Murphy (wall) bed (and what, a pair of recliners that slide out of the way?)
Just buy a real bed and forget the couch; you have one in your living room!
0voters
In the house my husband and I just bought, one of the bedrooms will serve as both my office and a guest bedroom as needed. For now, I have a queen-size air mattress, but I’d like to put in something more comfortable. One option of course is just to buy a regular bed, but I’d rather have a couch in there when we don’t have guests. Of course, every piece of convertible furniture has its drawbacks; most things are either a poor couch, a poor bed, or mediocre at both. So which do you think is the least-worst option? Additional possibilities not included in the poll, reasons for your choice, and as specific brands/models you recommend are welcome in the comments!
I guess it depends on what the usage of the room with be between your office and a guest room. You probably will not be going in there when you have guests so that probably means you don’t plan on having guests often when you need to work.
I slept on a nice airmatress for years and the high end ones are very comfortable so that’s what I voted for since the air mattress can be put away since I’mguessing the normal function of the room will be an office. On the other hand if you will have lots of guests or people who will stay for long periods of time then you’re better off getting them a real bed.
Years ago I bought what was supposed to be a very good traditional sofabed (remove cushions, pull out steel frame from under seat) from Jennifer Convertibles for a lot of money but the few times I had family members try to use it, they hated the metal frame in their back. They have sofabeds now where the seatback is part of the mattress. Perhaps they’re more comfortable?
I like futons for sleeping on, but not the ones that convert to couches. Ikea has a couch/chaise combo that converts to a bed that we may get for our guest room.
For my preference as a guest, I voted for real bed or Murphy bed, because my back is miserable after sleeping on a bad bed, and most convertible couches and day bed/trundles I’ve slept on have been awful.
As the host, I want something practical but also comfortable to sleep on. So, I may get something other than the two I voted for, but only if I’m convinced the particular item will be good to sleep on.
We’ve had the exact same experience with our sofabed from Jennifer. It doesn’t get used often, but when it does, we’ve resorted to providing our guest with several comforters to use as additional “mattressing,” which does help some. But, overall, we were disappointed in it.
Just get a real bed if you have space for it (a single/twin bed). It’s not only much nicer for guests, but if you have to sleep separately from your partner (if you have one) for some reason - one of you has a hacking cough that’s keeping you both awake, for example - then you have a real bed to sleep on. And you can nap on it if you need to.
Sofabeds are never as comfortable as a sofa to sit on, or as a bed to sleep on. The main advantage would be that you would probably be able to pull it out as a double.
It’d be perfectly comfortable to just sit on, especially if you get a back support pillow.
A Murphy bed with cabinets on either side works fine at my parents’ house. I’d rather sleep on a mat on the floor than on most caved-in, crumb- and dust-filled sofabeds with a bar across the middle.
That said, we have two sofabeds that don’t have a bar and are pretty comfy, but they had to be assembled in situ, are too heavy for us to move, and will need to be disassembled to get rid of them.
I have had too many aerobeds fail on me to go that route anymore. A real bed is what people like if you have room. People also can crash on the sofa or even God forbid the floor if they drink enough.
They’re a hassle to put up even if they have a good air pump. If you’re going to have a guest room that has space for a single/twin bed, and you’re choosing between that and a sofa in that room, might as well get a bed. Course, you could always get an airbed as well - they’re cheap enough.
I assume you’re asking for out preferred bed to sleep on as a guest?
I’ll start with what I don’t like:
Air mattresses can be cold during the winter, since you have cold air under you rather than insulating foam. Although this can be mitigated by sleeping with blankets both under you as well as on top of you, or sleeping in a sleeping bag.
Sleeper sofas usually have a metal bar across the middle, which presses into you. I generally find them uncomfortable.
Futons I have no problem with. They are comfortable enough. That would probably be my pick.
I’ve never slept on a Murphy Bed, but I imagine they’d be just as comfortable as a normal bed, so I checked that box in the poll as well.
Thanks for all the feedback so far! Lots of great points. I don’t really know how often I’ll be using it as an office long-term, or how often we’ll have overnight guests. Currently I’m working from home about half the time, but historically my job has been an on-location kind of deal. I’ve started thinking about applying elsewhere though, so who knows?
Some other complicating factors are that the closet in the master bedroom is pretty impractical, so most of my clothes are in the closet in my office. And we’re thinking of doing some major construction to push out the exterior wall of my office, add a bathroom, and make that the master bedroom instead, so there’s merit to those options that are easier to move around (air mattress vs heavy sleeper sofa or attached Murphy bed.) And yeah, maybe I don’t need a couch in my office, especially if there’s a bed.
I joke about not wanting my guests to be comfortable staying longer than I’m comfortable having them, but I really do want my friends and family to come visit and sleep well. Air mattresses are good for one person as long as they don’t leak, but not so good for couples. I’d be interested in hearing more about how people feel about the daybed & trundle idea. I realize people may use those terms differently; what I’m referring to is a twin bed with a kind of headboard along the side to make it vaguely couch-like, but it’s made up as a bed at all times, and there’s another twin bed underneath that you can roll out. How do people feel about sharing that with a significant other? Is it weird, like your hosts are making you sleep separately?
Thank god our delivery was same floor they had to take the freaking door moldings off our guest room to get that fucking couch ottamon delivered. It stays with the house.