How to choose a sofa bed

So you’ve decided it’s time to look at sofa beds or maybe even futon sofa beds. You know you need something for those late-night guests or, at the very least, something to fill that space in the spare bedroom, but what do you get? And if you do invest in a new piece of furniture, can you sleep on a sofa bed every night and put it to good use as a second bed?

Whether you’re looking for a guest room sofa bed, an apartment sofa bed or even want to go as far as having a home office with a sofa bed, we’re here to help. Not only do we know our stuff, but it turns out we have some of the best sofa beds in town.

What makes a great sofa bed?

Thankfully, sofa beds have come a long way in recent years. Gone are the days of thin mattresses over metal frames and the times when a sofa bed for small spaces was the only option around. Nowadays, a sofa bed can be — and should be — just as comfy as the mattress on your bed. Nice!

We spoke with Bella Vie Interiors principal interior designer Lisa Alward about what to look for when choosing a sofa bed.

“Convenience and ease of use are really, really important,” she says. “It must be easy to assemble. Of course you want it to look nice, but it also needs to be functional.

“Find a shape and size that works in your space as a sofa and separately as a bed. You don’t just want a great sofa that doesn’t work well when it’s folded out as a bed.”

But what about the original sofa, the futon? Let’s take a look at whether or not futons are comfortable to sleep on.

From futon to fabulous

Thanks to the elevated designs of today, much has changed since the OG lumpy, sagging futon sofas and the old futon mattress. And even a futon bed base of today is a different creature to what it once was.

But while futon mattresses offer flexibility and can be great space savers, for most people, they fall short on comfort.

While we typically don’t look for a sofa bed for permanent sleeping, we do want to make our house guests comfy.

“People are not sleeping on it for months on end,” says Lisa. “Generally, it’s just one or two nights here or there, maybe a week. The convenience and the savings of not having to go to a hotel is really what makes a sofa bed worth it for your guests.”

Sure, your guests might be staying for just a handful of nights, but you want those nights to be comfy. So, what’s the solution? Buying a sofa from a mattress company, that’s what!

Go from sit to sleep in seconds

With no tools or tricks, calling it a night (and packing it away in the morning) has never been easier. When we say ‘sit to sleep in seconds’, we mean seconds!

So, can you sleep on a sofa bed permanently? Well, after one night on your Koala sofa bed, your guests won’t want to leave. Trust us — it’s a problem. 

Don’t believe us? Give our award-winning sofa beds a try. They marry up the comfort of our mattresses with the ease and style of our furniture designs, meaning we may just have the best sofa beds in Australia. But, as always, you’ll have to be the judge of that.

Don’t need a sofa bed but just a sofa? Koala makes those too. From Modern to Coastal and modular to corner designs — and even a chaise for maximum lounging — we love our range and know that you will too.

What about sheets and pillows?

While sleeping on a sofa bed long term isn’t the goal, your sofa bed still deserves great bedding and pillows.

To welcome your unexpected house guests with durable French linens, all-year-round duvets and our world-famous Koala pillow, take a gander at our range. And while you’re there, we’ll also give you the secret to perfect sheets. Because the best comfortable sofa bed isn’t complete unless it also comes with some topnotch bedding. 

The best sofas beds Australia has to offer

These days, with all of us wanting better sleep, sofa beds have really lifted their game, and they’re now as good as some of the plushest beds around.

But we still hear you asking: ‘Are sofa beds good for everyday use, and can I sleep on a sofa bed every night?’

While nothing can replace the design and dreaminess of your bed, we’ve built our sofa beds to last. That’s why it’s no wonder our Cushy Sofa Bed was the top-rated sofa bed on productreview.com.au and winner of the Product Review 2023 Award for the Best Sofa Bedur Stunner Sofa Bed — the best compact sofa bed around — doesn’t disappoint and boasts underneath storage so you can hide your linens away when the bed is packed up. Our OG Koala Sofa Bed is also loved by our customers. It has won the productreview.com.au award for Sofa Beds thanks to hundreds of five-star reviews.

Go on — give us a try

Still having doubts?

Check out our article to see whether or not sofa beds are worth it (hint: they are and you can check out more at productreview.com.au), and explore our full Koala sofa bed range to get up close and personal with our products. 

While you’re there, have a blast shopping for beds, mattresses, pillows, bedding, bed linen and sofas, all online at Koala. Don’t forget we offer 120-night risk-free trials and super-fast delivery on all our products. Too easy!