A sofa bed can be a handy piece of furniture as not only is it a great guest bed but can also double up as seating making it a multi-functional item. However, buying a new sofa bed can seem a bit daunting but it is worth doing a bit of research before you buy so you know you are going to get a great new item of furniture that suits your need.

What do you need the sofa bed for?

The first thing to consider is how you are going to use the bed. Is it going to be used daily as a sofa, with occasional use as a guest bed? Is it going as in a kid’s room so they can have their friends over to stay? Or are you going to use it to free up some space in a guest room? These seem like obvious questions but you’ll need the answers to them before committing to a new sofa bed because that will affect your choice of sofa bed.

For example if you want it in a kid’s room, a single flip-over bed is probably a good bet as this is easy to use and doesn’t take up too much room. While if you need it for the living a room a fold out sofa bed will be better as they look like a normal sofa and will fit in with a living room environment. It is also worth considering how often it is going to be used. If someone is sleeping in bed regularly, a good pull out bed with a good quality mattress may be a more comfortable option.

How much space do you have?

You will need room for not only the sofa but for the fold out sleeping surface, so you need to consider how much floor space you have. If there is room in a living room for a fold out double sofa bed, although not necessarily something you want taking up floor space all the time, then that is great. However, if you haven’t got a lot of floor space you might be better off going for a drop down side sofa bed as this doesn’t have as large a bed area so is ideal for more compact spaces. If you don’t have room for a double sofa you might be better going for a chair bed which still forms a single bed but takes up much less room.

Who is going to sleep on it?

If the sofa bed is for your kids to have the occasional mate over you’re not going to need a full double bed so a small chair bed will be fine. However, if couples are most likely to be staying then you’ll need a double sofa bed.

If you want to find out more, then visit the Dreams website, where you can view all sofa beds and find out which style and size will be best suited to your home.