Furniture for Dual-Purpose Rooms

As home energy prices rise and real estate prices in bedroom communities stay at unbelievable highs, the population is experiencing reverse urbanization. Where people once fled the cities for homes in the suburbs, they are now heading back into metropolitan life to cut down on commuting costs, mortgage prices and home heating/cooling bills. Living in smaller homes, condos and apartments necessitates creative space usage. Especially in the under-30 and retiree demographics, dual-purpose rooms are increasingly common. This creates a furniture problem: consumers wonder, "Do I sit on my bed, or do I buy a sleep sofa?" said Andy Lominac with HH Hiatt. Whether consumers have a living room/bedroom, an office/guestroom or a dining room/kitchen/living space/bedroom, they are looking for furniture to meet these unique space constructions. Here are some furniture options retailers can present to these consumers.

Futon Sofa Sleepers

Futon sofa sleepers are arguably the most flexible choice in the sit/sleep category. Mattresses and frames can be mixed and matched in endless combinations, resulting in a solution tailored to the consumer’s preferences for style, comfort and price point. "Better" and "best" quality products are available in the $500-800 range, which often means that a consumer gets more product for the price with a futon than with other options in the category.

Traditional Sofa Sleepers

La-Z-Boy sells traditional sofa sleepers: a couch with a hidden mechanism that folds out from under the seat, creating a bed. "It sits like a sofa and sleeps like a bed," said Boyd Lauritsen, who showed us around the La-Z-Boy showroom at High Point recently.

The company takes a La-Z-Boy conventional sofa, adds a La-Z-Boy sleeper mechanism and a La-Z-Boy 5-inch innerspring mattress and voilá!

A full-size sleeper sells for $699-$899. La-Z-Boy’s key product in the category is the "Slumber Air." It’s a $200 add-on of a 5-inch air mattress that sits on top of the innerspring mattress. The mattress inflates and deflates quickly, and the included pump that stores in the couch cavity is easy to operate, even for senior hands. Sleeper sofas are not as big of a category as they used to be; they used to be popular items for dens, said Lauritsen, then recliners came on the scene and took that den floor space. La-Z-Boy responded to that trend by focusing on smaller sleepers that would fit in nooks so that consumers could have both a recliner and a sleeper in their dens.

La-Z-Boy rode out the lull in the category, never dropping the product from their lines. "We choose not to forget this forgotten category," Lauritsen said. He said there is a current resurgence in the category for guest lodging, and holiday guest surges, especially among older consumers. "Baby boomers who are downsizing, metro housing like lofts-sleepers are mostly a guest bed," he said. "In metro growth, some people may use them for primary sleep surfaces."

The "Snap Sofa" by Todd Oldham is another piece from La-Z-Boy that could be used for additional sleep space. It’s a modern-looking sofa whose arms snap off, creating an extra bed. This 90-inch-long piece retails for $1,099.

HH Hiatt sells low-profile, modern-styled sleeper sofas. "Our furniture is scaled appropriately for real living," said Andy Lominac, who gave us a tour of the HH Hiatt High Point showroom. "It’s not overstuffed, not too big--it’s proportionate to real people."



HH Hiatt sleeper sofas use a Leggett & Platt mechanism and have a 5-inch innerspring mattress. That metal bar that dug into your back when you slept was a common complaint about old-school sleeper sofas. "Sleepers today have come a long way," Lominac said. "Now the mattress sits up above the support rails. There’s a layer of canvas stretched with springs so you’re up off the bars."

HH Hiatt also does a lounger on casters and a loveseat chaise that could serve as additional sleep surfaces. The loveseat chaise, which retails for $800, is 50 inches back to front, and makes a great spot for extra kid sleep space.

Daybeds

Hickory at Home, a division of Hickory Springs, recently returned to the daybed market. According to Eddie Alala, there was a significant lull in the market, so Hickory had stopped selling daybeds for a while. The new increase in daybed interest has come from consumers who want a high end product. Alala sees consumers not as interested in the promotional metal daybeds of the past, but instead looking for wood and better-to-best quality daybeds.

Although daybeds are intended to serve as a sit/sleep option, Alala said consumers don’t usually use them as couches. The product’s real dual-purpose nature comes in with the trundle functionality of many daybeds-two beds in the space of one. Daybeds are usually used in children’s rooms or guest rooms.

A unique feature with Hickory at Home daybeds is that they hold an exclusive Hickory at Home twin-sized futon mattress. The 6-inch futons have 3 inches of memory foam.

Modern-styled Alternatives

Innovation offers many furniture options for dual-purpose rooms. Some of the options we saw in their High Point showroom include a contemporary convertible sofa with an upholstered frame, a low-profile settee/daybed that’s long enough to use as a bed, a frame and mattress combination that works much like a futon and a round lounger. The Puzzle convertible sofa, which has a 6-inch mattress, retails for $849.

"Our high-quality mechanism is very sturdy and specially coated so it holds up under repeated use," said Innovation USA President Kjeld Jensen. "We put a lot of effort into quality so our products will stand up over time."

Jensen said this contemporary convertible sofa appeals to consumers who choose it for their offices, guest rooms and living rooms, and it sometimes serves as a primary sleep surface for students.

Innovation’s 45-inch wide settee/daybed is made of upholstered foam. Its width is between that of a full and twin size mattress, and it is long enough to sleep a person comfortably. Their fold-down frame holds a mattress and functions like a traditional futon sleeper. Innovation offers several different mattress types: cotton and foam, pure latex or pocket springs.

Their most unique sit/sleep product is a round, 79 inch x 79 inch click-up lounger. Jensen said consumers purchase it for use in a TV room or living room, for use as video-gaming seating and even as a distinctive bed in a master bedroom. Knowing this, Innovation developed a special round bedsheet that cinches around the product with a drawstring. The lounger retails for $1,599.

Fold Out Chest-Wall Bed

"It’s true that necessity is the father of invention!" said Jane Arason of Arason Enterprises, manufacturer of the Fu-Chest. She needed foldaway bedding in her home, so her husband built the first prototype of the Fu-Chest. The Fu-Chest, which looks like a dresser or chest of drawers, folds open to reveal a 6-inch futon-style mattress.

In the ZZZ-Chest, a new model from Arason Enterprises, the bottom storage drawers pull out, creating a platform base, and the front panel folds down, revealing an 8-inch futon or upgraded foam mattress. This gets the mattress up off the floor, making it easier for seniors to use.

Arason suggests that the Fu-Chest and ZZZ-Chest are the perfect solution for a bed in a home office, a former children’s room, and assisted living residences.

Suggested retail price for the ZZZ-Chest cabinet bed ranges from $1,300 to $1,450 for the double size. This is about half the cost of a wall bed/Murphy bed, Arason points out. Suggested retail price for the original Fu-Chest ranges from $396 to $490, depending on style and size. The futon mattress is sold separately.

FL