With three previous posts on my sofa bed you might think I'm a trifle obsessed with it - and you'd be right. Here is number 4! The reason for my obsession is that when you live in a studio apartment, it's a very important piece of furniture. It must perform three functions, and they must be performed flawlessly. It's taken some work, but I've now gotten two of the three perfected - comfortable seating and comfortable sleeping. The latter is what I'll address today with a great product that has turned what is normally an unpleasant, lumpy sleep experience into a dream - an Air Dream, in fact.
When I was deciding what sort of sleeping situation I wanted in my new apartment I considered a day bed, but was worried about the room looking like a bedroom all the time and a murphy bed, but that would have required some major demolition and construction with the current layout of my place. A sofa bed seemed like the best option to make the place work for entertaining and still provide me a real bed. If Mary could do it, so could I.
My one concern with the whole sofa bed oeuvre was the notoriously uncomfortable sleeping experience. I set out to see if there had been any advances in sofa bed sleep technology and was pleasantly surprised to find the Air Dream mattress. Its air over coil technology easily eliminates the bar across your back that is the hallmark of a sofa bed mechanism. Simply inflate the mattress with the included air pump...
...and it becomes an 11" thick mattress that feels like a regular bed. Here it is dressed out in some of my vintage sheets.
The next morning just flip up the cap on the air chamber and it deflates quickly.
After making sure all the air is out of the ends and corners it folds up like a normal sofa bed mattress.
I had a few concerns before ordering, so I called the company to ask some questions. I spoke with Sean and he was very helpful. I was worried about what to do if there was a power failure. I couldn't inflate the mattress without power. Sean said that I could sleep on the mattress without inflating it, just like sleeping on a regular sofa bed mattress because under the air bladder is a standard flexible coil mattress. My sleep experience wouldn't be as comfortable as with the bladder inflated, but it would do in a pinch. My second question had to do with longevity. This mattress is really designed to be a guest room replacement. I wanted to know how well it would hold up to daily use. Sean told me that as long as I took care of it (making sure the air had all been expelled before folding it up, not letting the bladder get pinched in the mechanism, etc.) it would be just fine - plus, there is a three year warranty on the mattress, air chamber and valve. So I was sold, I ordered it and haven't looked back. It's been a wonderful solution for me.
You can find them on their website. They're a great solution for guests and daily use alike. Just so you know this isn't a biased review, I did pay full price for my mattress, and I do feel that it was worth it.
No more sofa bed posts. I promise! At least not until I address the third important aspect - how it looks, and get it reupholstered...
Don't get me wrong, I love my new vintage sofa bed. The problem with buying a used sleeper sofa is that the bed is frequently pretty uncomfortable. This was the case with mine. The middle of the bed sagged horribly - so much so that I had to be creative about sleeping positions, lest the bar in my back cut me in half. I've started to take steps to rectify that, however. The first one is to replace the springs that hold the mattress deck taut.
The spring on the right is one of the old ones. You can see how stretched out it is. On the left is a new spring, all shiny and ready for service. I found the new springs at Planet Bed. Count the turns in your springs and then find the match in their catalog. Over the years these springs can become sprung, allowing the deck to sag in all the wrong places. Replacing them isn't a complicated procedure. It does take a bit of muscle and some ingenuity, however.
I had intended to use pliers to pull the springs into position. The tension is too much for the pliers, however, and they kept slipping from the grips. I ended up using the sturdy hook on a good quality wooden hanger to pull them tight. The first hanger broke after I was about half done, but the second one survived to finish the job.
So did it help? Yes, indeed! It's revived the bed beautifully, actually. The deck doesn't sag anymore and sleeping in it is much more pleasant. Taking the time and effort to revitalize something old instead of throwing it out and buying something new is a good step to take to combat the disposable nature of our consumer economy. My reasons for doing it really had to do with how the sofa looked, but it's been a lesson in sustainability as well. Why not try and upgrade something you've been thinking of replacing? If you do, I'd love to hear about it.
In my search for something to sleep on for my new apartment I've come across some interesting options. The apartment is a nice sized studio, so what I decide on will have to do double duty. I've pretty much settled on a sofa bed. I like the fact that it tucks away without a hint of it's dual purpose and I'm particularly fond of following in the footsteps of Mary Richards (thanks to Julia at HookedOnHouses.net for the photo)
I have some concerns, however. Sofa beds are notoriously uncomfortable. I've slept on my share of them to know the rumors are true, so I went in search of some options. I knew that the sofa bed manufacturers would have plenty of solutions aimed at making them more comfortable, and I was pleasantly surprised!
My first stop was Carlyle. They're a local New York/New Jersey brand known for their quality furniture. I spoke with Thomas who clued me in on what they do to make a sofa bed comfortable for every day use - a daily sleeper they called it. First off the mechanism is solidly built and the foundation for the bed is composed of a mesh of metal pieces that look like large staples linked together. They call it Steelweave. Additionally, they make their frames out of hardwood and their deluxe mattresses have more coils than the average mattress and are also padded for extra comfort. Part of the Carlyle demonstration is for the salesman to jump up and down on the folded sofa to show how solidly built they are. It was convincing, but not as convincing as laying down on the bed. The deluxe mattress was very comfortable. Comparable to a regular bed. I couldn't feel the bar across my back at all, which is one of the general complaints about sofa beds. The big drawback was price. The simple sofa that I picked out was a cost prohibitive $4000.
My next stop was Jennifer Convertibles. They're known for being more cost effective. I spoke with Fredelisa, who gave me the inside story on their daily sleeper option - an inflatable mattress they call the Airdream. I have to say I was equally impressed with the comfort of that bed - again, no bar across my back and it felt like a regular bed as well. There is the added step of inflating it every night when you open up the bed, but it inflates in 45 seconds to a minute with a special little device you plug into a valve on one of the corners. To deflate, just pop the cap and the mattress deflates. Their other option was a coil mattress like Carlyle, but I wasn't as impressed with that - I felt the bar across my back. Jennifer Convertibles has the edge on price. The sofa I looked at there would run me about $1200 - $1500 with custom fabric choices.
Now, no post here would be complete without a discussion of styling! My goal with this new apartment is to evoke the early 1970's with an eclectic David Hicks feel. With that in mind, I'm looking for a tuxedo style sofa (one in which the arms are as high as the back) with boxed back cushions. It's a basic style that was popular back then. If upholstered correctly it will look period. At Carlyle that's no problem. They will customize everything about the sofa I choose. I can give them the picture below and they will replicate it exactly.
Jennifer Convertibles isn't as flexible, however. They won't work with a customer's fabric, they won't change back cushion styles, they won't customize anything except fabric choices within their range of fabrics, which is fairly broad - I found a few options I could consider.
This brings me to a third option - vintage. Now buying a vintage sofa bed presents several problems. First and foremost is upholstery. Finding one that doesn't need to be reupholstered is challenging - unless it's been preserved in plastic! Reupholstery can be as expensive as a new sofa, so it's wise to consider whether the frame is worth the investment. I was concerned about the mechanism and that bar across my back until I found out that the inflatable mattress could be bought for any bed. That opened up the possibility of a well preserved vintage sofa working, should I find the right specimen.
I'll keep you posted on my choices and show you a picture of the final purchase! Right now this thrifty girl is leaning toward Jennifer Convertibles with the inflatable mattress.
My trip to Denver was a great success after a bit of a snafu with the flight out (it was canceled). Look for a video featuring the trip soon!
(Thanks to Christian Montone for the vintage sofa bed image!)
