is the ideal answer.
Then again you might think that the standard of comfort you are offering genuine guests and real friends is not acceptable, and that a real bed would better.
Think again! Modern sofa beds are not the creaking, lumpy monstrosities of yesteryear.
They do not sound like a tiger in pain when you open them, and do not feel like a bed of potatoes when you lie on them.
They have a smooth operation, and can be exceptionally comfortable.
Certainly well up to what you friends or relatives would expect you to offer them.
In fact, some single people with limited space in their home prefer to use a sleeping sofa in their living room and use the sole bedroom as an office or a home gym.
let's assume that you have decided to purchase a sofa bed.
What are your options? Here are one or two ideas you could consider.
Using Sectional Sleepers Sectional sleepers can be incorporated into living room sectional furniture.
Many people choose sectionals because they not only make good use of small spaces, but also enable the corners and walls of larger rooms to be used for seating when required.
Sectional components include chairs and sofas with specific functions, such as recliners, lift chairs for the elderly and disabled, and also rockers and sliders.
Another optional function of sectional furniture is the sofa bed.
You can have your guests sleep on the sofa itself, or you can purchase a sofa bed as a component of the arrangement.
This is useful in an emergency.
For some people an emergency arises when their kids have grown up and all bedrooms taken.
Sectional sleepers then become the emergency bed in times of need! Sofa Beds or Sleeping Sofas Sleeping sofas are the same as sofa beds: sofas that can be pulled out to provide a double bed.
The double could be a tight squeeze, depending on the width of the sofa, but who complains when the alternative is the floor! If offered the option of a sofa bed or a recliner, many people will decide on the recliner if they already have adequate sleeping accommodation.
However, just as many tend to go for the sleeping sofa because they tend to get unexpected guests or hold regular parties when some are unable to make their way home at the end.
Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Sofa Beds There is a wide choice of sofa beds available, and the way to choose the most appropriate for your needs is first to visit an online furniture store and check what is available.
Once you see something you like, you should visit the company's showroom and check the item over in the flesh.
Ask the questions you should ask before you make a decision.
Some of these questions are: • How does it convert to a bed? • Can it easily be pulled out or does it take some strength? • Are there any recommended mattresses - or any you cannot use? • Is the mattress folded with the bed, or does it have to be put on once it is unfolded? • What maintenance is required? • What if the mechanism fails? • What space does it take up when converted? These might sound like obvious questions, but not all sofa beds work the same way.
Some pull out straight from the back forwards, while others are converted from the side.
It is essential to know this, because it can affect how the sofa is placed in your room.
They generally extend in one direction or another, and it is important that you understand how yours works so you can allow the necessary free space in your sitting room.
There are several less important aspects of sofa beds of which you should be aware, but the question of whether you should buy a spare bed or a sofa bed can only be answered by yourself.
Most would opt for the sofa bed.
It happens to most couples: they buy their new home with a standard three bedrooms, and have loads of room for overnight visitors.
Then they have a family, and are reduced to one spare room.
Then another is born, and you are reduced to none.
Sure, the kids will share, or even sleep in mom and dad's room in an emergency, but what happens when they get older and refuse to share - particularly if you have a boy and a girl? It's not as if new parents wring their hands with the news and wonder what they will do about spare rooms! That's the last thing on their minds.
In such cases, a sofa bed would be the ideal solution.
You can purchase it and use it as a sofa for a few years, and then all of a sudden (or so it seems) you need spare sleeping accommodation.
Sharing Rooms is Not an Option Unless you forget you have a sofa bed, then that solves your problem.
However, if you have the room for it, what is best: to purchase a spare bed or buy a sleeping sofa? You first have to consider where the spare bed will be situated.
Your kids won't be happy having an unused bed in their room - not unless it can be used for sleepovers, so that's a good bargaining chip you have.
On the other hand, would you be happy with your husband's drunken friend sharing a room with your son or daughter? Thought not! So maybe a sofa bed is the ideal answer.
Then again you might think that the standard of comfort you are offering genuine guests and real friends is not acceptable, and that a real bed would better.
Think again! Modern sofa beds are not the creaking, lumpy monstrosities of yesteryear.
They do not sound like a tiger in pain when you open them, and do not feel like a bed of potatoes when you lie on them.
They have a smooth operation, and can be exceptionally comfortable.
Certainly well up to what you friends or relatives would expect you to offer them.
In fact, some single people with limited space in their home prefer to use a sleeping sofa in their living room and use the sole bedroom as an office or a home gym.
let's assume that you have decided to purchase a sofa bed.
What are your options? Here are one or two ideas you could consider.
Using Sectional Sleepers Sectional sleepers can be incorporated into living room sectional furniture.
Many people choose sectionals because they not only make good use of small spaces, but also enable the corners and walls of larger rooms to be used for seating when required.
Sectional components include chairs and sofas with specific functions, such as recliners, lift chairs for the elderly and disabled, and also rockers and sliders.
Another optional function of sectional furniture is the sofa bed.
You can have your guests sleep on the sofa itself, or you can purchase a sofa bed as a component of the arrangement.
This is useful in an emergency.
For some people an emergency arises when their kids have grown up and all bedrooms taken.
Sectional sleepers then become the emergency bed in times of need! Sofa Beds or Sleeping Sofas Sleeping sofas are the same as sofa beds: sofas that can be pulled out to provide a double bed.
The double could be a tight squeeze, depending on the width of the sofa, but who complains when the alternative is the floor! If offered the option of a sofa bed or a recliner, many people will decide on the recliner if they already have adequate sleeping accommodation.
However, just as many tend to go for the sleeping sofa because they tend to get unexpected guests or hold regular parties when some are unable to make their way home at the end.
Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Sofa Beds There is a wide choice of sofa beds available, and the way to choose the most appropriate for your needs is first to visit an online furniture store and check what is available.
Once you see something you like, you should visit the company's showroom and check the item over in the flesh.
Ask the questions you should ask before you make a decision.
Some of these questions are: • How does it convert to a bed? • Can it easily be pulled out or does it take some strength? • Are there any recommended mattresses - or any you cannot use? • Is the mattress folded with the bed, or does it have to be put on once it is unfolded? • What maintenance is required? • What if the mechanism fails? • What space does it take up when converted? These might sound like obvious questions, but not all sofa beds work the same way.
Some pull out straight from the back forwards, while others are converted from the side.
It is essential to know this, because it can affect how the sofa is placed in your room.
They generally extend in one direction or another, and it is important that you understand how yours works so you can allow the necessary free space in your sitting room.
There are several less important aspects of sofa beds of which you should be aware, but the question of whether you should buy a spare bed or a sofa bed can only be answered by yourself.
Most would opt for the sofa bed.
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