Sleeper sofa or air mattress?

[SnuggleBuggles]

We are still couch shopping and I'm debating whether or not to buy a sleeper sofa. We don't host guests now as there's other family in town for them to stay with but that could change. Choices are more limited if we go the sleeper sofa route so that's my hesitation- that and the fact that they are extra heavy.

This will be for a finished basement space (walkout, high ceilings) that also has an attached bath and the ability to be a totally private space- basically a pretty decent guest suite should folks wish to stay over. We don't have a guest bedroom as our house is just small bedroom wise.

Since neither sofa beds or air mattresses are really amazingly comfortable, which route should I go? I could buy a very nice air mattress for the amount I'd save over buying a sleeper sofa too. ;)

[gymnbomb]

If I were sleeping on it by myself I would prefer the air mattress. But I can’t share an air mattress, so if it were for 2 people I would prefer the sleeper sofa. If you go the sleeper sofa route and think people will actually sleep on it, test it out and spring for one with a decent mattress. Some of them aren’t too bad. If you really think it will almost never get used, get the couch you want and pick up a good air mattress (or two) when you actually need it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AustenFan]

Air mattress for sure! There are good ones now. I have never, ever slept on a sleeper sofa that was comfortable. My in-laws had a sleeper sofa (their default guest "bed") that I affectionately nicknamed the instrument of torture. I endured it through our dating and engagement (actually, I'd put the cushions back on the couch part, wrap up in a sheet, and sleep on that), but after we got married, DH and I bought his parents a nice air mattress for us to sleep on when we came instead of the sofa. They were really offended and insisted that their sofa was comfortable. We politely said we'd just use the air mattress when we were in town. They got a new mattress for the sleeper sofa, which MIL insisted was high quality. I tried it and explained that any mattress that could be easily folded in thirds just wasn't good for my back (I have sports injuries). The next time we visited, they gave us their bed and slept on the sleeper sofa, as if to prove that it was just fine. After that, they got rid of the sleeper sofa and bought a second high quality blow-up mattress! Guess they finally figured out what I had been telling them for 13 years at that point.:wink2:

[ourbabygirl]

Definitely air mattress (or I guess you could do a Murphy bed)! We have a super comfy sleeper sofa that we just put away after having it for about 16 years. It was still in great shape, but we're moving (downsizing) and just don't have the room or need for it anymore. Unfortunately, none of the donate-your-furniture organizations around here will take sleeper sofas (Goodwill might, but I don't want to donate to them). So it's sitting somewhere in a storage area of my parents'.

We have an Aero bed for the kids for traveling (and have only used it once for traveling and once for camping), and since I didn't sleep on it, I don't know how comfortable it is, but the new ones you can get now are much thicker and more the size of a real mattress, versus the ones that are only about 4 inches thick/ deep. I've also seen them in the Frontgate catalog, if you want a more luxurious one (I think those have stands or something that you can put them up to prop them up more like a real bed).

[DualvansMommy]

For us, definitely air mattress. I've slept on both (usually bringing our good high quality air mattress) and sleeper sofa, and ALWAYS had better night sleeping on our air mattress!

In your situation, it sounds like anticipating guests will be very infrequent that I feel ok with an air mattress. Not to mention you can get that space back whenever you deflate it and put it away vs dealing with not so comfortable couch! That would be my preference if our basement was our only guest room option.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We used to have an Aero Bed (SIL broke it). I'd only get a good air mattress. :) There do seem to be a lot of better air mattress options nowadays too.

Definitely no Murphy Bed. It just wouldn't fit with the room in any way. Thanks for the helpful info on difficulty donating- definite point in the air mattress favor.

[Smillow]

Air mattress definitely! I’ve even given up on the bigger ones and just get twin sized one for each of us (camping) - that way, as long as you have the room, each person has enough space and if they get up during the night, they are less likely to bother the others. Plus they are cheaper to replace when the start leaking.

