Becoming a cave dweller

[Sissy]

I am overhauling my basement to live in and my DD and SIL and little Millie are going to come back home to live. I don't want to have a conventional bed. I was wondering where I could find a good quality futon or somethng of that nature. I have never slept on one and I really need a soft mattress. I have a perfectly good mattress set, actually 2, but they are too firm for my body these days. I would love a Sleep Number, but don't want to spend that amount of $.

I want the room to look and feel like a sitting room and not a bedroom.

Any suggestions? :idea:
TIA

[Tussiemussies]

I have slept on futons for a long time in the past. I could handle it then but now at 51 there
is no way I could sleep on one. How about day beds. Or a day beds that are trundle beds?

[Tussiemussies]

Was just looking on Plow and Hearth for myself and asw the daybed with trundle bed on there. Just scroll down and look on the left side of the page...

http://www.plowhearth.com/indoor-living.html

[ToomuchStuff]

I can and do sleep on the floor at times. I can easily sleep on concrete, so I need FIRM. That said, my mom has an antique murphy bed with a feather mattress and while I have never been on a futon, I have seen a few of their mattresses that seem similar. My primary bed is a platform bed, and while I love the multifunction aspect (storage underneath), if I were to do it now I might build something like a murhpy bed where it could be folded up, and used as a desk. Just one more idea, as you could use pretty much any type of mattress for them.

Edit: One more idea, could you reuse your mattress, by adding memory foam to the top?

[treehugger]

Edit: One more idea, could you reuse your mattress, by adding memory foam to the top?

I have no advice on futons (have never slept on one) other other non-bed-like sleeping options, but I can definitely say that this is a good suggestion from ToomuchStuff. We had a good quality mattress set that was in too good of shape to replace, but it had just become too firm for me (or rather, I had become too firm-averse for it). So, I bought a 3" thick memory foam mattress topper from Costco and it's now the perfect bed. The firm mattress is a great foundation for the memory foam topper, and the topper itself is soft *and* supportive. Perfect combo.

Best wishes on your new living arrangements,

Kara

[Miss Cellane]

Try to find a brick and mortar futon store, if you can. There are various types of futon stuffing, and some of them have foam in addition to the cotton batting. At a store, you can also check out the various types of futon frames, many of which can convert from bed to sofa. You can also check out how the different types of futons work on the different types of frames.

I know you want to have the room look like a sitting room, but do consider your own housekeeping style. With a futon/sofa combo, you will need to make and unmake the bed daily, and fold up and pull out the bed frame. If you have a bad day and don't do this, then your room looks messy and you don't have a comfortable place to sit.

I've lived in a couple of studio apartments, and I prefer to have a real bed. You can make a twin bed look like a daybed/sofa with some bolsters and cushions. Or you can have a full or queen bed and either shield it from part of the room by a screen or curtain or bookcase, or just make the bed seem like just another piece of furniture in the room by what you put on it. No frilly pillows and ruffles, unless that's what the rest of the room looks like. Keep the bed covering similar in fabric and color to the upholstered pieces in the room and have a very plain, simple headboard, or no headboard at all.

There's also Murphy beds, but they are expensive.

Check out Apartment Therapy for their House Tours of studio apartments to get some ideas of what can be done.

[try2bfrugal]

We had a futon in the guest bedroom, but it was too creaky and noisy to sleep on so we got rid of it. We just replaced it with a regular bed. If we downsized and needed the space as a sitting room during the day I thought I would check into Murphy beds. We have a sleeper sofa in the living room, and that is actually better to sleep on than the futon but still not as comfortable as a regular bed.

[Sissy]

oh, my! so many suggestions! I was thinking about trying a foam topper. I swear I hurt all over during the nite and getting up, well, sheesh! I have a full bed down there now, but it takes up quite a bit of room. I guess I should try the foam topper first because it would save money which I really have to watch now. But, I am thinking all of the suggestions over. A murphy bed would be wonderful! I am having to do ceilings, walls, floors and a bath. The problem may take care of itself when I am finished, lol!

[SteveinMN]

I have/had a futon that is now 12 years old and as good as the day I bought it. The frame, that is. If you do go that route, Sissy, make sure the frame is hardwood, maybe metal. Softer woods, like pine, are less expensive to start with, but just won't last in daily use. As for the mattress, the low-end mattress most people are familiar with is just stuffed cotton batting. Again, for daily use, this isn't going to cut it. Move further up in the range and you'll find that companies like Sealy make innerspring futon mattresses which are quite similar to regular mattresses but are designed to fold and to not require a box spring. We got ten years out of the first one (without pushing it) and relegated the futon to couch duty for my stepdaughter while we purchased another futon mattress for our platform bed. Again, it's not the $99 special, but it's only your back and your health. :)

[Minz]

I came across this site the other day when I was researching mattresses. https://shop.jpstatus.com/shikibed Does anyone know if these are good? They look super comfy. I'm a floor sleeper (just have a memory foam now) but I kind of like how these fold up. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[artist]

We have a futon that we bought at a B&M futon store about 17 years ago. It's solid and the mattress was about $300 at the time is still very comfortable today. A good futon is like sleeping on a platform bed. Construction and mattress quality are key.

[redfox]

Soaring Heart futon in Seattle is amazing. Get a 4" wool topper for it.

[awakenedsoul]

I love my futon. I have a featherbed mattress that I bought on Amazon.com on top of it. I don't fold mine up. I have it made up like a bed, and I leave it flat. I know you said space is an issue, though.

[ToomuchStuff]

oh, my! so many suggestions! I was thinking about trying a foam topper. I swear I hurt all over during the nite and getting up, well, sheesh! I have a full bed down there now, but it takes up quite a bit of room. I guess I should try the foam topper first because it would save money which I really have to watch now. But, I am thinking all of the suggestions over. A murphy bed would be wonderful! I am having to do ceilings, walls, floors and a bath. The problem may take care of itself when I am finished, lol!

If you have to do walls, you could incorporate the bed into it. If I may, a basic woodworking project type of sight, I sent my sister years ago, may help you: http://ana-white.com/2010/03/plans-a-murphy-bed-you-can-build-and-afford-to-build.html

She certainly doesn't have much in the way of tools (her husband borrows from me or my father), but she liked the site because she could get it done by herself, since her husband doesn't want to help once he is off of work.:+1:

[Sissy]

Thanks, ToomuchStuff, that totally looks doable! I am going to have studs and sheetrock installed, so I could have the carpenter add that in. I put the site in my favs!

[Amaranth]

LaZBoy makes a queensize sofa bed that is as comfortable as sleeping on a good quality bed. It has a pump up top layer that you can make soft or more firm as desired.

It's also an extremely comfortable sofa as well.

[Miss Cellane]

Sissy, I was on Apartment Therapy today and saw this post: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/buy-it-diy-it-make-it-fit-20-posts-to-help-you-move-into-a-small-space-176417

It's a round-up of ideas and resources for living in a small space. I thought some of it might be useful to you as you craft your living space out of that basement.

[Rogar]

I have slept on a futon since I got rid of my waterbed in the Precambrian era. Recently I was just not sleeping well because it was so firm, so I got an thing memory foam topper. I think it is an inch or an inch and a half thick. It made a huge difference and I'm sleeping like a baby now. Like Steve said, there is a range of futon quality with some pretty nice ones and also some cheap junk. I think they get a bad rap.