Futon beds have become very popular in western countries over the years. Though many people may not know what exactly a futon really is. From their Japanese origins to what we see today there are some differences, we are going to have a look at them.

Origin Of Futons

Incase you were unaware, Futon beds originated in Japan where they are also referred to as “Futon” and are said to have been first used by samurai's. These Japanese beds would generally consist of two main parts, the “Shikibuton” - the bottom mattress – and a “Kakebuton” – a thick quilted bed cover - similar to goose down comforters. They are made to be slept in at night then folded up during the day and stored away so that the room they occupied can used for other purposes.

Futons are flat mattresses which a laid out on a traditional Japanese floor called “Tatami”. The mattress is generally filled with cotton and wool, but these days you will find some filled with synthetic fibres. The pillows or “makura” are normally filled with either beans, buckwheat chaff or plastic beads.

When not in use the futon is stored in a cupboard out of the way. To keep them fresh and stop them from smelling they need regular airing and sunlight, normally they will be taken outside and will be beaten with a bamboo cane, which is similar to the western carpet beater.

Use Of Futons In The West

In the west though, they are quite different, we have adapted the futon bed to suit our needs. When the word “futon” is mentioned a lot of people will automatically think of a futon sofa bed. Where instead of the futon mattress being folded away and kept in a cupboard during the day, the futon frame folds up into a usable sofa or armchair. If it is to be used as a full time bed, they generally wont be placed on the floor, but will have a fixed wooden bed frame to lift it away from the floor, normally to keep the user away from any drafts and cold air on the floor. In the west we also use much thicker mattresses on our futon bed, these are more like the traditional mattress used in western beds.

The  main reason for the popularity of japanese sofa bed in the west is the fact that they are very cheap. They appeal to the masses who want a simple, fashionable and comfortable bed.

Futon beds have come a long way from their origins in Japan. The Japanese futon bed has been embraced by many  countries, even if they have been modified along the way. They are a great option if you are short on space, need to save money, or even if you just like the look of them. There are plenty of them out there for you to choose from.

Where Would You Use A Sleeper Chair?

So where would you use one of these chairs and why would you bother? Why would someone not just use a futon or a sofa bed instead? There are quite a few cases where a smaller chair bed is a much better option. If you live in a small house or apartment that doesn’t have any spare bedrooms any guests you have over to stay will no doubt sleep in the living room. Normally someone would buy a futon sofa bed for their living room, sit on this through the day and fold into a bed when needed. But some people don’t find these futons particularly comfortable for sitting on over long periods of time. So they buy a regular sofa to use for the majority of the time, then a small sleeper chair that doesn’t take up much space, for the guests to both sit on and sleep on when they visit.

There is also the possibility that you just cant find a futon sofa bed that you like the look of or that fits the décor of your living room. There are many different styles of futon sleeper chair to choose from, some of them are really unique.

Sleeper chairs are also great for spare bedrooms that don’t have a lot of free space, it could be a small bedroom or that you use it as your office, so your desk and chair take up much of the space so there isn’t a lot left free. A small sleeper chair will give someone a place to sleep while not taking up a lot of space when no one is using it.

How Much Do They Cost?

There is a sleeper chair at pretty much every price point, so there is something out there to suit not only every ones tastes, but their pockets as well. If you are on a really restricted budget then a foam sleeper chair isn’t going to cost you a lot of money. This style of chair bed is perfect if it is not going to be used too much. Since they are made out of foam and don’t have a solid frame in many cases they don’t last for that long if used frequently. If it will only be one two or three times a month to sleep on and now and again to sit on then it will still last you for quite a few years. Even if they were used all the time, since they can cost less than $100 when it gets wrecked it wont cost a huge amount of money to replace it.

At the opposite end of the spectrum you have leather sleeper chairs. Chairs like this will be made using a hardwood frame and will look just like any other leather arm chair and be just as comfortable as them as well. The difference being this will fold flat into a comfortable bed. These great looks and the comfort come at a price though, many leather sleepers range from about $800 to over $2,000. In-between these two extremes there are fabric covered sleeper chairs, they feature the same hardwood frames as the leather ones but they are covered in a less expensive material, which brings the price by quite a bit.

