My bed in the living room - what would you do?

[mummacello]

Hi all,

I'm after some advice. DS, DD and I just moved to a very small flat, having left an abusive relationship. I'm in the living room as budget doesn't allow for a separate bedroom. I'm looking at ways to hide a bed that's suitable for every night use but not insanely expensive (what the hell is up with the sofa beds that cost more than a car?!?).

I teach in the living room (when we're not in lockdown), so the bed needs to be hidden, and the room isn't big enough to divide into separate spaces.

I've considered a wall bed but there isn't room to hide it. I also wondered about a folding mattress in some kind of chest (which could also be a window seat?). And then there's sofa beds, but I'm struggling to find one that's useable every night and affordable. Are folding mattresses ok to use every night?

Any ideas or recommendations? I'd like a double size ideally.
Thanks :)

ikea lyksele is very comfortable as bed.
and folds to a narrow(ish) sofa.
enough space underneath so that you could fit a trundle box for bedding.

Not quite the question, but I got a really sturdy room dividing tension rod so I could pull a curtain behind my wfh desk while I am on video calls. It’s much less stressful not having to make sure you the room I’m working in is always perfect.

Ikea Hermes can be often bought second hand cheaply, and a new mattress can be bought from Ikea (if needed). Look nice as a sofa too!

ime those foaldable matresses are ok for the occassional night, but not for the long term.

@mummacello It's a Nabru 'Holl' 2 seat sofa bed.

@mummacello

Loads to look at! Does anyone have experience with tri-fold mattresses - like this? ]] Are they workable as a regular bed, or just for occasional use?

My personal feeling (and, again, due to ddog's separation anxiety, I've spent a lot of time on the floor/on a chair-bed/now DS's Hemnes day bed) is that sleeping on the floor is not workable long-term. Dust and fluff from the floor, you feel like the bed linen is getting dirty (I do at any rate), draughty, just overall not a nice experience.

I think you need to think about the practicalities of making up the bed every night, storing bedding etc...if I were you I’d go for a day bed (with pull-up trundle underneath for when you need a double)...that way you can simply leave the sheet and duvet on in the daytime and cover it with a nice throw and some big cushions 👌

Another vote for a proper three-seater futon sofa bed. It’s a comfortable sofa and a proper bed. Guests and housemate have not even realised it’s a sofa bed. It’s bifold and has hinges that allow you to easily set up/put down.
We have one from Cambridge Futons which is less pricey than the futon company. Another option is to buy the frame on eBay and get a new mattress?

What about

this

No-one would ever know it's a bed

@Grumpycatsmum

We have a Lycksele Murbo sofabed from IKEA in dad's room. We find it really comfortable to sleep on - bit like a futon. About £250

I have had one of these too - more comfy than my actual bed and very sturdy for every night use.

This is cheap, really easy to convert & there's a space behind when it's in sofa mode where you could store bedding. www.made.com/yoko-click-clack-sofa-bed-sherbet-blue

Also the Ikea Lycksele is sooooo easy to pull out and put back during the day, its on rollers and you can still store a duvet under it. Honestly well worth the price for the comfort. Most sofa beds are not sturdy or particularly comfy but this one is (ps I dont work for Ikea!!).

I had a Futon company futon with their best quality mattress and it was incredibly comfy to sleep on. That was the "traditional" type that folded 3 ways and was quite heavy to move, i wouldn't want to be doing it daily, but the type that look more like a sofa and just the back folds down would be fine.

[quote time4areboot]This is cheap, really easy to convert & there's a space behind when it's in sofa mode where you could store bedding. www.made.com/yoko-click-clack-sofa-bed-sherbet-blue[/quote]
I love the MADE ones but their delivery time is so long, 4 months I think.

I was going to suggest the IKEA corner sofa too. Comfy, practical, and space for bedding.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/friheten-corner-sofa-bed-with-storage-skiftebo-dark-grey-s09133543/

This one that folds out of a footstool from Loaf looks pretty good, but never tried one so couldn't comment on whether it actually is or not.

We've had a sofa bed and slept on it for some years. It wasn't gerat comfort-wise, even though we paid in the upper price bracket for it so it would be easy to fold out, because it would have to be done every morning and night and when we tried the Ikea ones they all seemed to jam a bit. It also rattled and jangled and the Ikea ones are more of the type to "lie on the floor" and thus make less noise.

So I regret that it hindsight, the Ikea ones would have been half the price and just fine.

What I wanted though was to build a sofa out of a mattress, but mr Bani has notions and didn't think it looked "proper" enough. An inch thick layer of dust on everything and cables snaking out of all appliances and across the floor is fine, but the sofa has to look like a sofa, apparently. I wanted to make something like this:

mettespotteridanmark.blogspot.com/2007/07/story-of-couch-bed-guestbed.html

I had the same problem when my relationship ended, we moved froma large 5 bedroomed house to a 2 bedroomed flat. I got myself one of these. Then when my son moved into his own house I gave it to him and moved into his old room, it was fine and didnt look like a bed in the day, I coordinated it with a throw and cushions

www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/canora-grey-may-daybed-with-trundle-hmet6290.html?piid=

The ikea lycksele beds are very comfortable to sleep on & easy to fold up - you can shove the bedding underneath.

However, they aren't very comfortable as a sofa.

So if you have an alternative sofa I would say go for it. If this would be your main sofa I'd avoid.

@mummacello

Thanks for all the suggestions! It doesn't need to be put away, but wouldn't fit behind a screen as the room is fairly small, so it needs to not look like a bed because I teach in the room where I sleep at the moment. I used to have a Hemnes on a houseboat, but it wasn't very comfy as a sofa. *@BlueDaysTillChristmas* How would you make the Ikea stackable beds comfy as a sofa? Are they heavy to unstack? I have a wrecked back. *@Gliblet* what is your sofa? Sounds doable!

The stacking bed can make a lovely corner sofa

Day bed similar to this www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/zipcode-design-bryland-bore-daybed-frame-gfwb1014.html?piid=18420315

I have one in my living room purely so the cats can't scratch the frame. It is a proper bed, with a proper mattress, and, with a load of cushions, is also a reasonably comfy sofa.

Dont get one of the clic clac sofa beds. They’re crap as a sofa and as a bed

I would use a normal single bed against the wall, and add cushions and an extra blanket on top of your duvet during the day so it can be used as a sofa. The cushions can be put under the bed while you sleep.

There's no way I would want to sleep on a sofa bed or futon in the long term.

My bed is a selfinflatable camp mattress that I set behind the sofa in the daytime. The other options were too expensive and uncomfortable for using every night but this works fine and the duvet goes with it behind the sofa.

How long do you expect to be there? I wouldn’t expect to teach with students in the house for most of this year.

I’m wfh with my (single) bed in the background, so it gets “dressed” each morning with big cushions and a throw to look like a sofa. I don’t think anyone has realised yet.

When we had a flat with a wall bed, no one realised what it was. Solid base and a sofa under it meant that it wasn’t obvious. So that might be an option.