oh, some nice ones here. I bought the Hagalund for my teeny tiny guest room/ sewing room. It's pretty comfortable and is the smallest one I could find that is still close to a double bed size. Blogged here http://sewbeeit.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/my-bliss/ I might add a foam topper if a guest is staying longer than 2 nights.

One of the most interesting sleeper sofas i have seen is the Doc Space Saving System by Clei Italy at Resource NY. This is a sofa that effortlessly converts to a bunk bed - pretty cool. http://furnitureseen.com/Modern-Furniture/New-York/Search-Result/Doc-Giulio-Manzoni/3/0/5013

American Leather Comfort Sleepers have solid construction, simple & clean styles with loads of comfort and easy to open/close. With leather or microfiber or fabric. Nice. http://www.americanleather.com/Comfort-Sleeper/Comfort-Sleeper-Styles

I sleep on a sleeper sofa every night. It's a vintage one from the 70's and was very uncomfortable until I customized it with an air over coil sofabed mattress: http://brinimaxwell.libsyn.com/to-sleep-perchance-to-dream-part-3-resting-on-a-cloud

What a timely article! You see we have had 2 new sofa sleepers over the course of 20 years. And now we need one so our out of town guest have a super comfy place to sleep. Yes we will soon have a guest room but it really is more of an office/craft studio/music room so... Biggest issue comfy mattress so extended use. (i.e. our guests are usually over age 60 and stay for 7 to 10 days.) Any suggestions? (I wish money wasn't an issue but it is... the addition is costing us enough but the space is well worth it!)

Any suggestions for locating NEW MATTRESSES for old sleeper sofas? I have a twin that I'd like to update.

La-Z-Boy. Air mattress. Fabulous.
And I believe you can add them to older sofas too.

I want that top sofa!! Anyone want to fund one for me;)

is anyone interested in a barter? i have a new handmade rug and will exchange for a sleeper!

@Melanor --

Google "Sofabed Mattress" - There are at least 6 places I've found online who sell these things...

Simplicity Sofas has a line of sleep sofas ranging from 72" to 90" that are specifically designed for use in homes and apartments with very narrow doors, stairways or elevators. The sleepers use a queen-size Endura Ease air bed system.

We have an older sleeper sofa with a very uncomfortable double/full size mattress that we use for guests. A coworker gave me a great idea that has given our guests a better night's sleep. We use our inflatable queen size camping mattress on top of the full. He recommended putting a few towels down to shield the air mattress from the metal supports. The queen wedges in beautifully between the sofa arms and yes, the mattress sticks out a bit on all sides (without support) but our friends and family haven't realized this. They only comment on how much better they've slept than before. Doing this also raises the bed level so we don't feel bad about our less mobile family members getting in and out of bed.

This might not be the best solution for someone using it as their only bed in a studio but it certainly works in a guest room.

don't forget the daybed - add enough pillows for back support during the day and it's a nice place to lounge. another good aspect is that you don't need to move furniture to sleep. down side is that it is a twin bed... but you control the mattress

Since last fall I've been sleeping on a sleeper-sofa from Innovation Furniture, which I love: the 'Supremax DEL' (#20 in this catalog lineup):

http://www.innovationliving.com/en/istyle

It was expensive, but justified because it was going to have to serve as my bed every night (and my sofa every day) in a new petite studio condo. Works beautifully, looks great. When I was searching for a sofa bed, I found many that seemed designed to be used a half-dozen times a year when guests come, but not many intended to be used every night. Big difference.

I have a bf in NYC that has a Carlyle Loveseat size sleeper sofa and it is the most comfortable I have ever slept on (far better than even the futon styles I have experienced). The best part is all the bedding fit perfect into the matching ottoman she topped with a classy tray doubles as a coffee table. Two slim people might even be comfy.

@designalifestyle
Well, your first comment (still hanging on in your profile if not here) does look like spam, especially since you apparently just joined the site today. But I guess you are not a spambot after all. Your repost is clearer anyway....

Mother in law came into town a few weeks back. Picked up the Encore from Room and Board to put in the home office. We slept on that, MIL slept in our bed. Worked well, but we bought foam topper and mattress pad. Would have been too firm without it.

