Interior Design

If you’re like me, you have a spare room in your house that seems next to impossible to deal with. It’s too small for a guest room and too small for traditional office equipment. Mine is upstairs and has a great view and serves as a nice little workspace … but it is a tiny little room and does not serve me well when I have overnight guests. Initially, I tried to put my double bed in there and discovered that I could barely change the sheets because the bed took up practically the entire space.

The solution? A futon couch.

Futons come in a variety of styles. You can get single frames that serve as chairs or full, queen or king sized frames that double-up as a sofa and bed. On the less expensive end, you can get metal or wood frames. For a bit more, you can get elegant log or wicker futon frames. Mattresses are also available in a variety of sizes, from just four inches thick to eight or more inches. Of course, futon mattresses are available for the usual bed sizes like twin beds, full sized beds, queen and king sized beds.

I ended up getting a metal frame for less than $100 and higher grade mattress for around $150 so that the futon bed would provide plenty of back support. What’s nice about the futon is that I can change the color or design very easily by switching out different futon covers and spicing it up with a few colorful throw pillows.

For a relatively low price, I can now use the small spare room as both a guest room and home office. When folded into a couch, the futon leaves a few feet of clear space between my laptop workstation and the couch. When company comes, I just flip it out into a comfortable full-sized bed. Everyone who has stayed overnight commented on how comfortable the futon mattress is.

If you need would like to convert your tiny extra room into something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, check out the variety of futon designs offered at Futon Heaven. You’ll discover some bargains, too.