Sofa, sofa bed, couch: are they the same?

Nowadays it is hard to answer this question straightforwardly, because the abovementioned items are – first of all – very similar to each other. Secondly, the differences between them disappeared over time due to changing trends and innovations that occured. The sofa – according to the original idea – had to be “rigid” in terms of construction. It meant that the sofa lacked the sleeping function. Instead the seating was much more comfortable than in the sofa bed. This item, on the contrary, had both functions thanks to its box construction. It was possible to “hide” the additional mattress and the unfolding mechanism inside the storage container.

The double function (sitting and sleeping) of the sofa bed is what connects it to the couch. The latter's name is derived from renowned Versailles – the palace which was the home of French monarchs. The couch – similarly to the sofa bed – has a base in the form of a box, but its construction is much simpler. It is made of upholstered frames (one with the backrest, the other with the seating). Both parts, together with the storage container, are attached to each other with metal connectors. The couch is unfolded by means of the click-clack mechanism which works when the seating is lifted. To sum up upholstered items of furniture look similar to each other and it is problematic to distinguish one from the other. What is more the sofa beds complicate the situation even more.

Sofa, sofa bed, couch: upholstered, quilted and smooth

Our star of the living room has to be elegant. Designers and manufacturers took care about an exceptional variety of upholstery by offering many different fabrics – velour, weave fabrics, leather, artificial leather, flock, jacquard. Moreover the sofas and the sofa beds are produced in a richer selection of colours besides classic greys, whites, blacks and beiges – the fabric swatch templates are full of various tones. As a result powder pink, bottle green, cornflower blue, turquoise or mustard and many more appeared in the living rooms together with modern sofas and sofa beds. These items of furniture are made in many stylish variations: glamour sofas fight for attention with designer sofa beds; Scandinavian style sofa beds compete with the ones made in the spirit of Japanese minimalism; sofa beds rustic in character are a counterproposition to industrial models. Nonetheless there is more to this variety: the interesting shapes (oval, angular, asymmetric, and symmetric) and the texture (smooth, quilted, with elegant stitching or folds).

It is easy to get lost in the richness of styles and colours, but our online furniture store offers the extensive filter system which will help You choose a sofa, sofa bed or couch according to your preferences. Among these vast amounts of propositions You will find a star that will illuminate Your living room!