How to make a sofa bed more comfortable - 7 ways to make your guests feel like they're sleeping on a hotel-worthy bed

Sofa beds are a fantastic, practical choice for spare rooms, playrooms, home offices and homes that just need a flexible extra sleep space. However, they’re generally not known for being hugely comfortable to sleep on. We’re here to help with that.

The best sofa beds are going to provide you with a comfortable place to sit, look great in your home and convert easily into a supportive bed. It’s a lot to ask for, and not all sofa beds fulfill that criteria.

So to make sure your guest (or you) are having a great night’s sleep, what can you do to make your sofa bed the most comfortable it can be? Having tested 100s of sleep products including duvets, mattress toppers, pillows and, yes, mattresses – here are my top tips.

1. Buy a decent sofa bed

It sounds obvious, but you want the foundations of your sofa bed to be solid. If you want a sofa bed to be comfortable, you need to buy a decent one.

‘There should be no need to compromise one way or the other, both sofa and bed versions of the sofa bed should feel like they were made solely to serve the function they are performing,’ says Patricia Gibbons, Head of Design at sofa.com.

‘At Loaf, we’ve fine-tuned our designs to ensure we’re always delivering on comfort,’ says Nicky Line, Loaf’s Chief Product Officer. ‘We do this by adding extra foam around the timber frames, so every corner, side and arm has our signature softness throughout. Again, this creates a really lovely experience when a sofa bed is used, as every element has been considered to offer maximum comfort.’

Sofa bed mattresses aren’t all the same. Look for a thick mattress, and if you can spring to a pocket-sprung mattress then definitely go for it. Well-made mattresses are going to make all the difference.

2. Go big

Look for sofa beds with as large a sleep surface as you can – generally the bigger the mattress, the more comfortable it’s going to be. This is especially the case if you’re going to have two people sleeping on the sofa bed at all. Heal’s Oswald sofa bed for example offers a king-size mattress. At Furl you can even get super king size and go for pocket sprung or memory foam.

3. Get a mattress topper

‘If the mattress is only a slim model, buy a separate 2” or 5cm memory foam or latex foam topper pad to place on top that you can roll up and hide away when not in use,’ says Simon Williams of the National Bed Federation.

‘One of the easiest ways is to invest in a luxury mattress topper. A mattress topper will help to elevate the feeling of your sofa bed, providing you with support and comfort,’ agrees Jade Crooks, Commercial Director at DUSK.

The important thing here is that you’ve bought a sofa bed probably so it can fold away. Mattress toppers can be huge, and potentially don’t fold away. You don’t want to be landed with a compact sofa bed and a huge mattress topper. Make sure you find a topper that you can store away by being rolled up and tucked away, or popped in a vacuum-pack storage bag.

4. Invest in decent bedding

Don’t be tempted to scrimp on bedding for sofa beds. The best duvets, pillows and bed linen will make or break how comfortable the bed is.

‘It’s worth investing in these extra bedding essentials if you’re going to be sleeping on a sofa bed for a good few nights,’ says Megan Thompson, Buyer at Bensons For Beds.

‘Quality bed linen can help to provide more comfort,’ says Jade from DUSK. ‘Layering your sofa bed with a well-fitted sheet, some cosy pillows and a large duvet will help to make it feel more snug.’

‘Pay particular attention to your pillows, says Gisela Lancaster, Head of Buying at Sofology. ‘Depending on the type of mechanism and frame construction, you may need extras for support.’

Think about the fact your sofa bed will be probably be used at different times of the year. This means you should buy an all-seasons duvet. Then you can adjust the tog rating of the duvet depending on how mild it is at night. As overheating is one of the key factors affecting sleep, the right duvet is going to make a huge difference.

5. Set the scene

If you’ve got guest staying, you need to convert what might be your office by day into a comfortable oasis for their stay. After all, everyone sleeps better in a calm environment. Keeping your guests awake as your printer resets or your kids’ annoying electronic toys go off is less than ideal.

‘It’s not just the bed that makes for a comfortable stay so providing extras such as cosy throw and a small table for a bedside light and a glass of water will make your guest feel more comfortable,’ says Gisela Lancaster from Sofology. ‘A small storage basket is also perfect for stowing clothes and making the space feel calmer and more organised.

6. Keep things clean

A clean mattress equals a better night’s sleep, and this extends to your sofa bed mattress. Your body sheds skin cells and bodily fluids every night – grim but true. And these can cause a restless night, especially if the dust from dead skin has attracted dust mites. These allergens can ruin sleep for allergy sufferers. And that’s before we think how sleeping on a mattress with a less-than-fresh scent feels. Deep shudder.

A quick spruce of your sofa-bed mattress will keep things fresh, extend the lifespan of your mattress and help you (or your guests) get a better night’s sleep. If you’re wondering how to clean a mattress, it’s not as arduous as it sounds.

And after all that work, you’d be wise to use a mattress protector on your sofa-bed mattress in tip-top condition.

7. Keep on top of maintenance

It’s not just the sleep surface you need to think about when making your sofa bed more comfortable. The whole sofa bed needs to be given some TLC to keep it at its best.

Regularly oiling the legs and mechanisms will mean the bed is less likely to squeak as people move on top of it. A silent bed is what you’re after for a good night’s sleep. Check for loose bolts and screws too.

‘You can regularly rotate the cushions and mattress of your sofa bed to minimise the impact of everyday wear. This will help your sofa bed feel softer and last much longer,’ says Jade at DUSK.

FAQs

Why is my sofa bed so uncomfortable?

There are a few key reasons your sofa bed might be uncomfortable. If it’s uncomfortable to sleep on, your problem is probably the mattress. Many sofa beds come with thin mattresses to enable them to be folded up. If you suspect your mattress is letting you down, consider purchasing a mattress topper. You can also flip and rotate your mattress so it gets more evenly worn.

Sofa beds can often feel more firm to sit on than regular sofas. This is because of all the engineering going on under the cushions. Adding some scatter cushions and layering throws can help soften things up.

When buying your sofa bed spare a thought for who will be sleeping on it and make it as comfortable as possible for them.