I'm a sleep editor and these are the 3 things I wish I'd known before buying a sofa bed

Since I started working at Ideal Home, I've been lucky enough to test out some of the best sofa beds on the market for our buying guide, so I now know plenty about how to choose the right sofa bed for your needs, and the common sofa bed buying mistakes to avoid.

However, when I bought my first sofa bed, I knew very little about what to look for when I shopped, or what to expect from the sofa bed buying process.

As such, these are the top three pieces of advice I now offer to anyone looking to buy either a sofa bed, or a more compact chair bed, for their home.

1. Factor in lead times

One thing I didn’t consider before furnishing my first home was that a lot of furniture has a lead time attached. This means the length of time you’ll need to wait between ordering your brand new piece of furniture and when it’s delivered to your home.

As furniture is very bulky most retailers can’t stock many of each item in their warehouses, and so a lot of furniture is made to order. Our guide to quick delivery sofas and sofa beds has a list of retailers where delivery is almost immediate, but in most cases, made-to-order furniture can mean a significant wait.

This is especially true if you’re ordering a sofa or sofa bed with a lot of upholstery options – the retailer may have some stock ready-made in the most popular colourways, but if you want a more unusual pattern, colour, or print, then your order will often be made from scratch, which can mean a longer wait.

Lead times can vary from 1-2 weeks to up to 14-16 weeks, so if you’re ordering a sofa bed because you have guests coming to stay on a specific date then you’ll want to factor lead times into your purchase so that their bed arrives before they do!

2. Check measurements of the sleeping area

Unless your sofa bed purchase is for kid's sleepovers, if you're planning on hosting grown ups then I would recommend checking the measurements of the sofa bed sleeping area before you buy. This is especially important if you know you're likely to be hosting a couple of guests at a time.

Many sofa beds are marketed as doubles, and yet the dimensions of the sleeping area can be a lot smaller – in both width and length – than a standard double mattress. As Kelly Collins, Interior Designer and Head of Creative at furniture retailer Swyft Home confirms, 'check the size to ensure it accommodates your needs, as many sofa beds only fit about one person comfortably'.

Your guests might not mind the lack of a guest bedroom and be happy to get cosy for one night, but if they're staying for longer then a cramped sofa bed can end up being a very uncomfortable experience. And no one wants to wake up to grumpy guests in the morning!

Similarly, if you know your regular guests are tall then it's worth checking the length of the sofa bed. Unfortunately most are shorter than a standard mattress, but some are FAR shorter and could leave your guests with their feet hanging well off the edge!

3. Add a mattress topper into the equation

Whatever sofa bed you buy, in my opinion, you’re going to want to add a mattress topper to it.

What is a mattress topper? This is a cushioned layer that you can add to an overly firm mattress to soften it up, or, to a sofa bed. If you opt for a clic-clac sofa bed then most are firmer than a regular mattress, and if you opt for a pull-out sofa bed then most have thinner mattresses than your standard best mattress.

Adding a mattress topper to your sofa bed will increase its comfort levels considerably and protect your purchase from spills or stains. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, you could just use a mattress protector to protect the sofa bed’s sleep surface, but this won’t add any cushioning, so in my view, a topper is a must.

Some sofa beds, like Swyft's Model 04 sofa bed, come with a bespoke mattress topper included, but most don't. I generally recommend Panda's Mattress Topper, as it comes in a wide range of size options, meaning you're more likely to find the right fit for a non-standard sleeping area size.

The only downside is that you will then need somewhere to store the topper when the sofa bed isn’t in use. If you’re short on storage space then a sofa bed with built-in storage can be a great option, as Gisela Lancaster, Head of Buying, at furniture retailer Sofology agrees.

'Sofa beds with hidden storage are a smart and practical choice. Perfect for storing extra bedding, they help free up space in the rest of the home. Alternatively, a complementary ottoman footstool will serve the same function and offer a perch for guests to sit whilst the sofa bed is out'.

And lastly, I'd add to this list that I think it's well worth considering whether a sofa bed is actually the right solution for you before you invest. After all, even the most affordable sofa beds don't come cheap.

I think a sofa bed can be a great option for a spare room or a home office where you want to ditch the guest bed to create more space, but still have somewhere you can host guests. Or for any room where you want to add occasional seating as well as creating a guest sleeping area.

However, if you're considering adding a sofa bed to your living room as your main seating, then after much testing experience, I might be tempted to look at an alternative solution.

That's because pretty much all sofa beds are going to feel firmer to sit on than one of the best sofas you can buy, especially if you're shopping on a budget. So, unless you can afford to invest in the crème de la crème of sofa beds, which tend to cost around the £2000+ mark, then personally, in a living room, I would be tempted to opt for a regular sofa as your main seating and a good old-fashioned air bed for hosting your visitors.

After all, indoor floor camping can still be fun... right?!