Having more than one guest over for a comfortable overnight stay is kind of tricky in a home where space is a premium.
There’s not enough room for big convertible furniture, and while blow-up mattresses are a popular option for those who don’t mind lying low, what do you do for those who do mind?
The answer may be in the hardest-working furniture group in the living room — the ottoman and latter-day convertible sofa.
“Sleep sofas have changed a lot,” said Dave Judy, a sales associate at Value City Furniture in White Marsh. “In the 1950s, back home in Dayton, we had the green and orange one with wood grain [trim] and cup holder storage in the arm.”
The design update on that great two-in-one, sit-and-sleep concept is smart and durable, from the microfiber skin available in hot colors to performance.
A nearly 7-foot-wide convertible sofa, for example, is built lighter in weight and heavier in practical functionality. There is no mechanism emitting a nerve-grating screech while converting the sofa from seating to sleeping, and no springs to catch unwary fingers in a death pinch in the process of making the transformation.
A swift forward pull of the stylish sofa’s back lays it out to quietly line up with the seat, stretching into a comfortable queen- or full-size bed.
The sofa arms are easily removed to open up additional foot and head room. Lift the seat edge of the sleeper, and there is a storage compartment deep enough to handle pillows, blankets, linens and the sofa arms.
Additional sleep options are no further than the coffee table/ottoman, a cure for many needs that appeals to Carmen Taylor, who recently relocated to Baltimore and is looking for additional bed options. The versatile ottoman triples as seating, a coffee table and opening out effortlessly into a twin bed with storage.
“I have a second bedroom that will be my office,” said Taylor, who owns a building-cleaning service. “I thought a daybed would be nice to put there, but it takes up too much space,” she added.
“Once I get a desk and a wall unit in there, there’s only room for a chair. That ottoman sounds like it would work.”
