Futons Are Not Just For College

posted on : March 7, 2014

Truth: At first, I was totally against bringing a futon into our house because it didn’t seem like “grown up” furniture. Ridiculous, I know. We have gotten more use out of our beloved futon than I ever thought imaginable! For those of you who are completely lost and have no idea what I am talking about, it is probably in your best interest to check out yesterday’s post about renovating our Spare Bedroom. Today, I will do my very best to break down the details of the where/how/why of the futon and show you just how much of a life- saver it has been in our house.

Let’s start with the Thomas’ Tiny House rules… remember Rule #2? All things that enter the house have to be able to do more than one thing. Small spaces require multi-functional pieces.

Yesterday, we saw the futon in action as a couch:

But let’s back up a bit… we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best lay-out for this room. It was a tricky puzzle because we wanted the space to be able to do so many things. Where do we put the desk? If we want space that can sleep two people, how do we fit a full or queen sized bed in? Will all of the furniture be constantly bumping into each other? I did a lot of this:

We quickly realized that we could not have a room that was completely multi-functional if we brought in a bed. Although we both really liked this one from Ikea and the price was right, we nixed that idea and came up with Plan B. We needed a piece that could serve as a comfortable couch, but also become a bed if necessary. I liked the look of a daybed (something like this), but we needed it to be able to sleep two and I didn’t love the idea of a taller guest being uncomfortable because of the sides. Which brings us to… the futon.

A couch and a bed- and virtually no hassle. We got ours at Ikea, from the Beddinge series and it came in three parts (sold separately): the frame, the mattress, and the cover. I briefly considered skipping out on the cover to save some cash in exchange for making my own. After a quick analysis of my sewing skills, the cover went back into the cart and we bought it along with everything else.

Bringing home all of the parts! Pictured right: box is the frame, gray roll is the mattress, and white roll is the cover.

This was truly an easy set-up. A few screws (they give you all the necessary tools) to secure the parts together (parts come mostly pre-assembled), and you’ll have it together in no time. One thing to note: this was definitely a two-person job. Sure, it’s probably possible to do on your own, but your headache and frustration level will be much higher at the end should you embark on a solo adventure here.

Like most people, we are huge fans of “instant gratification” projects. Being able to sit on this right after putting it together was… rewarding, to say the least. 🙂

So, now that we’ve established that our new addition was a cost effective, functional choice for our room, let’s see it “doin’ it’s thang”. When we need the room to be an office/library/sitting space:

And if we give it a little turn:

And a few “clicks”, we get:

Now, to add some bedding:

This bedding came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (called: Anthology Bungalow) and we LOVE it. I was so excited to find a way to incorporate the corals and reds into the room, but not lose the teals. I don’t know if it’s that I was feeling inspired from a recent trip to India, or just a bit daring, but we went for the intricate pattern and color combo and have not been disappointed. We love having excuses to pull it out, so if we invite you over for the night… ~~now you know why~~. Kidding. Totally kidding.

And, in all it’s glory: