I just discovered this stylish Next sofa bed *and* it’s under £500 – no wonder savvy shoppers are snapping it up

by Furnishly | Sep 17, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Judging by the storm currently raging outside my office window, summer is officially over and autumn has begun. And, as Ideal Home’s Sleep Editor, I know that this change in seasons means that the savvy amongst us are already prepping and planning for the festive hosting season ahead.

In particular, that means considering how our homes are going to sleep the extra friends and family that may visit over the Christmas period. And this year, it seems that Next shoppers are leading the way in their organisational efforts. Why? Because Next customers are busy snapping up the brand’s Palma sofa bed. And at just £475 for this stylish seating that doubles as a sleeping space for two, it’s easy to see why.

The Palma sofa bed comes in two designs. There’s the two-seater Palma sofa bed that starts at £475 and offers a double-bed-sized sleeping area, or the single-seater Palma chair bed that costs £350 and provides a sleeping space for one.

Both are similar in design to two other hosting solutions that I regularly recommend in Ideal Home’s guide to the best sofa beds and best chair beds, namely the Habitat Roma Sofa Bed and MADE’s Haru Sofa Bed.

All feature a ‘click-clack’ style of design where the seat and backrest unfold and lay flat to become the sleeping area, and come in a good range of upholstery options, including on-trend boucle and luxurious-looking velvets.

The Palma sofa bed’s main point of difference is its curved backrest, which, in my opinion, gives it some extra style points compared to its competition.

The two-seater Palma sofa bed also offers a good-sized sleeping area. Although Habitat’s Roma sofa bed is the more affordable option, with prices for the Habitat Roma Double Sofa Bed starting at £300 compared to the Palma sofa bed’s £475 price tag, the Roma maxes out at a 121cm width.

That’s smaller than your average double bed, which measures 135cm in width. In comparison, the Next Palma sofa bed is bang on 136cm wide. If you’re hosting a couple, that’s 15cm extra wiggle room they’ll definitely appreciate.

Alternatively, the MADE Haru Large Sofa Bed does offer even more space with a 143cm width, but it also costs more, coming in at £550 for the larger size.

To my mind, that makes the Palma sofa bed great value for the money, as well as being a space-saving and stylish addition to the home. And it seems I’m not alone in thinking so.

‘The sofa is comfortable, conveniently space-saving, easy to open out into a bed and to fold back up again,’ shares one 5-star reviewer of the Palma on the Next website. ‘Fabulous,’ says another. ‘I want another one when funds allow.’

Plus, according to Next shoppers, the Palma is the ideal solution for last-minute hosting.

‘I am really pleased with this sofa bed,’ says one reviewer. ‘It looks like a stylish sofa and folds out to a normal side double bed. Really pleased we invested in this. Will suit my family when they stay at Christmas.’

‘Researched in a hurry due to sudden additional guests arriving over Xmas,’ says another reviewer who bought the sofa bed last year. ‘I am so glad that I was persuaded by reading all the good reviews. No regrets at all. Converting it from a sofa to a bed is very straightforward and quick. It looks great too!’

‘Brilliant design,’ says a third. ‘I was looking for a spare single fold-out bed which could serve as an attractive seat, on short notice of a family visit, and this is perfect. It’s also very well made and comfortable as a seat. Ordered mid-week and delivered on the following Monday. Family arriving this afternoon!’

In fact, the only negatives I can see are related to the sofa bed’s comfort in bed form. A few reviewers note that the sofa bed is quite firm for sleeping on, which is similar to how I found the Habitat Roma and MADE Haru when I tested them in store. However, thankfully, that’s nothing that the addition of a good mattress topper can’t solve.

‘You will need a good mattress topper, but other than that, it fits the bill perfectly,’ shares one reviewer. ‘The sofa is comfy to sit on, but when converted to a bed, it is a little firm for my liking,’ says another. ‘As a result, I purchased a mattress topper.’

