Sorry sofa beds, I think daybeds are going to be one of 2026's biggest furniture trends – these are six of the best I've seen

Now, a sofa bed is a great piece of multifunctional furniture. However, if you've ever struggled to find a sofa bed you *truly* like enough to invest your hard-earned cash in, then I feel your pain.

As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor, I've spent the past five years testing hundreds of sofa beds for my guide to the best sofa beds on the market, and there *are* some great sofa beds out there. But, they're rare.

For every sofa bed I've tested that's been comfortable enough to sit *and* sleep on, plus looked stylish enough that I would be happy to give it floorspace in my home, there have been at least twenty that have felt rock hard to sit on and a little... functional... to look at.

Thankfully, I think 2026 is going to bring us a new option for hosting overnight guests, and it comes in the form of the daybed.

Now, daybeds in themselves are nothing new. In essence, they're a bench seat of sorts, usually topped with a single mattress that can be sat on during the day and slept on at night.

But what is new is that in 2026 I'm suddenly seeing a whole lot more options hit the market, and many of these options are *stylish*.

The main benefit of a daybed is that you can pack them with cushions during the day to turn them into a sofa of sorts – and arguably choosing your own cushions means you can tailor the look to your home far more than you can with a sofa bed – but, most importantly, they feature an *actual* mattress, which means they become a true bed at night.

That means there's none of the firm foam or lumpy pull-out mattress you often get with a sofa bed. Instead, with a daybed, your guests will be sleeping on a 'proper' mattress.

Whether you want to invest in one of the best mattresses on the market or the best budget mattress for your daybed is up to you, as most come without the mattress included, but to my mind, this makes a daybed a sofa bed alternative that's well worth considering.

There are also an increasing number of daybed options that feature two single mattresses stacked on top of each other during the day, and that can be transformed into a double bed at night.

Six of the best daybeds

Is a daybed something you'd consider incorporating into your guest bedroom ideas, or even your small living room ideas this year?

If I hadn't already kitted out my spare bedroom with one of the best chair beds, it's definitely an option I'd be considering.

Plus, a daybed would be the perfect place to store my ever-growing cushion collection – although I probably don't need any more excuses to buy new home decor!