Before You Buy

Before you buy any sleeper chair it is important that you try them out completely, both as a chair and as a bed. The chair set up may be comfortable, but that doesn’t mean the bed will be comfortable too, and visa versa, so be sure to try both out, you wouldn’t buy a mattress for your bed or a sofa for your living room without trying them first, this is just the same.

If you are spending a large amount of money on your sleeper chair you will probably want the mattress to be changeable, if the mattress or padding becomes worn but the frame is still in good condition it would be nice if you could chance the mattress on its own, saving you from buying a full new chair. Also check over the quality of the stitching, loose stitches wont last long, so make sure they are all strong and attention has been paid to them. Also, if there are any mechanisms in the sleeper chair bed make sure they all move freely and are easy to use.

If you have used a single sleeper chair in the past which had a metal bar running through the middle of it, which made getting a good sleep pretty hard, don’t be put off buying a new model. The designs have totally changed and these bars are no longer present in any good sleeper chair, so they are much more comfortable and give you a much better nights sleep.

If you have never heard of a captains bed before or just don’t know what they are then the explanation is quite simple. As the same suggests they were designed for the captain of the ship. In the old tall ships everyone was limited to how much space they had, so making the most of the space that they did have was essential. So a bed was designed that had a lot of storage space in it, to let the captain store all of his belongings while at sea. These beds are not only perfect for tall ships but they are ideal for modern homes as well, as more and more people have been finding out over the recent years.

The vast majority of captains beds are made with a wooden frame. The storage they offer comes in quite a few forms, from cupboards and drawers under the bed, similar to divan beds to having shelves and drawers in the head and foot boards. You will be able to store so much in them that you wont quite believe it, from clothes, books, general junk and anything else you can think of, there is going to be so much less stress put on your closets.

Captains Beds For Kids

As mentioned earlier when most people think about captains beds they will think about kids beds. Kids love beds like this, they are generally quite high off the ground, they have got loads of places where they can hide things, lots of little secret compartments and they look great as well. Many of the captains beds for kids are similar to the adult beds except they are designed to appeal to children’s eyes a little more. You can also get a captains bed with trundle beds under it, the perfect solution if your kids like to have sleep overs. The storage in these beds is ideal for a kids bedroom, it helps to keep the floor clear of toys, games, clothes and so on, again easing the pressure on your closets and other storage furniture.

If you didn’t know what a captains bed was before hand I hope you have got a good idea now. If you live in a small home that doesn’t have a lot of storage then these beds could be just what you have been looking for.

For those looking for furniture that doesn’t cost a huge amount of money, pine beds frames are ideal. They are simply made, they are elegant and look great, plus they are strong and as mentioned before, they can be very cheap too. Having said that it would be wise to avoid the cheapest pine beds that you come across, most of these will be made using low quality wood and the joins and hardware wont be great either, after a short while they will no doubt fall to pieces. So spend a little more, not a lot, and get a bed that will last a good number of years.

These days pine beds are underrated, most people will prefer to go for other woods such as cherry, oak or maple, but there really is no need, pine is strong and it looks great. If the color doesn’t quite fit in with the other furniture or the décor of your room then it can be painted, stained or waxed to a different color as many pine beds come unfinished. People can spend over $1,000 on a cherry or oak bed frame simply because they are fashionable. Quality, solid pine beds can be bought for between $200-$300 from Amazon.com and from many other local furniture stores closer to your home. Or Ikea offers the Fjellse pine bed frame for less than $50. While this Ikea bed frame might not be what you are looking for for the bed in your master bedroom it would be perfect for a guest bedroom or as kids beds if you don’t want to spend to much money on these pieces.

Pine Beds Can Be Expensive Too

If you do a quick “Shopping” search on Google you will find a number of pine beds for well over $2,000. The difference between these beds and the pine bed frames that cost $300 is not much, other than how they look. They use the same wood, though it may be a slightly nicer looking piece of wood, it may have a fancy finish or it could be old reclaimed wood or an antique piece. This tells us that pine is used to make expensive, seemingly “higher quality” beds, but in reality the main difference is that these bed frames have a fancy designers name on them.

If you looking for a new bed but are trying to spend as little as you possibly can then you should really give pine beds a bit of though. Yes, they may not be the most fashionable beds right now, but they are going to last you for many years and they wont break the bank. Going by the current recycled fashion trends, pine beds will be back in fashion before long anyway and you will be one step ahead of everyone else.

Beds with storage underneath them can often look quite messy, even if you use decent storage boxes or baskets. Ottoman beds are unlike most of the other styles of bed other than divan beds. The difference between Ottoman beds and divan beds is that the Ottoman bed has got a huge amount of extra storage space. The entire mattress on the Ottoman bed lifts up to reveal that the full base of the bed is available for storage, this is many times more storage space than a divan has. It also means that unlike a divan you don’t need to leave a gap around the bed to allow you to open drawers, the mattress, with all of the bedding on top of it, just lifts up and gives you access to the storage compartment. The hinges on these beds that allow the mattress to be lifted up are pretty strong, so there is no reason to worry about the bed breaking under the load of the duvet, pillows and so on.

No one is going to know what is under the bed, if anything at all, as everything is hidden from sight and is so much tidier than using storage boxes under the bed or just throwing things under there.

The Sleeper Ottoman

The sleeper Ottoman has got so many different uses, of course it can be used as a fold out bed, but when not being slept on it can be used as a coffee table, a foot stool or spare seating in your living room or lounge. When the time comes that you need a spare bed these beds are so easy to fold out, it might look quite complex but in actual fact it is no more difficult than any other fold out bed or sofa bed.

Because these beds fold up into such a tiny size they are perfect for people who live in apartments and dorms and for those who need a spare bed at home but the only place they have for it is in the living room. You don't need to store any extra bedding for them everything you need is contained in that little cube. If you live in a small space this style of Ottoman bed is absolutely perfect.

Construction

Just like pretty much every other bed you can get Ottoman sleeper beds made from a number of materials. Metal and wood just like most other bed frames, but you can also get Ottoman sofa beds that effectively have no frame, it is all fabric. This frame-less style of bed is ideal for kids bedrooms. Kids beds with metal and wood hinges are an accident waiting to happen, it wouldn’t be long before their little fingers got trapped in the mechanisms, so the soft, fabric frame is the best option.

Both styles of Ottoman bed are available in a number of different styles and designs to suit every home. They come in all of the normal sizes too, single, full, king size and so on. And you can choose from a wide range of materials from wood and metal to leather Ottoman beds.

How Platform Beds Look

The looks of platform beds are one of the biggest selling points without a doubt. Generally they will have really simple, sleek, modern designs which appeal to a wide range of people. Designs like this also made platform beds really easy to match to other bedroom furniture. If you are buying a bed now and the other furniture later you really don’t have to worry about not being able to find a furniture set that matches.

Advantages Of Not Having A Box Spring Base

A lot of beds come with box springs and there are a lot of people who like to use box spring beds but there are actually quite a few advantages to not using a bed like this. Because there isn’t a lot of excess bulk in a platform bed frame you can have a much more low profile modern look as mentioned above. Not having the box spring can save you quite a bit of money as well. In many cases the box spring can actually cost as much as the bed frame, or in some cases more, doubling your outlay. The money you save could be spent elsewhere, buying other bedroom furniture, a better mattress or whatever.

The box spring is also another part of the bed to break and need replaced, costing you more money. If they don’t break they will become squeaky over time. I know from experience this can be incredibly annoying after a very short time, you can lose sleep or be woken up during the night by your partners, or your own movements. Because a platform bed has no moving parts, it is just a wooden frame, it is going to last a lot longer.

Affordability

The price of these beds are another huge factor in why they have become so popular. You don’t have to spend a huge amount of money to get a great looking bed. Of course there are expensive beds as well as cheap platform beds. These more expensive models can cost over $1,000, but with this style of bed you are able to get great looking, high quality frames for between $150 and $300. Not only as these platform bed frames cheap but they are also great quality, because there are no moving parts and the design is simple, as long as you pick a good solid material these beds are going to last you for many years.

