Ikea tvåvåningssäng
For quick-ship convenience and do-it-yourself assembly, there is nothing like IKEA. The Swedish house and home retailer is known for a lot of things, but those, plus its emphasis on affordability, are perhaps chief among them. As a result, it's a great place to shop for most things, like home decor, office accessories, dishware, and bedding. Things like sofas — larger pieces of furniture where comfort is a top priority — get a bit tricky, though.
There are some real gems here especially during an IKEA sale , but there are also some pieces editors and buyers would advise against, whether due to overall build, durability, or quality relative to price. I find sofa beds to be particularly difficult to suss out; it's one thing to sleep on an IKEA sofa, but it's another when your guest is expecting a bed-like experience. These convos have had less to do with sleepers and more to do with overall construction — but to mitigate this narrow gap, I also spent an afternoon inside IKEA sitting, converting, and lying on as many IKEA sofa beds as I could.
My goal?
Våningssängar & loftsängar
To garner at least a cursory understanding of each sleeper's pros and cons, and nab a few in-store images for you product imagery skeptics don't worry, I get it. The frame build and fill choice for each of these couches is pretty similar — a mix of plywood, solid wood, and particleboard, plus polyurethane foam. Construction-wise it doesn't seem you're getting something much different from one piece to another.
But where things very obviously changed was in the sleeper mechanism, something I did not see noted online but experienced first-hand in the store. Comfort is also tantamount with a sleeper, so I tried to take note of the sit and the lay of the couch where I could without getting to sleep on them, of course. Finally, I included four sofa beds I didn't get to try but found decent reviews for, in case they better speak to your needs.
Off we go! A best-seller with over reviews, the boxy and structured sofa bed is well-known by customers and editors alike — perhaps one of the most popular budget options out there. I tried it out in the store and could see the appeal. It's certainly not the chicest on the market although the leather option upped the ante , but for the price, it gets the job done.
It folds down quickly and easily, and I loved the built-in storage for the cushions when not in use. The sit was decently comfortable. As for construction, the Friheten is crafted from plywood and particleboard — not the very best, but par for the course.
Våningssängar
The seat foam is polyurethane, the most common type of foam fill for sofas, per Living Spaces, but the back cushions are filled with polyester fiber balls instead. I only mention this because you can definitely feel the difference between the two when sitting. And, as is the case with all of these pieces, they don't hold their own as a main couch, in my opinion, but if you need something secondary for an office or a guest bedroom, the Friheten could really shine.
The Älvdalen is super small and compact — tall or broad individuals, take heed. It's quite firm, too; if you want a deep sink, this isn't the one. I will say that the bed set-up was sleek and smart, and much like the Friheten, I loved the included storage space. Oddly enough, I found it more comfortable as a bed than a sofa.
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It could have been the model I tried in the store, but it felt like the seats were pitched forward when I sat on it in its couch form. Although there are just 13 reviews compared to the Friheten's , the overall score is solid. The three-seater version is better reviewed, although I didn't get to try that one. I loved the look of the Morabo the most; definitely the chicest of the bunch with its button tufting, thin metal legs, and light green sofa cover there is a dark gray option also.
Set-up is still easy, but marginally harder than the previous two. You first pull a trundle frame out from underneath the sofa before removing the back cushions and folding the top portion of the bench seat onto the frame my photos should help show you what I mean. I thought the "mattress" was decently comfy, but I'd still recommend a topper, as you can feel the springs through the fabric; that's always a no-go for me.
As a sofa, though, the seat was quite firm Most reviewers agreed with me; it seems that was the chief complaint among them all.