Introduction: The Impossible Sofa Bed

About: I am a paper engineer, writer, maker and chemist wannabe. In addition to pop-up cards I design and build furniture, lights, costumes or whatever I happen to need at the time. Lipstick, a mixing studio, all-pur…

Why is this sofa impossible? Because it can't be found. I had 5'6" of space available, but I wanted a sofa bed which could sleep two adults. For less than $1000. I also wanted a good looking piece of furniture, AND I wanted the bed to be comfortable. I like my friends. The paper thin mattresses and steel bars found in most sofa beds are designed to make anybody flee after one painful night. A comfortable, cheap, small sofa bed which sleeps two simply does not exist on the market -- so I designed and built this one. It is 64" wide, 31" deep, yet the bed is a standard full size, comfortable for two, and the whole thing cost me about $600.

I built it mostly with materials I had on hand: one sheet of plyboo left over from another project, some casters I'd pulled off a piece of discarded furniture on the street, an old desk I didn't need anymore, and curtains from my husband's old mixing studio (you can read about the construction of his new studio here). Pretty much the only expense was the foam, which had to be cut according to very specific specs. 

This is one solid sofa. I built it in 2008 and it still looks great, despite the fact that two young boys regularly jump, read and wrestle on it. 


I Made It Photo Contest

Third Prize in the
I Made It Photo Contest