Storage Sofa Bed or Lift Up Storage Bed for Your Spare Room

When a spare room has to work as an office, a playroom or a second lounge as well as a guest bedroom, storage quickly becomes the deciding factor. Two pieces of furniture solve the problem in very different ways: a storage sofa bed gives you seating by day and a bed by night, while a lift up storage bed is a permanent bed with a large compartment hidden underneath. Choosing between them comes down to how often the room is slept in and what else it needs to do.

This guide compares the two side by side, so you can decide which one suits your home before you start measuring.

How each option works

A storage sofa bed looks and sits like an ordinary sofa. When guests stay, the seat pulls out or folds down to create a sleeping area, and a compartment inside the sofa, often under the chaise, holds pillows, duvets and throws. Corner sofa beds are a popular version because the L-shape gives plenty of seating and a generous space to sleep.

A lift up storage bed stays made up all the time. The base rises to reveal a storage space beneath the mattress, which is ideal for bulky items such as spare bedding, seasonal clothes or suitcases. Because nothing needs to be opened out at bedtime, it is the more natural choice for a room that someone sleeps in most nights.

Choose a storage sofa bed if the room is used every day

If the spare room spends most of the year as a snug, a home office or a place for the children to play, a sofa bed lets it do that job properly. You get comfortable seating for films, reading or working, and the bed only appears when you need it.

The Tiverton Corner Sofa Bed collection and the Corazon Corner Sofa Bed collection are both corner sofa beds with storage, so bedding can live inside the sofa rather than in a cupboard. That makes it quicker to get the room ready when visitors arrive and easier to tidy away when they leave.

A sofa bed also works well in open-plan homes and studio flats, where a full bed would take over the living space. In a lounge that doubles as a guest room, it keeps the room looking like a lounge.

Things to check with a sofa bed

Open size: measure the floor space with the bed fully opened, not just the closed sofa, and leave a clear route to the door.
Corner direction: decide whether you need a left-hand or right-hand corner before ordering, based on where the doors and windows sit.
Storage position: check which section holds the storage, so you can reach it without moving the rest of the furniture.
How often it opens: if guests stay every weekend, pay close attention to the sleeping surface and the mechanism.

Choose a lift up storage bed if someone sleeps there most nights

When the room is really a bedroom, for a lodger, a grown-up child or a relative who stays for weeks at a time, a proper bed is usually the better buy. There is no folding out at night and no packing away in the morning, and the storage underneath is typically larger than the compartment in a sofa.

The Brilliant Lift Up Storage Bed is a box spring bed with a storage compartment for bedding. It comes in 140, 160 and 180 x 200 cm sizes, with chrome legs, a headboard with extra foam and LED lighting as a decorative touch. Its mattress combines a Bonnel spring unit with foam layers and a 4 cm foam topper.

If you prefer a more classic look, the Chelsea Lift Up Storage Bed has a retro style, with decorative quilting, buttons, a tilted headrest and black metal legs 13 cm high. It is also available in 140, 160 and 180 x 200 cm sizes.

Things to check with a storage bed

Bed size: a 140 cm wide bed leaves more floor space in a smaller room, while 160 or 180 cm suits a larger guest bedroom.
Clearance: make sure there is room around the bed to lift the base and reach the storage comfortably.
Daytime use: a bed limits how much else the room can do, so think about whether you will miss having somewhere to sit.

Side by side: which suits your spare room?

It can help to picture a normal week in the room rather than the few nights a year when guests stay.

Guests a few times a year: a storage sofa bed makes better use of the space for the other weeks of the year.
Someone sleeping there most nights: a lift up storage bed is easier to live with day to day.
Home office or playroom: a sofa bed keeps the floor clear and gives you seating.
Lots of bulky items to store: the space under a lift up bed usually holds more than a sofa compartment.
Studio flat or open-plan living: a sofa bed keeps the living area feeling like a lounge.

Some households have room for both. A corner sofa bed in the lounge for occasional visitors and a storage bed in the main bedroom can free up a lot of cupboard space between them.

Measure before you order

Whichever you choose, start with a tape measure. Note the width and depth of the space, the size of the sofa or bed when it is in use, and the route from your front door to the room, including stairs, hallways and tight turns. Our guide on how to measure sofa access walks you through the doorways and corners to check.

A quick tip: mark out the footprint on the floor with masking tape. Seeing the outline of an opened sofa bed or a 160 cm bed in the room makes it much easier to judge whether there is space to walk around it.

Think about delivery timing

Check the delivery time shown on each product page before you order, especially if visitors are due soon. Many of these ranges are made to order. At the time of writing, the Brilliant and Chelsea storage beds show as pre-order from 2 to 5 weeks, the Corazon corner sofa beds from 2 to 6 weeks and the Tiverton corner sofa beds from 4 to 6 weeks. Always go by the latest information on the product page.

Making the most of the storage

Storage only helps if it stays organised. Keep a full set of guest bedding together, ideally in a breathable bag, so the bed can be made up in minutes. In a sofa bed, store the items you need on the night of a visit, such as pillows, a duvet and a spare towel. Under a lift up bed, there is room for bulkier things you reach for less often. For more ideas, see our guide to using sofa storage and our sofa bed storage guide.

The bottom line

If your spare room needs to be a living space most of the time, a storage sofa bed gives you seating, a bed and somewhere to keep the bedding in one piece of furniture. If it is a bedroom first and foremost, a lift up storage bed is simpler for everyday sleeping and hides more underneath. Browse our corner sofa beds, sofa beds and loveseats and beds and spring box beds to find the one that fits the way you use the room.