Our futon with the old mattress. Notice how much thinner it is in the center than on the sides. No amount of rotating seemed to solve this issue.
We considered three options - (1) getting a regular couch and having guests sleep on a nicer air mattress, (2) getting a pull out couch, and (3) getting a new futon mattress for the existing frame. We didn't really love option 1 because while perhaps as comfortable as a futon, its a hassle to inflate and deflate the air mattress to accommodate guests - and we seem to have a lot of guests. Option 2 seemed great, however pull out couches are expensive, heavy, and never seem to really be that comfortable. As you can now probably guess, we went with option 3. This was the most economical and we felt would have the best balance of sleeping and sitting comfort.
With Christine as our "guest tester," we took a trip to Futon Furnishings in Portland, ME. We chose this store because we thought it was affiliated with the NH Futon Furnishings where I originally purchased the futon, but we were very firmly told at the ME store that there was no connection. Interesting. Either way, they had what we wanted! We picked out a mattress that had four layers of foam in it (I think it was called Moonlight?) because it seemed to be a good balance of cost and comfort - the price tag was $251. We also picked up a dark blue futon cover (we had been using a blue blanket) on clearance for $69 and some matching drawers that slide underneath the frame for extra storage ($139). It was a bit of a pricey trip, but cheaper than buying a new couch and we got some extra storage out of it too!
You can see in this picture how much thicker the mattress is than in the picture above. If you don't believe me, focus on the arm rests - the new mattress is as tall as the arm rests! It is night and day difference for sitting comfort. According to Christine, it is also much more comfortable to sleep on. We decided to keep the old blanket on the seat of the futon to help with any dirt from the dogs paws or food crumbs from our movie & dinner nights. The blanket is a lot easier to wash than the cover!
Speaking of washing the cover... we did choose a machine washable one, but I unfortunately did not read the directions before doing the initial wash. It was not dryer safe, and after the first wash the cover no longer fit the futon. I was soooo sad when I realized my mistake. David luckily wasn't too frustrated with me and just called up the store and asked if they would ship another one, we remembered that they had one more of the blue one we chose. Phew!
The washed cover definitely did not fit:
This is what the second cover (unwashed) looked like!
The two covers either weren't exactly the same or washing had a huge impact on the color. The one we have now is a duller and more purply blue than the washed one. Note that I decided not to wash the second one that arrived - I'll save that for a time when it actually needs it and then will carefully wash it on cold, gentle, and line dry it.
Slightly different colors (washed one on the left, new one on the right):
The new mattress is so thick that it is actually kind of hard to change the futon from the sitting to the sleeping position. When I try to put it back up from sleeping, this is what happens:
Not too big of a deal though, just requires a lot of muscle to get it back in place! Futon mattresses have to be one of the most awkward things to move. Just don't laugh while you are doing it, you'll be doomed.
As I mentioned, we also bought two drawers that roll beneath the futon frame and provide extra storage. We also think they make the futon look a lot more finished and less college-dorm like. We are very happy we bought them!
The futon got some good use a couple of weeks ago when Harvie was down here for a bicycle event. After over 24 hours riding and four hours of sleeping, Harvie needed a second nap. Pepper agreed!
Does anyone else have any great ideas for how to make a futon seem more like a couch, both visually and comfort wise?
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