Best sofa beds 2021: the most stylish sleeper sofas around

Looking for the best sofa beds available? We’re here to help with our round-up of the most stylish and comfortable sleeper sofas.

Whether you’re searching for a spacious corner sofa bed that is comfortable enough for everyday use in the living room, a compact sleeper sofa to squeeze into the home office, or the most affordable option for conjuring up extra sleeping space in a guest bedroom or children’s playroom; we’ve narrowed down the options to help you find the best of the bunch.

What is the most comfortable sofa bed?

Before choosing the best sofa bed for you, it’s worth considering the two main types:

Fold-out:

A foam fold-out – where the sofa itself unfolds to become the sleeping surface – is usually the most affordable sofa bed option and generally takes up the least space. However, these designs can be very low to the ground and quite firm to sleep on. So although they’ll be fine for sprightly guests who are just staying for a night or two, they may not be the best option for elderly relatives or longer visits.

Pull-out:

A pull-out sofa bed generally features a raised bed base that pulls out from under the sofa cushions, leaving the back and arms of the sofa in place. This means the sleeping surface is higher from the ground – more like a traditional bed – but does mean the sofa bed is likely to take up more room. The mattress frame of a pull-out sleeper sofa can be a simple metal mesh or a sprung or wooden-slatted base for more comfort. It’s also important to be aware that there can be a big difference in mattress types and thicknesses between pull-out beds.

Darlings of Chelsea Waverley sofa bed

How to choose from the best sofa beds

So, what to consider when searching for the most comfortable option?

Sofa size

It may sound obvious, but it’s important to consider how much seating space your sofa bed needs to offer. If it’s not going to be your main living room sofa then you can get away with a more compact version – maybe even one of the best chair beds if you only need to sleep a single guest at a time – but if the sofa bed needs to seat the entire household on a daily basis then investing in a chaise sleeper sofa, or one of the best corner sofa beds on our list is probably a decision you’re not going to regret.

It’s also vital to ensure your sofa bed is going to fit comfortably into the room where you want to use it. Find expert tips from Heal’s and Habitat in our guide to getting sofa measurements right.

Mattress size

It’s also important to check the mattress measurements. Many sofa beds are marketed as doubles, and although they will fit two people, they can sometimes be a snug sleeping experience. So if you regularly have more than one guest staying at a time – and they stay for a good length of time in one go – they will thank you for opting for the roomiest sofa bed your budget allows.

Sofa comfort

If a sofa bed is going to get everyday use as your main seating, then, of course, it’s important it’s comfortable to sit on. As a rule, most sofa beds are going to feel a little firmer to sit on than the best sofas you can buy due to their hidden mechanisms. But, there are ways to increase comfort. The cheapest sofa beds are generally made of solid foam which is likely to provide the firmest sitting experience. If budget allows, then look for options that offer a sprung or webbed seating base, plus feather-wrapped cushions for extra comfort.

Mattress comfort

As with the sitting experience, a foam fold-out is likely to provide the firmest sleeping surface. A pull-out sofa bed can come with a range of different mattress types, including more affordable foam, and more comfortable – although generally higher priced – pocket-sprung or memory foam mattresses. It’s also well worth checking the mattress depth; a 6cm mattress is likely to be less comfortable than a deeper 10cm mattress.

Related: Want more space-saving tricks? Check out our small living room ideas and handy storage solutions for smaller spaces.

The best sofa beds of 2021

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