The Best Sleeper Sofas Make Air Mattresses Obsolete
This is the promise of the Axis Twin Sleeper Sofa from Crate and Barrel. While the “sofa” part of the name is king of a misnomer, its 25-inch depth seat makes it a great for curling up and getting cozy. If you’re sold on the Axis but do want that bigger mattress, know that it’s also available in full and queen sizes, too.
The mattress is, sadly, a traditional innerspring that may remind you of old-school sofa beds. That said, the mattress is an impressive five and a half inches thick, which means it can sag a decent bit before you’ll really start to feel the springs underneath your back. And for a small fee, you can upgrade to Crate & Barrel’s air mattress, which includes the same innerspring but with an extra inflatable layer of cushioning aimed to boost comfort.
Best Fold-Out Sofa Bed: Koala Byron Sofa Bed
If you haven’t seen the Teddy Sofa on Instagram, chances are you have seen Koala. GQ‘s senior visuals editor Daria Di Lello tested it out, saying that its addition finally did her two-bedroom justice. Di Lello says that it’s as comfy as her regular old bed mattress, and while sitting on it and sleeping on it it’s on the firmer side, which is her preferred mattress feel. To flip the sofa to a bed, it’s quite simple, opening up like a billfold wallet. Underneath the sofa there’s a tray on wheels which you pull out to rest the extended half of the seat cushion on.
The result is roughly a queen-sized mattress, low to the ground, which you can make like a regular bed with regular sheets. The seatback of the sofa has hidden compartments that guests can use like a night stand to store things like a phone, a book, a glass of water, etc. Delivery was seamless for Di Lello who was given a three-hour window, and two dispatchers arrived on time. She opted for white-glove assistance so they set it up for her within about 30 minutes and removed the empty boxes when they left.
Best Sectional Sleeper Sofa: Joybird Briar Sleeper Sofa
Sometimes, there simply aren’t enough places to sleep, which is where the sleeper sofa sectional comes into play. Joybird’s Briar functions like a three-car garage: There’s a spacious queen mattress, plus the narrower extra spot on the chaise where a smaller person could cuddle up. It’s also functional for accommodating a crowd in couch form, with enough space for four people (or more, if you squeeze).
The four-and-a-half-inch mattress consists of three inches of high-density foam, plus an inch and a half of plush memory foam. For a fee, you can upgrade from that standard foam to a Tempur-Response memory foam. No matter what mattress model you choose, though, for tall folks, the Briar might require some curling up, as it’s a bit shorter than a standard queen.
The Briar is available in a whopping 79 fabric colors and textures, and you can also customize the orientation of the chaise. And considering one reviewer says their model has held up for six years and counting, you can consider this a staple piece in any room in which it lives.
More Sleeper Sofas We Love
What to Look for in a Sleeper Sofa
Size: In addition to measuring the spot where you want the sofa bed to live to ensure it’ll fit both in sofa and bed form, also pay attention to mattress dimensions. “I don’t think a sleeper queen is always the size of a queen, queen,” says Pennington. She’s right—a number of options are slightly shorter or narrower (or both) than standard mattress sizes.
Conversion mechanism: While most of the sleeper sofas on our list use a traditional pull-out frame that lifts from the bottom of the couch after seat cushions are removed, other options exist, as well. Some daybeds, for instance, use a trundle system that pulls out from under the seat, and the frameless Teddy from OMHU drags directly onto the floor.