A Platform Bed With Storage

As mentioned earlier most platform beds will come with space underneath them, this creates a really nice look, but this isn’t ideal for everyone. You are able to get a platform bed with drawers under it to give you some extra storage, just like divan beds or Ottoman beds. These drawers are ideal if your bedroom doesn’t have a lot of storage in it, or doesn’t have room to add any more storage, you can keep all of your bedding and such like under the bed and out of sight. While platform beds with storage look a little different to the regular beds they do still look fantastic.

I hope that has helped you to understand just what a platform bed is. Simple, elegant, modern looking beds that don’t need to cost the earth. There is a massive range of different designs that you can choose from so if you decide this style of bed is what you would like you will have no trouble finding something that suits your tastes and your budget.

As with most beds trundle beds come a in a range of sizes, but from what I have seen the twin trundle bed is the most popular choice with many people. Beds like this are the perfect solution for when your child is having a sleep over. In every day use these beds don’t take up any more space than a regular bed, but when a second bed is needed it just slides out with ease. In the morning there is no need to make up the second bed either, just remove the covers, either clean them or just store them away and slide the lower bed back into place.

The trundle bed is more than just a one trick pony though, you can use them for storage as well. A lot of people will buy the bed without the bottom mattress or remove the mattress and throw it away and use the base of the trundle bed for storage purposes. Because it can be hidden away under the bed out of sight this is the ideal place to store things like spare bedding, clothes that are out of season and so on. One of the big parts of the appeal of these beds is that they are versatile.

Trundle Beds For Kids

Trundle beds are really popular choices with many families. During the day the bedroom has plenty of free space for kids to play in, do their school work and so on, but when the weekend comes and there is someone over to stay there is another full sized bed for the guest to sleep on. They are not only good for use by guests but if you have two children that share a bedroom these are great alternatives to bunk beds. Trundle beds for kids are available in a whole range of designs from regular wood stains to an array of wonderful colors and some even feature cartoon characters and so on.

Pop Up Trundle Beds

You are also able to get pop up trundle beds, this style of trundle bed is perfect for smaller spare bedrooms that don’t have enough room space for twin or full sized beds all of the time. A pop up trundle bed will generally be a single bed, but the bed from underneath slides out then can be raised up on legs to bring it to the same height as the regular bed, turning it into a bigger bed for two people. This is a great feature.

Trundle beds are perfect if you need to save space but also need space for people to spend the night at your home. They are great for guest rooms as well as for kids beds, especially pop up trundle beds. If you buy good mattresses to go with your beds then they are going to be just as comfortable as any regular bed. They are also considerably more classy than bunk beds, air beds and so on.

What Material To Go For

The material that is used to make the bed is perhaps the single most important feature on any bed, or any piece of furniture for that matter. Not only do you want it to look good but it has got to be durable as well. As you will be well aware kids love to jump around their bedroom and their bed normally takes quite a bit of abuse, so their beds have got to be strong. You will also want a material that is able to hide the battle scars associated with being a kids bed. Plastic is a good choice as it does a good job of hiding scratches and so on, plus it wont chip like a painted surface would. Painted finishes are quite popular but they show of lots of marks, not just chips, but scuffs and so on.

Buying A Quality Bed

Everyone wants to buy the best quality product that they can afford to, but how do you determine what is good quality and what isn’t? One way to do this is when you are in a furniture store look over the kids beds and check the finish, look for cracks in the material, bubbles in the paint or varnish and areas that haven’t been smoothed off. This is a good way to see if the bed has been put together well, or if it has been made in a rush.

The material that has been used to make the bed is a good measure of quality too. Beds made using fiber boards are generally really cheap and break easily when abused, especially around about joints. A solid wood kids bed will be considerably better quality, even if it is a softer wood like pine. Pine is also very affordable. If a hard wood was used, such as maple, cherry or something along those lines it would be reasonable to assume that it was a pretty good bed. The down side to these hard woods is that they they cost quite a lot of money, they are worth it though as they will last you for many years.

