Futon
Articles
Guide to choosing the right
futon
Futon
Mattress Buying Guide
How to care for your
futon
Why use a futon?
A futon is a great option for saving space for your own bed or when you have guests visiting from out of town. Many
convertible sofas nowadays give no signs away that it is actually a fold out bed, giving your living room a stylish
look in the day and a comfortable sleeping corridor by night.
Futons today
A traditional futon began in Japan as a padded cotton mattress. It was folded and stored away during the day as
spaces were limited in living areas. It originally laid on top of tatami flooring (straw mats). The Western futon
adapted this concept and began placing the futon on top metal or wooden frames, and contructed the furniture as
either a bed, chair or a couch.
Futon Frames
Futon frames usually come in either wood, metal or a
combination of both. Wood gives a more classic feel to your home while metal gives it a modern look. A metal futon
frame will help you save some costs, but if wooden furniture is what you're looking for then there are a whole lot
of materials to choose from such as oak, ash, pine, teak, rubber wood and many
others.
Futon Frames essentially have two types of folds, Bi-Fold is the more popular choice for the
convenience of folding it only once (splitting in 2 parts to enhance the length). Tri-fold fold requires folding it
twice (splitting in 3 parts to enhance the width).
 
Bi-Fold: Futon mattress folds once to allow the length
Tri-Fold: Futon mattress folds twice to allow shorter width
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Other types of futon frames:
Includes wall-huggers, platform beds and click
clacks.
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Wall-Huggers
Strata Furniture Lambton Futon Frame
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A wall-hugger means that when you convert your futon to a bed you do not have to
pull out the entire frame out from the wall to make room for the expansion. There are several
tolerance levels when it comes to how close you place your wall-hugger to the wall. Zero tolerance
can be placed right up to the wall, whereas anything higher between one and four would require a
wider distance between the wall-hugger and the wall.
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Platform
Beds
South Shore Step One Platform Bed Full/Queen in Pure Black - Step One Platform
Bedroom Series
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Basically the bed consists of just the futon mattress laid on top of wood slats to
keep it elevated from the floor. Platform beds serves one purpose as it is not convertible like
most futon sets. These are popular choices
for those who enjoy a simple look as it does not require a box spring.
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Click Clacks
LifeStyle Solutions Aruba Khaki Casual Convertible Sofa
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Using a metal hinge system, the futon metal frame can be changed from sofa to lounger to bed.
And yes, the name is also the sounds it makes when you convert the lounging positions from one to
another.
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Futon Mattresses
A futon mattress is the meat of the futon and the main ingredient you need to conclude your purchase. Many futon
mattresses are included in futon sets, however to make your
purchase a personal one it is always fun to have a choice in the vital part of your furniture. There are a bundle
of choices when it comes to finding the right futon mattress, mainly you would need to think of what works for you?
What would you like for the firmness of the mattress? Are you buying a mattress for a sofa or more for a bed? And
the more you invest in a futon mattress, the more you will get out of it. No one wants to pay for something and
repeat their purchase only shortly after. Althought a futon mattress lasts for about 7 years, it's a long time for
you to be sitting/sleeping on a mattress that is literally crap. So spend wisely and do you research. For more
information as to choosing the right futon mattres, see our futon
mattress buying guide.
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