I am most definitely not a fan of pull out couches. Too uncomfortable. The ones that I have slept on always have a very thin mattress and you can feel the bar in the middle of the bed. I'd prefer a futon over a pull out couch. And I'd actually prefer an aerobed over either of them.

I bought a couple of aerobeds a yr. ago and guests said they were just fine to sleep on, I never was a fan of pull out sofa beds, bars can be a problem. A futon is only as good as the mattress used on it.

My mother did a combo of sofa sleeper and air mattress. Most comfy and you didn't have to get down on the floor to use the airbed.

As far comfort goes, someone here said that the best one they ever slept on was a Kingsdown. I have a bed mattress by them and it is heaven! I'd imagine it would be price-y, like the bed ones, but have never priced or compared them.

Another thread a while back was heavy with tales of poor and uncomfortable sleeping on pull-outs, which is why I mention a previously recommended brand. All I remember, myself, is from being a kid. Didn't matter to me then, but I do remember the strange feel and of being aware of the metal apparatus in them when on them. Surely they've come a long way though :)

What about a Murphy bed?

Thanks everyone... It sounds like a futon with a good matress/topper combo would work best.

DH likes the way futons look better and isn't fond of a sofa anyway, but I thought it might look better to have a "real" piece of furniture... I suppose not.

DH needs whatever we put in his office to also serve as a cat nap couch and seating away from the screen.

We have an aerobed, so we could still offer that.

Squirrel, I don't think a murphy bed would quite work because of DH's cat nap thing. : )

We have a futon that the kids use in the playroom. It was my only bed years ago before I got married, and I really liked how it slept. My only recommendation on the futon is to get the thickest mattress you can get (4-6", I think?). Another nice feature is that you can change out the mattress covers to suit your decorating changes and they're not very expensive.

Hate them. How's that for blunt? :-) Don't care for futons, either. We used to have the futon-couch setup (also for me to nap on as well as guest accomodations) and bought a top of the line mattress, paid a mint for it. We were glad to see it go a few years later. The thickest futon mattresses I know of are something like 10" these days, although they can look kind of funny on some frames. I have recently seen a frame with springs built into it instead of the usual hard slat surface, those are probably more comfortable. "Zero-clearance" wall-hugger frames are a LOT more convenient to open, because you don't have to haul the whole darn thing away from the wall to open it.

I'd rather have an Aerobed type thing - there are raised ones now so you don't have to get down on the floor, they're the same height as a conventional bed. I've slept on one and while it wasn't as nice as my Tempur-Pedic (I'm very spoiled, I admit it!) it was definitely better than a sofabed or futon.

Although it won't work for Chicoryflower, I have a pretty cool Murphy bed bookmarked: the ZzZ-Chest. Nifty idea!

Seriously seriously hate futons, and my parents can't sleep on them at all. My mom, who has leukemia and pain in her bones/hips, sleeps very well on our sleeper sofa, which as I said earlier, uses an airbed mattress. lazy boy and ethan allen both have this option. I have also slept on it -- very comfortable. She also likes the aerobed.

I ordered a raised air bed from Frontgate and it's great. It folds up into it's own case and stores easily. It's not a aerobed, which we have and they are ok, but has the attached motor and is less expensive than the raised aerobed.

We have a brown leather sleeper sofa with a queen size bed in our guest room/office. Works great!

Hrm... me thinks I'll have to haul the grandparents around on some furniture shopping expeditions.

The Z bed is really cool, Mari.

OK, so maybe the aerobed is better, in conjunction with something to get it up off the floor. I have a raised one, but it's still a little low for my FIL.

Maybe an aerobed on top of the futon and frame?

I hate being uncomfortable when I stay at relative's houses, and I'd hate to think I was putting anyone through torture.

I think it's sweet of you to even care.

One can always get sleeper sofas and upgrade the mattress. The best temporary bed I ever slept on had a super top of the line mattress in a fold out sofa.

I hate futons,
I hate sleeper sofas with thin mattresses. I'd rather just leave the sofa folded up and sleep on top,
No way am I climbing down to the floor for a blow up bed.

You are nice to care what you offer.

There was a similar thread a while ago (I'll link to it below) and in it, Robin_g had a link to an air mattress review. We bought the one recommended -- about $50 for a tall full size air mattress and it worked perfectly for some of our guests! I'll link to the review in the next post.

Here is a link that might be useful: sleeping options thread

How about a daybed w/ a trundle? It can be used as a single sleeping or nap bed and the trundle pulled out for 2 folks. Some have the trundle lower than the single and some pop up to be the same height.

Lots of styles to choose from, lots of type of spreads and covers to make them look like sofas, many price ranges and comfortable too!

My friend got one for her tiny guest room and has had no complaints from either kids or adults that have used it. It allows the room to be used as a study when there are no guests. Hers has a woven cane back and wooden arms and is a wonderful spot to curl up w/ a good book.

And here's the review. The #1 rated bed was AeroBed Premier Comfort Zone Raised for $259.99; the #2 rated was the one we purchased, Home Trends Raised Air Mattress With Built-In Pump for $48.73 at Wal-Mart. You can't beat the price and it was very easy to put up and take down. I didn't sleep on it, but the guests that did said it was very comfortable. HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: review of inflatable mattresses

Also, we do have a pull-out sofa, but no one wants to sleep on it and we do have a foam pad on top of the mattress (plus we've even tried a featherbed on top of that and it still was horrible)! I think there are some that are more comfortable, but they might be pricier.

Some pull-out sofas are bad and some are great and really comfy. I can't give you brands, but I've slept on a lot of them over the years and there is a lot of variety. I'd do some research and some testing. I have a futon and it's comfy, but I associate it with student poverty (I've slept on a lot of futons over the years too), so I want to replace it with a sofa bed.