Cheap kids beds made from Plastic can be alright, normally they are not going to last you too many years. Thankfully they are cheap so you don’t lose a lot of money buying them. Metal beds are cheap as well, but if they are made using soft metals they will not last long, soft metals bend and break easily, if a metal beam does break then it leaves a sharp edge, this isn’t ideal for use as kid bed furniture. Metal also has a tendency to creek and be noisy too, so if the kids are playing upstairs or in the next room it will be even noisier than usual.

Types of Kids Beds

There are so many different styles of bed that you can choose from these days, but no doubt your child will want a fancy race car shaped bed, or a princess themed bed, or whatever the current fashion is. In these instances you need to be firm with them, because you know they will grow out of this phase in no time at all. Some of the most popular styles of beds to go for are as follows -

Bunk Beds – Kids bunk beds are ideal for smaller homes where children have got to share a bedroom, they both have a place to sleep but there is still a lot of floor space left to play on or to have other furniture too.

Cabin Beds – If your kids bedroom is quite small then a cabin bed might be just what you need, these beds offer quite a bit of storage space under them, this cuts down the number of other pieces of furniture that you will need in the room.

Futon Beds – If you are looking to get a second bed for your kids bedroom so that friends have got somewhere to sleep when they come over, rather than sleeping on the floor you could consider a futon bed. It gives guests a place to sleep and it then turns into a sofa for your son or daughter to sit at and read, do school work or play computer games and so on.

If you narrow down what it is you are looking for the job of choosing your kids bed will become a whole lot easier. Once you have narrowed down your search you can ask your kids what kind of bed they prefer and what ever one they choose they pick will be good quality, within your budget and will fulfil the needs that you want it to.

The process of designing memory foam started away back in the 1960's. NASA set out to try and create a cushion for its aircraft that would give the pilots something comfortable to sit on for long periods of time. At first memory foam was called “slow spring back foam” or “temper foam”. As far as I know it never made it onto any planes or space shuttles. It wasn’t until the early 1980's that memory foam became available to the public, though because it was hard to work with few companies took on making it, though over time more and more did. The first big use outside of NASA was for medical purposes. It was used in the beds of people who were unable to move much or at all. The memory foam helped their blood flow and also stopped sores and such like forming on the patients. These days a lot more people are using memory foam for beds, sofas and so on.

Why Consider A Memory Foam Mattress Topper?

If you have been considering buying a memory foam mattress then you really need to give memory foam mattress toppers a look. They are the perfect alternative and they could save you a pile of money.

A tempurpedic mattress could cost you a huge amount of money and if you have never used a mattress like this then you could be wasting your money if you find out that this style of mattress isn’t what you really need. A memory foam mattress topper is made using the exact same materials and does pretty much the exact same job but at a fraction of the cost.

Problems Choosing A New Mattress

One of the most common problems that people face when they are choosing a new mattress is that they only find one that is either too soft or too hard, they can never get something that is just right. Or in my case I find a mattress that suits me perfectly but my partner finds the same mattress to soft or too hard and visa versa. With a memory foam mattress topper it will suit everyone, it has the ability to feel both soft and firm, so everyone is happy. When you lie on the memory foam mattress topper you body heat starts to warm it up, this makes it softer and allows it to change shape to the contours of your body. The foam that isn’t in contact with your body remains cool and therefore firm, making you feel comfortable.

Choosing A Memory Foam Mattress Topper

When you start to look through the memory foam mattress toppers on line or at a local bedding store you will see that there are quite a few for you to choose from. There are a number of different thickness’s for example, normally ranging from about two inches to five inches. A general rule for choosing a mattress topper is to go for a thick topper if you have a firm mattress or a thinner topper if you own a softer mattress. All memory foam toppers are resistant to both dust mites and allergens, so no need to worry about either of these problems.