Looks and seats great in the office, though, and I've napped on it multiple times with no complaint.

Cat likes it a bit too much for my comfort.

I agree--like the American Leather sofas because they do look like a sofa when closed up (not a folded matress or funky rolled back rest) and they FEEL like a bed when slept in. Again, it does cost, but the comfort as a sofa and bed is worth every penny. BTW, they make in fabric also.

ClubFurniture has the Nathanial loveseat, which opens into a full-size (double) bed. It was the only piece I found that could fit into a relatively small space and yet open up into a nice trampoline-style mattress that sleeps 2. No complaints from guests.

Duobed is another great option. www.duobed.com This furniture converts easily from sofas to chairs to chaise lounges to beds. It won the Design Trade Magazine's "Great Finds" contest (see issue coming out this month for article).

Blech, I bought a sleeper sofa from Macys in 2009 and it's currently heavily sitting in a storage unit. I had ONE person sleep on it the two years it was in a home. Not worth the added expense (at least for me).

American Leather makes the some of the best (most comfortable for sleeping) sofa beds. No springs or bars - just foam on board. Despite the name, they come in microfiber cloth in addition to leather.

They also make styles for other furniture stores using their own "comfort sleeper" mechanism - for design within reach, crate and barrel, room and board, sometimes macy's. You can check their site to see who they are making them for now, and how to recognize the comfort sleepers at other stores.

While you will often pay a bit more for the ones made for other furniture stores, unless you find a great sale, the furniture store branded ones are often made (or available) in nicer fabric than microfiber. I got one from dwr in a very nice tweed fabric - an earlier version of the one they sell there now - because I liked the arm style better than any that were then available from american leather directly, and because I liked the fabric better than the microfiber that was then available on the ones from american leather. Cost about 1K more than getting one in microfiber from american leather, not to metion dwr's rip off huge delivery fee.

They have instructions for your movers for taking them apart to be moved in or out of small spaces if need be - which I consider a necessity for an investment in a sleeper, as I know I will move a number of times while I own it. (It made it in to my current place without being taken apart, just the wood feet off, mainly because this place has an elevator instead of stairs.)

I don't like these as my main couch - I prefer a tight seat, lower to the ground, and less deep on my living room couch for sitting on - but it works in the guest room, so I can use the room for other purposes, as the guest bed no longer takes up the whole room when I don't have guests. I do find it a comfortable couch for lying down on. Another advantage is the range of sizes them come in - from twin through king - so you can find one that will fit. They are longer than the usual standard mattress sizes, which is helpful if your guests are tall and you can't fit a king sized couch.

Not cheap, though. If I wasn't buying for the long haul, I'd get a cheaper one that also didn't have springs, bars, or that cheap folding mattress one finds in most traditional couch style sofa beds. There are many styles out there, many much cheaper. There is no reason to subject anyone to an uncomfortable spring and bar style sofa bed anymore. Most of the lower priced ones are available in modern styles, not traditional sofa styles, and modern didn't work with what I have already.

There are some you can order that come in parts that are more traditional looking - but I woudn't buy a bed or a sofa unless I could check out how comfortable it is first.

If I were purchasing for an apartment where I slept on it every night, I'd consider getting a really good quality murphy bed for sleeping on instead of a sofa bed. Especially if I owned the apartment - as it would, I think, enhance the value of the place when I went to sell or sublet it. Most sofa bed mattresses will become more uncomfortable with daily use over time. Even the American Leather foam ones - I can already see that I will be buying an additional foam topper to put on top of the mattress to make it more comfortable for guests one of these years, just as I had to do for my bed's mattress after a number of years.

Another option I like is a low, carved wood platform bed, like one that used to be sold at urban outfitters - that you use bolsters and/or pillows on and use as a couch or daybed, but is large enough to be a bed at night. Ikea makes some comfortable foam mattresses that I'd use for the mattress. It all depends on your preference for decor, of course - traditional sofa look, modern sofa look, or bohemian.

I am surprised apartment therapy didn't mention the Ikea Kivik. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79884738
And I must say (Keep in mind that I covet a Nomade Express), that I am tired of the same sofa beds being featured year after year.