futon as a couch

[toymama]

My parents just gave me and the boys a futon that is almost brand new. I was going to leave it in the playroom as an extra bed for company. We have a couch in the living room and it is clean and looks half way decent, but it looks like something my grandma would have in her house :O. I think the futon would probably look better in the living room, and our company can still pull it out to sleep on right? Do ya'll think it would look weird to see a futon in a living room? We don't really have a lot of company so I don't know if I should even worry about how it would look.

[boonpnutsmom]

That is a norm here in Hawaii, I have one in my office as well.

[expatmom]

Is it comfortable? I'd be more concerned about that then how it looks. We had a futon for our sofa once. It was way too low to the ground & horribly uncomfortable to sit on.

But if it is comfy, why not?! :smile

[toymama]

I wondered about it being comfortable. It does sit low to the ground and for me and the boys that won't be a problem. It will probably just mean that the boys won't have so far to fall when they jump off the couch ;) My mom won't be able to sit on it probably, but I do have two other chairs that she could use. I think I might try it, but keep the couch in the extra room until I am sure. :think

[boonpnutsmom]

Mine is on a metal frame up off the floor, but we have also had the kind that is on a wood frame closer to the ground. Our kids use a folding one that is just the futon matress in the parlor floor to watch TV.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/boonpnutsmom/MOURA%20HALE/Futon.jpg

[toymama]

I tried it and it looks good! I also like that we can sleep there if we fall asleep early. :highfive

[ballycastle]

We have a futon we bought almost 2 years ago and we have been using that as a couch. It has a solid wooden frame with magazine holders on the ends. Looks nice, but after sitting on it every day for the last 2 years, it is uncomfortable sometimes.

I think the comfort level also has to do with how thick the mattress is. We have an 8 inch mattress which is a step up from the cheaper ones that only have 6 inch mattresses. My husband is talking about getting a THICK 12 inch mattress and thought that would help.

We are hoping to get another actual couch in the next few months if we can get the money together for one. (That way we are not sitting on the futon every day.)

Sharon :)

[MidnightCafe]

We bought a futon for the purpose of being our living room couch. Here it is:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/midnightcafe/couch.jpg

It isn't too low & I think it looks fine. It's not as soft as some couches, but I'm ok with that. We've talked about getting another couch sometime, but we got this especially so that we could have a place for a guest to spend the night if necessary. We have no guest room.

P.S. You might have to turn the brightness up on your computer screen to see it very well. I did.

[ballycastle]

Midnightcafe, yours looks a lot like ours!!!

Sharon :)

[expatmom]

Midnightcafe, as a side note, I love your carpet! :)

[MidnightCafe]

Sharon, given your description, I think we debated getting one like yours. We needed on that came in a loveseat size, though, because we don't have enough space for a full size couch. This one is a loveseat with an extender so you can pull out a footstool. Then you can lay the whole thing down for a full size bed.

Expatmom, Thank you!! We got a great deal on the rug & I love it, too!

[Soliloquy]

We've been using our futon as our couch for a little over a year now. We love it. We bought a quality wooden futon and splurged on the good mattress. It's guaranteed for 10 years--if we ever think it's not as comfortable as the day we bought it, we get it replaced for free.

What I love about futons is that you can change the cover for relatively low cost. I originally bought a plain black cover for $50 when we were keeping it in the office. When we moved it to the living room I had a custom cover made with some contrasting throw pillows. When my cat peed on it, I took the cover off and threw it in the machine. Lucky for the cat!

I highly recommend buying a waterproof mattress case (sold at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond) to put under your futon cover. That way if something spills (or you pet pees on it) the mattress will stay fresh.