Don't Buy Cheap Rubbish

At the start when I said you could save money by choose a memory foam mattress topper rather than a full mattress I didn’t mean that you should go for the cheapest mattress topper you can find and save as much money as possible. If you did this you would find that the topper would be comfortable for a short while, maybe a few months and then it would start to get uncomfortable as the foam loses its springiness and doesn’t return to its original shape when you move or get out of bed. Toppers like this may last you about a year before you throw it in the trash. You need to find a happy medium, find a quality topper that doesn’t cost the world. If you buy a more expensive item it is going to last you so much longer and while it costs more money it is still going to be considerably less than buying a proper memory foam mattress.

A memory foam mattress topper is the ideal choice for people who suffer from serious pains in the body. Many times these pains can be made worse by lying down on a bed. When you use one of these foam mattress toppers the weight of the body will be evenly distributed over the entire mattress, which helps to relieve pressure on the parts of the body that cause the pain. It is the density of this foam that gives it its “memory”, there are a few different levels of density available, but basically the higher the density the firmer the mattress will be and the more support that it can offer your body.

Keep Your Mattress Longer

If you use any mattress topper, not just a memory foam one you are able to extend the life of your mattress that is underneath it. It will last even longer if you buy a new mattress at the same time you buy your topper. It is not wise to use any topper on top of a old wrecked, lumpy mattress, the lumps and bumps from the mattress will travel through the topper to your body, so you are still going to feel them. If you buy a quality topper then a few years down the line you can change this rather than changing the full mattress, this is going to save you a large amount of money. This money could be spend on other accessories for your bed such as memory foam pillows. These pillows will further enhance your comfort and give you an even better nights sleep.

If you have been thinking about buying a memory foam mattress then I hope this article has shown you that you can have the exact same experience by buying a memory foam mattress topper while saving quite a lot of money. Not only will these toppers save you a lot of money but they are going to let you get a much better nights sleep as well.

Choosing The Right Bed

So when it comes to choosing the bed and you want a classy looking bed that gives off a feeling of quality you should consider sleigh beds. You will find these beds in both antique styles and more contemporary styles too. The sleigh bed gets its name from the curled, or scrolled foot and headboards which make it look like a sleigh or sled. Normally they are made using high quality, heavy woods such as oak and cherry, but pine and MDF is used for cheaper beds. Wood is not the only material available, some modern beds are made using metals like iron and aluminum and you can even get leather sleigh beds. The sleigh bed was first used at the start of the 19th century, the idea for their design was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman designs.

So if you are trying to create a quality, classy look in your bedroom then the sleigh bed is something you should really give some thought to. A lot of people still think of these beds as being old fashioned, while this is true for some beds it is not true for them all. Since sleigh beds went out of fashion in the 1970's then came back in in the mid 1990's there has been a bit of a transformation to try and get young people to buy this style of bed and it has worked. As well as the older style of sleigh bed there are now contemporary designs meaning that they appeal to a much wider audience than they used to. If you combine a wooden sleigh bed with a high quality mattress then there really isn’t a better place to sleep, and because of the curved headboard they are also really comfortable when you want to sit up and read a book or watch TV.

Childrens Sleigh Beds

Not only do these beds now appeal to more adults there are also a number of childrens sleigh beds. While you might not think this is the normal choice for a kids bedroom, if you are trying to create a theme throughout your house then this lets you continue the theme in your childrens bed rooms as well. There are of course designs that will appeal more to children, they wont need to sleep in an antique bed, but they are still high quality, good looking beds. With these beds being small your children will grow out of them eventually, but if you buy a good quality bed in the first place the resale value will be pretty decent.

Buying Sleigh Beds

You will probably have noticed that I have mentioned quality beds a few times, this is because I really believe that you should always buy the best quality item that you can, whether it is beds or televisions or clothing. Buying cheap sleigh beds might seem like a great idea now and you will have more money in your pocket, but in a year or twos time you will be regretting it when you have to fork out more money on a new bed. If you buy a really good oak sleigh bed it is going to last you for years, there is every chance that it will outlast you, it could even be handed down to the next generation. These are the types of sleigh beds you should be considering.