Sofa beds once gave holiday guests nightmares

Major complaints about sofa beds have been addressed by manufacturers.
Washington Post
There used to be two options on the marketplace for accommodating overnight guests when an actual bed was out of the question: the sofa, or the dreaded sofa bed within. Surely you remember that thin, lumpy mattress, and the bar that hit right across the middle of your back.
Today, there are many more comfortable ways to tuck in your mother-in-law or 6-foot-4-inch brother. So comfy, in fact, that they may want to visit more often.
From sleeper sofas with luxury mattresses to stylish leather ottomans that hold a fold-out twin mattress to hip satin bedrolls and heated inflatables, there is something for every size of home and budget.
For starters, the familiar (and feared) old sofa bed has been made over for the new century with improved hardware and high-end bedding. Retailers say 20 percent of all sofas sold today are sleepers, an upgrade that adds a few hundred dollars to the price. Manufacturers have responded to demand by offering more choices, including styles with firmer inner-spring mattresses and flexible Euro-style wood slats.
December is a big month for sofa bed sales. "It's a constant purchase around the holidays," says Roger Turnbow, vice president of design for furniture manufacturer Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams. "It's our biggest sales period of the year."
Surfing made easy
Turnbow says his company is always working to improve their sofa bed. Their products, sold at stores such as Crate & amp; Barrel and Pottery Barn, offer 51/2-inch-thick inner-spring mattresses with recessed bars. They also have a TV-position headrest that pops up at a 45-degree angle so guests can channel surf late into the night.
Retail chain Storehouse has looked for ways to ensure that its sofa beds are as comfortable for sitting as for sleeping. "Traditionally, sleep sofas were quite a bit firmer to sit on than regular sofas," says Dixon Bartlett, senior vice president of Storehouse. "But with new technology, superior foams and Dacron wraps, that is no longer the case."
Storehouse recently started offering an air-filled mattress option called Cloud Coil on its sleep sofa styles. "People have responded very well to this," says Bartlett. "Most of our stores encourage customers to try it and many find it more comfortable than a standard sleep sofa mattress for only a nominal additional charge."
Number one
Select Comfort, which has become the largest bedding retailer in the country with its patented Sleep Number dual-control air bed, has now moved into the sofa market. The company's sleepers incorporate a trifold mechanism and a mesh deck supporting the air-bed mattress instead of springs and coils.
"Virtually everyone has a negative opinion of a sleep sofa and points to flaws in its design," says Pete Bils, senior director of sleep innovation at Select Comfort. "The company figured out 10 major complaints about sofa beds and addressed them."
Right size
Another complaint about many older sofa sleepers is that although they are called doubles or queens, the mattresses are often shorter and narrower than standard mattress sizes. Comfort Sleeper sofas from American Leather are fitted with high-density, high-resiliency foam mattresses of the same dimension as standard king- and queen-size beds. This innovation is not only roomier, it means sheets fit better. And the basic design also eliminates the gap between mattress and sofa, and has no exposed metal frames or bars. Cary Benson, president of American Leather, says their sofa beds are used in Disney and Hilton vacation ownership time shares, which frequently must bed down multiple family members.
Aero is the company that revolutionized sleepovers 13 years ago, when its inflatable mattress-in-a-bag premiered on QVC. Since then the company has added to the basic design, which featured a plug-in inflation pump, with pillow-top beds, raised beds and kid-size models (a pet version has been discontinued). This fall, the company introduced a heated AeroBed Premier IntelliWarmth bed so the mattress bed doesn't feel like sleeping on a chilly balloon. "It's like an electric blanket except that you are lying on it," says Lisa Mleczko, spokeswoman for Aero.
For the young and the restless who don't mind things at floor level, Urban Outfitters stocks versatile twin-size quilted bed rolls in purple lotus blossom brocade prints (very "Memoirs of a Geisha") or dramatic tufted velvets. A great nomadic look that folds in half and ties up so you can stash it away.
One more thing
At least one manufacturer says there is a major feature still missing in sofa beds. Bruce Hirschhaut is vice president at Carter Furniture, a contemporary upholstery company whose sleek sofa beds include NASA-inspired memory foam mattresses that adjust to the contour of your body.
"What we need," says Hirschhaut, "is a sofa bed that won't open after three days. It simply locks up and your guests have to go home."