What to look for when buying a Sofa Bed

Are you in the market for a sofa bed? Then read our guide to make sure you buy what's best for your needs.
What to look for when buying a Sofa Bed picture

We've been speaking to Steve Black from Highly Sprung on Tottenham Court Road to offer you a guide to buying a sofa bed which meets your needs. Steve says...

Ask yourself two questions: Is it my main sofa and occasional bed? Is the bed for every day use?

Firstly a quality supplier will want to know how you intend to use the sofa and whether it is your main sofa with a bed as a secondary, occasional use. You can then gauge your comfort level ideally by asking you to sit on or 'test drive' various showroom seating comforts. Next you should sit on the sofa to see how it accommodates your size and how the sofa fits where your calves, posterior and shoulders touch it. Finally comes the style, size and fabric. Again a good supplier should have a huge choice of fabric textures and colours and not channel you down a narrow choice avenue (to my mind a narrow choice means a far flung production facility not allowing much scope because of the logistics).

Without doubt it is vital to choose a decent sofa bed mechanism if you either need the bed for every day use or care about the people sleeping on it. Rule of thumb is to always look underneath the mechanism and hopefully see sprung beech slats. This is a sign of quality as it is a signature of a two fold mechanism ( the less times the mechanism folds on itself the better). Two fold allows a thicker, better quality mattress- what is abundant on the market are hideous 'three fold' mechanisms ( these give themselves away when you look under the mattress and see springs and a black canvas 'trampoline'). Once the poor, thin mattress on these hideous three fold mechanisms unfolds it is a paltry 4 cm thick, more a camp bed on a rickety mechanism. Avoid!


Go and see Steve and the rest of the staff at Highly Sprung on Tottenham Court Road and take advantage of their 'try before you buy' scheme.

See All In London's full range of Furniture shops and showrooms in our directory.

This article is connected to Highly Sprung
Published Jan 24, 2014