Our queen sleeper sofa has a cheap mattress and isn't at all close to comfortable, but we just bought a Serta 2" memory foam mattress topper for it, and now it's sleepable. The topper will even close up into the sofa (with some poking at it). I think it'd be helped even more by a thin piece of plywood placed underneath the mattress when in use--doesn't have to cover the whole "bed"--just the middle part where the worst bar is because the springs don't hold up well. However, the topper alone makes it so much better. I got it at overstock.com where it's "only" $79 for any size.....and they also have other thicknesses available.

Tracey

We have this problem as well. For long term, I bought a sofa sleeper from Calico Corners that has an air mattress topper to it. However, since it did not arrive until after the holidays when I had quests I bought a couple of used futons plus a twin aerobed. The futons were just as uncomfortable as the typical sofa bed and my guests ended up putting the mattress on the floor to sleep; but I'm sure there are better quality futons than we we purchased. My MIL and DS actually slept on the futon mattress on the floor for the past 2 months and found it quite comfortable--we've only just retired it. The aerobed worked well and was comfortable. In fact, we took it with us when we went to Disneyland and my DS used it on the floor.

Here is a pic of my sofabed, though we've not used the sleeper part as yet. I really need to get a rug first to anchor the sofa because right now it slides all over when getting it out.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I have a sofa-bed. DH and I slept on it for a month while he had a herniated disc because it was out in the LR and the TV was out there. It was really comfortable!

That was a several years ago and my mom regularly sleeps on it when she visits me. She told me she was beginning to feel the "bar" through the mattress---I guess the mattress was packing down or whatever. So I bought some memory foam/egg crate stuff and it's comfy again.

I just don't like being on the floor with an air mattress.

This is a great option. I really need a guest sleeper in the den, don't want a futon, don't want to use the Aerobed except in an emergency. If I understand the concept - this Air Dream is to replace the mattress that comes with a sofa bed--correct?

Valisnv: (or others who might be able to answer) How bulky was the twin aerobed mattress that you took to Disneyworld? Was it easy to travel with? I ask because we recently booked lodging at Yellowstone this summer, but need an extra bed for our 7 year old. I thought of buying an aerobed (can't decide between twin or double). Smartbargains.com has them on sale for $69 and I have a 10% off coupon. I've never actually seen one and have no idea how easily they fold up for travel. Thanks!

Chicoryflower: Did you ever see the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine visit Jerry's parents at their condo in Florida? Well in addition to my parents (who winter in Florida) a twin couple of Jerry's parents, we are forced to sleep on their horrible torture rack pull out when we visit. After the last trip, DH and I said no more! We rented a little place for all of us in Key Largo and invited my parents to come stay with us! So forget about a pull out couch unless you don't really want company, LOL!

I have seen the hybrid airbed mattress hide-a-beds similar to valinzs' at a La-z-boy store.

It's like I'm not even here. Yes, lazy boy offers an airbed mattress for its sleeper sofa. So does Ethan Allen. I believe Henredon might also. The Lazy boy and Ethan Allen air mattresses both feel the same (my mom has one, I have the other) and are both very comfortable.

Sarschlosm Funny that you say that. I posted a question about the aero bed specifically to you and if your mom put it on the sofa bed. I came back today and it wasn't on this thread. I must have screwed up when posting.

sarschlos~Does it cost extra for the airbed mattress? And it won't pack down like texashottie's? Is the sofa as heavy as the old sleeper sofas (which weighed a ton)? Sorry I have so many questions, DD already (one year later) wants to replace futon.

It's like you are, Sarah! : )

Sorry, I'm not in the Ethan Allen or La Z Boy price range... more like Craigslist or Discount Futon Super Mart. Know what I mean?

chickory_flower: If budget is a concern then I think you can do well with Craigslist looking for a futon. I would recommend a wood frame, though, and perhaps buy a new mattress for it or if you can sew, you could make a new cover. The ones I had were cheapo metal--bought for just that purpose and I think that is why it was so uncomfortable as the metal bar poked through just like what happens with some sofabeds. I've noticed the wood futon frames have slats which may work better. The issue I think is because the mattress has to bend over there are no springs it it and so it tends to feel lumpy. Perhaps having an extra layer of the egg crate foam might help.

teeda: The aeorbed twin is like having a sleeping bag. We were a group of 10 (2 families) traveling together. Then I would ask the hotel for extra sheets. My DS is the odd person out as the two girls can share a double bed and my DH and I the other. I like the flexibility of having a twin as it's easier to find an open spot to put it down. I'd rather have 2 twins than a double/queen. It comes attached with a plug in air pump that you use to inflate/deflate. It deflates very quickly, then you just fold lengthwise in thirds and roll up like a sleeping bag and then put in the little carrying case it comes with. Very quick and easy. I think it would be nice to have for slumber parties as well if you have kids. Then you can just set up an extra bed in your child's room for her friend.

mustangs: The way it works is that you have a standard 3-4" thick sofa bed mattress adn attached to that is the air bed part. It comes with a pump which you plug in and inflate so that mattress then becomes a full 7-8" thick so you can fit standard sheets on it. While I didn't spend the night on it, I did lay down on it and it is very comfortable--like an aerobed raised up to bed height. The only thing is you have the added task to inflate/deflate daily. Reason I've not used it is because we don't have a rug in the living room and so opening/closing daily is a hassle. For some odd reason my DH's family prefers to sleep on the floor.

mustangs -- no need for an aerobed on top of the sleeper mattress. Both are separate and very comfortable air beds.

chickory_flower -- keep checking craigslist and ebay. You might just find something. Ours is a sectional, and we're going to need to sell it because the sectional faces the wrong direction for our new house, so even though I like it, it's going to have to be replaced in the next year or so.