That does mean you’ll need to factor the cost of a mattress topper into your purchase, but I’ve rounded up three of the best value mattress toppers I’ve tested below. And even with the addition of some extra cushioning, I still think the Palma sofa bed’s under £500 price tag makes it a great value buy.

‘You’d never know it was a sofa bed’ – Loaf’s new solution for hosting overnight guests is brilliantly disguised

by Furnishly | Sep 14, 2025 | Design Inspiration

Loaf has launched a new range of sofa beds, and if you’re currently in the market for a living room sofa that can also transform into a bed for guests, you will definitely want this swoon-worthy seating on your radar.

Over the past four years, as Ideal Home’s Sleep Editor I’ve tested numerous sleeper sofas to put together my round-up of the best sofa beds on the market, and in that time, I’ve sat on so many sofa beds that *look* stylish and comfortable, only to find that they’re so uncomfortable to sit and lie on, they’re just a complete waste of money.

Loaf is a completely different experience. The brand is known for its super plump and well-cushioned sofas that are designed with comfortable lounging in mind. And when I went into my nearest Loaf store to test them, I found the brand’s sofa beds to be the same.

What’s more, unless you’re told, I don’t think anyone would ever guess these stylish sofas hide a pull-out mattress inside. So if you want a sofa bed in disguise, this is it.

In recent years, the brand’s sofa bed range seemed to have seriously dwindled. Every time I checked, I found various lines appeared to have sold out and didn’t seem to be getting restocked. Sad news indeed. But, as it turns out, that’s because Loaf was beavering away behind the scenes, creating three brand new sofa bed designs, all of which feature the furniture retailer’s quirky naming conventions.

There’s the Queenie (for sitting pretty on, presumably), the Brioche (with plump cushions that do look a little like freshly risen bread), and the Slow Riser (no explanation required there).

The Queenie Sofa Bed is the most affordable sofa bed in the new range and, perhaps, the most traditional looking, with scroll arms and classic bun feet. It starts from £1995, and comes in two size options, a 178cm and a 238cm width, which offer a double or king-sized pull-out mattress respectively.

The Slow Riser Sofa Bed is a larger and more modern option. Again, there are two size options, a 193cm and a 233cm width, with prices starting from £2295.

The Brioche Flat Packed Sofa Bed is my favourite and (of course) it’s also the most expensive of the bunch. However, it’s also the most versatile, because – as its name will give away – this sofa bed is a flat-packed design.

The dimensions of Loaf’s seating tend to be (very) generous – and with a 208cm or 238cm width, the Brioche sofa bed is no exception – so this is a real bonus if you have awkward delivery access. Loaf’s delivery team will then assemble the sofa bed in your room of your choice.

The Brioche sofa bed also comes with a great range of matching furniture. There’s a standard sofa, an armchair, and a footstool, which means you can turn the Brioche sofa bed into a chaise if you like to put your feet up and really get comfy.

All three designs feature 13cm deep pocket-sprung mattresses tucked away inside the frame, and based on the similar designs I tested in store, they’re some of the closest pull-out mattresses I’ve found to the ‘real thing’.

That 13cm depth is far deeper than most pull-out sofa beds offer, and that makes a real difference in terms of sleep comfort.

The other massive bonus that comes with buying a Loaf sofa bed is the incredible fabric choice that’s on offer. More affordable sofa beds usually offer five or six colourways, but buy any of these Loaf options and you have 150 colourways to choose from.

The fabric samples ‘bar’ in a Loaf store is like a sweet shop with a whole host of sumptious shades and textures available to peruse. My favourites are always the velvets which add a sculptural quality to Loaf furniture’s signature curves, but there are plenty more upholstery options to choose from.

Personally, I’m super excited to see Loaf back in the sofa bed game. I think this collection offers a genuine solution for those of us seeking a sofa bed that looks and feels nice enough to use as our primary sofa in the living room.