[mom2binsd]

A friend of mine bought one that came with a frame, I think it was from frontgate, it was really nice.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[jgenie]

We have a similar set up in our basement. We have two of the nice air mattresses from Costco I’m blanking on the brand but they have held up really well for us. We usually put two in the basement and that is the preferred space to our guest bedroom with a real bed. It’s nice for guests because they’re completely separate from us so they don’t have to worry about waking our kids.

[infocrazy]

We stayed on a sleeper sofa that had a very comfortable air mattress like this one. https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/AirDream-Sleeper-Sofa-Bed-Mattress/4750780/product.html?option=6502741

[SnuggleBuggles]

We stayed on a sleeper sofa that had a very comfortable air mattress like this one. https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/AirDream-Sleeper-Sofa-Bed-Mattress/4750780/product.html?option=6502741

My grandparents actually had a super comfy La-z-Boy air mattress sleeper sofa that I was considering. Frustratingly, all of the couch lengths are much shorter than our ideal at that store.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hwin708]

If the goal is to let guests use the basement as a guest suite - as in, this is not an area you would need to use during their visit, thus requiring them to pick up their bedding every morning - then double height air mattress. Guests like to be able to sit somewhere other than a bed, so when using a sleeper sofa, they have to refold it and put the cushions back each time in order to have a place to sit. The only real con to an air mattress is it is on the floor, which is uncomfortable for most, and downright intolerable for older guests. The double height air mattress solves this problem by bringing the mattress height up to a standard bed level.

If, however, you plan to use the space during their visit, then sleeper sofa air mattress. The sleeper sofa air mattresses are much more comfortable than a regular sofa mattress, and easily purchased on amazon. And a sleeper sofa is much easier and more convenient for guests to fold up and feel less like a burden and eyesore in your communal areas.

[magnoliaparadise]

Funny - I had a conversation about a year ago with a furniture salesman about this. I was asking for a really nice sofa sleeper and liked only their sofa models, but hated their sofa sleeper models. He encouraged me to just forget the sleeper sofas and go for a sofa alone and just get a separate air mattress. He said that most people are doing that now because the sleeper sofas were so much more expensive than the regular sofas (I want to say that he said it was $1000 extra, but that sounds extreme so maybe I'm wrong?).

The furniture salesman also said that most people didn't find sleeper sofas very comfortable - ie even the best sleeper sofa mattresses have to be foldable and therefore aren't always considered comfortable. (If you get an air mattress on the sofa, that would go against his argument, but I personally think if you are going for an air mattress, it's not worth the price or weight of having it stuck to a sofa.

The furniture guy said that people loved the air mattresses. I would also add that my sofa sleeper mattresses get awfully grody and dirty which I don't like- maybe because people sleep on them and then they are stuffed into the couch.

For a bunch of reasons, mostly because we decided to move, I dropped looking for a sofa, but I think I will go for a regular sofa and a separate air mattress separately when I look again.

That all being said, on the negative side, I find some air mattresses a PITA to get out of the closet, make space for, blow up. So in terms of ease of having guests, the sleep sofa is probably easier. If you think you will have guests all the time, then maybe that is one consideration.

Also, air mattresses can pop or suddenly deflate - several of mine have and they were not all due to my kids' playing on them. Some just seemed to fall apart and these were good brands and no matter what they say, I find patching up those air mattresses near impossible. I think I will still go for one rather than a sleeper sofa, but I know going in that I will probably need to replace the air mattress every once in a while.

[jent]

We stayed on a sleeper sofa that had a very comfortable air mattress like this one. https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/AirDream-Sleeper-Sofa-Bed-Mattress/4750780/product.html?option=6502741

We bought a sleeper sofa a few years back and had the option of choosing an air mattress but didn't choose it. Fast forward a few years I wanted to upgrade and I bought an air mattress like the one above (might be the same, I got mine from Amazon). My stepmom has a bad back and says it has been great. Other visitors have also given it compliments.

The thing about an air mattress alone is that it's on the floor. But I've seen raised ones and maybe that is the way to go. Though in our case the room is not that big and it would be hard to have both the sofa and an Aerobed.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I feel nice and secure going the air mattress route now. Many thanks! Happy to save some money and have some better options available. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jgenie]

Our aero beds are super simple to put up and take down.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)