Smart Shopper: How to Choose a Sofa Bed

Anyone who has spent a restless night on a friend’s fold-out couch will appreciate the importance of a good sleep sofa. Yes, there are comfortable models on the market — you just need to know what to look for when you shop. Here’s a rundown of some of the most important things to consider.

PB Basic Sleeper Sofa, Polyester Wrap Cushions, Washed Linen/Cotton White - $1,039 Do you need a sleep sofa? If you’ve never needed a sleep sofa before but are thinking about buying one “just in case,” you might want to think again. A sofa bed is more expensive than a conventional sofa, so unless you’re going to use it for sleeping, you’re better off buying a conventional sofa and stashing an air mattress in the closet. Due to their construction, sleep sofas have firmer seats than conventional sofas. While seniors often like the extra support (it’s easier to get up), others may find sleepers less comfortable.


Upholstered Twin Sleeper - $849 What size? Measure the spot where you want to place the sofa bed, and figure out the ideal sofa width for that space. Sleepers come in four standard widths:

Chair: 51 to 58 inches
Twin (like the model shown): 56 to 65 inches
Full: 68 to 92 inches
Queen: 79 to 101 inches


Will it fit through the door? Measure the height of the room’s ceiling and the width of the doorway (and any preceding doorways, stairs or elevators). Bring those figures to the store, so you’ll know whether you can get the piece into the room. Legs can usually be unscrewed.


PB Deluxe Sleeper Sofa - $2,499 Most bed frames are the same. Most sleep sofa mechanisms are made the same way (and by the same manufacturer), so there’s little difference from one brand to another: You’ll find a metal frame with coils around the edges holding canvas decking. (Although sofa beds still have that bar underneath the mattress, it now curves away from the body, preventing painful surprises in the morning.)


American Leather Except for this one ... One notable exception is the line of sleep sofas made by American Leather/American Upholstery, such as the model shown here. These feature a solid wood base underneath the entire mattress. This system allows the company to use conventional-size mattresses (most sofa bed mattresses are shorter), yet its sleepers take up less floor space when they’re open.


Choose your mattress. The mattress is what distinguishes one sleep sofa from another. Because it folds, it won’t be as solid as a conventional mattress. There are three basic types:
Innerspring mattresses have coils inside; the more coils, the better. The average is 345 coils; 644 is very good.Memory foam mattresses are better. They have no coils inside; the foam conforms to the user’s body.Air-coil mattresses are on a par with memory foam and feature an innerspring mattress with an air mattress built on top.


Test it out. Shoppers are often shy about testing out a sofa bed in the store, but considering the size of the investment you’re making, it’s well worth a few minutes of embarrassment. Lie down on the mattress and mimic various sleeping positions (within the realm of good taste, of course). Retract the bed so you can sense the weight and ease of the mechanism, then sit on the sofa with the bed folded up so you can judge how it feels to sit on it (which is, after all, the way you’ll be using it most of the time).


Don’t wait until the last minute. If you start shopping for a sofa bed the week before Aunt Minerva’s visit, your selection of colors and fabrics will be limited to whatever’s available on the sales floor. For best results do your shopping at least two months in advance, so the store has time to custom order the piece in exactly the color and fabric you want.

More: How to buy a conventional sofa

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