Aldi is launching a £35 sofa bed today – there's a catch, but it could still be the answer to Christmas hosting

Aldi has just launched a £34.99 sofa bed, and although it does come with a catch, this bargain piece of furniture could make Christmas hosting *much* easier.

As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor, I've spent the past four years putting the best sofa beds on the market to the test, and one thing I can tell you for sure is that I've never come across a sofa bed as cheap as this before.

Generally speaking, the most affordable sofa beds on the market start around £250, and a model with all the bells and whistles can cost upwards of £3000.

In comparison, Aldi's £34.99 sofa bed is a complete steal. The catch?... This sofa bed is inflatable! But here's why I think that could be a real plus point.

Available in stores from 20^th November, the Aldi Inflatable Pull Out Sofa may not be a permanent piece of furniture, but that could be a good thing.

The festive season sees all sorts of things occurring that don't take place the rest of the year, such as multiple friends and family descending on your home all on the same day.

Yes, a sofa bed can be a great solution, but if you don't use it for the rest of the year, that's a big piece of furniture taking up a lot of real estate in your home. An inflatable sofa bed can simply be deflated and packed away until next year.

Plus, as I've mentioned, 'real' sofa beds are expensive. If your Christmas gatherings involve lots of young children or teenagers, then you *might* not want them sprawled all over your brand new seating, or to be worrying about sticky fingers on your new upholstery.

Opting for this Aldi inflatable offers extra seating with the peace of mind that you can wipe it clean as many times as needed during the festivities, and just like one of the best air beds, it can be transformed into extra sleeping space that the littlest ones in your Xmas gathering will love. After all, what kid doesn't love a campout in the living room!

And although Aldi isn't the only place you can buy this sort of inflatable multifunctional furniture, it is the cheapest. Argos sells the Intex Flocked Inflatable Pull Out Camping Sofa for £75, and Amazon has the same Intex Inflatable Sofa Bed on sale for under £55, as of writing. At full RRP, that's nearly twice the price of this Aldi bargain.

That said, you don't have to go inflatable, of course. There are affordable sofa beds out there if you'd rather host your Christmas guests on something a little sturdier. I've included my top recommendations below for comparison.

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