Do you have a spare bedroom that is used whenever a relative comes over and stays the night before heading back home again? If you do you will know the ups and downs – literally in many cases – of owning a sofa bed.
Not only are they sometimes quite difficult to get up and down if you only have a small amount of space available, they can also be troublesome in terms of constantly having to put them up and pack them away again. So why not think about investing in another double bed instead?
While a double bed would be too much for a box room, many spare rooms are capable of accommodating one. Before you decide to buy one you should measure up carefully to see whether you could indeed fit one in. You will stand a better chance of doing so if you can put the bed up against one wall, rather than having to get around both sides of it. Consider who typically comes to stay though; you can’t expect elderly people to climb across in the same way kids can.
You should also think about the bed frame you are going to get. You will be better off with a divan set if you are going to get a bed for a spare room. This is because it won’t be any bigger than the size of the mattress. With a bed frame the mattress tends to sit inside it, so you will end up having a few more inches to try and squeeze in.
As far as other furniture is concerned, you should make sure you can fit in at least one bedside table. Two is ideal, but if you have the bed up against one wall you won’t have room for both. You might be able to fit another one at the foot of the bed if you have room though – this can work as an alternative. Also you could attach a spotlight to the wall to provide a source of easily reached light for the person on that side of the bed.
As you can see there might be more chance of fitting a double bed into your spare room than you first thought. And it is certainly easier to manage than constantly having to open and close a sofa bed – particularly if you can only buy a cheap one.