I have been looking at furniture stores for decades; I like furniture. And I have slept on a few pull out sofas. One memorable night at our friends Polly and Bruce's house in Lafayette, California, was particularly funny. My wife just could not get comfortable and complained that something (besides the huge cat that was walking on us) was wrong. We were tired, and I said that she should just go to sleep even though I could feel a bar across my back and my feet hung off the end of the bed about a foot. She did not go to sleep and insisted that I get up, find the light switch, and find out what was wrong with the bed. I finally agreed. We are big people, and when I turned on the light I discovered that we were so heavy that our weight had tilted the sofa up on its front legs and the head of the bed slanted to the floor. I found some magazines and placed them under the front legs of the sofa, which, at least, solved the slanting problem. It did not, however, solve the comfort or length problem.

Since then I have seen minor variations in sofa beds. A few years ago I saw a sofa sleeper that had an air mattress included. I had tried that before by placing an inflated Aero Bed on a sofa sleeper. It was not the same size and slipped to the side. This one, by Lane, I believe, was not cheap, and it was still a short bed. I thought, too, that the air mattress, folded up and creased, would easily develop a leak.

In general, almost all sleeper sofas are poor sofas, and they are poor beds -- not a nice combination.

A few years ago we went to Ocean View Furniture in Morro Bay, California. An American Leather Comfort Sleeper was displayed with the bed pulled out. I had never heard of the brand, and had never seen one before. It looked both bigger and much different from other sofa sleepers I had seen. I lay down on it, and, amazingly, it was long enough! And, it was comfortable! Always before, I had heard the admonition not to buy a sofa sleeper -- that it would not be a good sofa, and it would not be a good bed. But, here was a sofa sleeper, that came in many styles and colors, that was both an excellent sofa, and an excellent bed.

Since then three of my sons have bought this sofa sleeper, so I have had the chance to sleep on it many times. My original assessment still holds: Excellent as a sofa, and excellent as a bed. It is not cheap, but I have seen specials (Check out Traditions in San Luis Obispo, California).

This is a quality manufacturer of upsholstered furniture. The company prides itself on getting a custom piece ot furniture to the consumer very quickly. They are very well made and the coverings are both durable and tasteful.

   I have seen the Jennifer Convertible Sleeper Sofa, and it is pretty much the standard issue.  The good news is that the covering is "convertible" which means that it is  easily changed. Once again, however, not a good sofa, and not a good bed.  It can be quite attractive, though, and may work well for some applications. 

   The Ikea Sleeper Sofa has a lot in common with the Jennifer Sleeper Sofa.  The covering can be easily removed, and it may be washed, or you can buy new coverings at Ikea.  It has the basic same pull-out mechanism that was available fifty years ago resulting in a short, thin sleeping surface. Their style is pretty basic, but I do wonder how long they will keep the same style.  Popular styles change.  Too, the Ikea coverings are cotton, and after a trip through a large laundromat washer and dryer, I think there will be some shrinkage.  The colors are usually very light, so the user may want hot water to remove as much of the dirt as possible.  Once again, this is like the Jennifer with not so many variations in fabric.  It is neither a good sofa, nor a good bed.

   A comfortable sleeper does exist, and, it is more expensive than the Jennifer Convertible and Ikea sleeper sofas, but it is definitely not THE most expensive.

Many manufacturers make different widths of the basic sleeper sofa. from a twin that would be contained in a rather large chair, to a double size contained in a loveseat, to an eastern king size bed in a large (read long) sofa. There are also sectionals with one part of the sectional being a sleeper sofa.  The rule is that if a company makes a poor queen size sleeper sofa, the twin size will be of comparable quality.  And, if the company makes a superior queen size sleeper sofa, then the other widths will be the same quality.