However, we can’t ignore the fact that Loaf furniture isn’t cheap. I do think you get what you pay for – when I tested the range in store, I definitely felt Loaf sofas and sofa beds were worth their price tag. But if the budget won’t stretch, it won’t stretch.

So if you have your heart set on a Loaf sofa bed but the maths isn’t mathing, these are the three budget-friendly alternatives I’d suggest instead. They can’t quite compete in terms of comfort or quality, but they will help you to host guests without breaking the bank.

John Lewis has launched what I think is the most stylish sofa bed on the market – *and* it promises to be comfortable

by Furnishly | Aug 26, 2025 | Design Inspiration

If you’ve been hunting the high street for a sofa bed worthy of floor space in your home recently, then you’ll definitely want John Lewis‘ most recent launch on your radar.

Available online and in-store, the Innovation Living Cane Sofa Bed scores some serious style points, and, based on my testing of other sofa beds in the Innovation Living range, it promises to be comfortable too – something of a miracle in the world of sleeper sofas.

Designed by Danish furniture company Innovation Living, the Cane Sofa Bed is a riff on the brand’s bestselling Cubed 140 Sofa Bed.

As Ideal Home’s Sleep Editor, I first tested Innovation Living’s sofa bed range four years ago, and I still rate the Cubed 140 as one of the best sofa beds you can buy.

My only gripe with the Cubed 140 – other than its price – is that it looks a little… functional. Perfect for a home office, but would I want it in prime position in my living room? Personally, not.

In comparison, the new Cane Sofa Bed has a similar seating set-up to the Cubed 140, but with oh-so-stylish cane side panels that elevate it into a sofa bed I’d be more than happy giving centrestage in my main living space.

I haven’t yet tested the Cane Sofa Bed in person, but because that seating arrangement looks almost identical to the Cubed 140, I’m confident it’s going to be equally comfortable.

It also mirrors another of the Cubed 140’s great selling points; despite only taking up a modest H73 x W153 x D92cm of floor space, it transforms into a double bed-sized sleeping area. That’s a rarity in the world of sofa beds, which tend to offer sleeping areas much smaller than standard bed sizes.

No wonder the Cane Sofa Bed is already scoring highly with John Lewis reviewers, with full marks given by all of its owners so far.

‘We just assembled the sofa bed and are excited to actually use it. It’s comfortable both as a sofa and a bed, which is rare,’ says one 5-star reviewer. ‘The bamboo detailing looks great and fits well with our interior.’

‘Easy to assemble, excellent quality, looks and functions well as a sofa, and very easy to convert into a comfortable sofa bed,’ shares another 5-star reviewer.

As someone who’s spent four years testing out sofa beds, I can assure you that finding a stylish *and* comfortable sofa bed is no mean feat. I’ve tested numerous promising-looking sofa beds that felt as hard as bricks when I sat or lay down. So, although this sofa bed doesn’t come cheap, if you’re looking for a sofa bed that can double up as actual everyday seating, that price tag could well be worth it.

You might just need to move fast to bag one. As one reviewer says, ‘when it comes into stock you have to be quick,’ because whilst the ‘Natural’ colourway is available to shop, the Cane Sofa Bed in Avella Pine is currently sold out.

However, if your budget doesn’t stretch to investing in the Cane Sofa Bed, all is not lost. I haven’t found a sofa bed that offers quite such trend-setting design as those webbed side panels, but there are other options.

Looks-wise, the Dunelm Mila Rattan Sofa Bed is the closest alternative I’ve found, and at £449 it’s considerably cheaper. But I can’t vouch for its comfort as I haven’t tested it, and it doesn’t have great reviews online. (If you’ve sat or lain down on it, let me know how it fares in the comment section!).

Instead, although these options might lack that cane detailing, these are my top three alternative recommendations for combining style, comfort, *and* affordability.

Are you tempted by the Cane Sofa Bed? Or would you opt for one of these more affordable choices instead? Let me know in the comments!