If you're currently looking for solutions to host overnight guests in style – and comfort – you'll want to know about one of Habitat's latest launches: the Julien sofa bed.
Hot off the press, I think this sofa bed is a game-changer that easily gives the best sofa beds in the business a run for their money.
Why? Because, although it's not cheap – the four-seater Julien sofa bed costs £850 – that's still *very* affordable for a sofa bed that can also rival the best sofas on the market.
A double bed sized sleeping area and seating for four means you get a lot of bang for your buck with this buy.
Although I haven't yet sit or sleep-tested the newly-launched Julien sofa bed in person, it looks to be the hardest-to-find furniture – a sofa bed that looks and feels comfortable enough to use as the main everyday sofa in a living room.
Such unicorns-of-the-sofa-bed-world do exist, but the few I've found are very expensive. For example, the Darlings of Chelsea Bromley Sofa Bed, one of the top sofa beds overall for sit-sleep comfort, costs over £2500 for a 2-seater model. Similarly, the Heals Oswald Sofa Bed, which I highly rate, costs from £2799.
In contrast, budget-friendly sofa beds, like the £230 Habitat Roma Sofa Bed, tend to be more suitable as accent chairs or seating used infrequently in a home office or spare room. These affordable choices tend to look less like a 'real' sofa and feel far too firm to curl up and get comfy on – something that's important to most of us if we're considering using the sofa bed for day-to-day purposes.
However, Habitat's Julien Sofa is one of the most comfortable budget sofas I've sat on, and the sofa bed looks to be constructed very similarly.
Like the Julien sofa, the Julien sofa bed features pocket-spring foam cushions that give the sofa a good amount of give and bounce. However, on the sofa bed version, the seat section of the sofa bed can be pulled forward and the backrest folded down to create a double bed-sized sleeping area.
That's another rarity in the sofa bed world. At W137 x L191 the sleeping area measurements do match that of a full-sized bed, whereas many sofa beds give you a *lot* less sleeping space.
You also get a whole lot of sitting space on this generous four-seater sofa. At 238cm wide, that's a lot of room to stretch out and get comfy, even without transforming it into a bed.
Currently the Julien sofa bed is only available in two colourways – a taupe polyvelvet and a dark green corduroy – but both are great shades, and if the Julien sofa is anything to go by, more upholstery options are likely to become available as the sofa bed's popularity increases.
The dark forest green upholstery hit the website first, and its first purchasers are already leaving this affordable designer-look sofa bed 5-star reviews.
'We've had the couch for a couple of weeks and it's great,' says one happy owner of the green Julien sofa bed. 'Comfortable, nice texture, easy to pull into a bed. Great quality for the cost.'
'A number of guests have now used this sofa bed since our purchase last month,' shares a second reviewer,' and all comment on how comfortable it is. It is easy to fold out and back again and can be done with one person (although even easier with two). It’s very solid. It's a beautiful colour and looks so nice in our spare room.'
'Does not look like a sofa bed,' raves another. Whilst a fourth says, 'it's gorgeous. Really comfy deep sofa with a good quality fabric. The arms are low, and it's good for lounging. The bed makes up very easily, it's big, firm, and comfortable. You can store bedding underneath when the sofa is up. Really pleased with it.'
All in all, it seems I'm not the only one to think the Julien sofa bed is a great purchase.
