The IKEA freehand sofa bed is an extremely popular choice. I use a sofa for my home and it provides a great value. But here are a couple things you should know before you go and buy one yourself.

Let’s start with the basics of the sofa. The design incorporates a Shayes unit that can be configured in either the left or right side during assembly. Also it pops open for additional storage, which is pretty convenient.

The other key feature with the sofa is the built-in Ottoman that quickly converts from a conventional sofa to a sofa bed or just somewhere to kick up your feet while watching TV. The sofa comes in a variety of different fabrics and a leather option.

The unit also comes with three pillows that are also removable covers, but they aren’t washable, while the covers for the rest of the sofa are not replaceable. The fabric is staple gun to the wood frame, so you can’t remove the fabric to clean the unit.

I haven’t had any issues with making a mess or staining my sofa yet but if this is something you’re worried about, there are some third-party slip-cover options that you can purchase for the sofa.

Next, let’s talk about the comfort of the sofa. I really like firm bed mattresses so I find the sofa quite comfortable for sleeping on and I have no trouble falling asleep on it!

The sitting experience on the sofa is a little different, especially once you’ve broken in the cushion a bit.

I am not a very heavy person but the sag in the sofa is quite deep. When sitting fresh out of the box the experience was nice and firm, but over time it softened up quite a bit and now you can feel the difference between my Ottoman, which Is still very new and firm, versus the rest of the sofa.

Continuing on with comfort, let’s look at the frame of the sofa. The foam cushion on top of the sofa is held up by a wooden frame and a thick wire gauge suspending the middle. This means that the center of the sofa will inherently be a little softer and sag more than the side, but this also means that the edges of the sofa, where it’s just foam on wood, are hard and can be uncomfortable because you can feel the wood frame.

Depending on how heavy you are, you may even feel the wood frame while sleeping, so be sure to try out the spot on the sofa when you try it out at IKEA.

The last couple things are minor and really it’s just me nitpicking. The fabric on the sofa starts to wrinkle from being loose but a quick sweep makes it go away. The pillows will also deform after usage, but you can massage them back into shape to look like new.

Overall, I love the versatility of the sofa and the overall design is very clever regarding how you convert it to a sofa bed.

While there are a couple of little quirks that I highlighted about the sofa, I haven’t been able to find anything else that’s comparable in terms of price, comfort and versatility.

So it’s definitely staying here for years to come.