This is what we refer to as the 'elegant futon chair'.

other words, the same great qualities that you know and love about your sofa-bed can be found in chair form as well.

Before we talk specifically about their qualities and styles, it might be helpful to realize that there are a wide variety of applications for having one in the home. Your particular use might be more for a home office or den where you can accommodate a guest on short notice. However, you might also be someone who enjoys a little afternoon rest in a cozy little nook of your home with a book and a cup of tea nearby. The chair futon can also be a great option in a child’s room for the occasional – or frequent – sleepover guest. Paired with one of the futon bunk beds on the market and you can actually get quite a bit of extra sleeping space in a relatively small room.

Styles of the Futon Chair

The styles range from the simple to the elegant. What we would call ‘simple’ means that the chair resembles a very basic style of futon unit – essentially, the mattress folded over that fits on a wooden slat frame structure. The twin or single is what is used for these chairs.

This is a more modern looking futon chair bed.

In some cases, the chair takes on more of a chaise lounge style or like one of those old day bed looks. In more elegant styles, the chair has a more formal look about it; proper arm rests and a back and really resembles a chair more than it does a fold-away bed. For the latter of these two styles, you can expect to pay somewhere between $250-500 USD. They come in a variety of wood choices and stains as well as covers for the chair mattress. Just like with any futon cover, these can be cleaned and come in a variety of styles to suit your home decor.

Chair Function

While the main functions are obvious, sitting or sleeping, we can take just a minute to highlight some of their benefits. While you might be looking for one only to use in a guest room, as you just read, the more elegant looking chairs can be displayed and used comfortably in your living room. The more relaxed or simple style of chair can fit right in with a retro or post-modern decor theme and allow for great lounging. You can even pull this one outdoors in the right season to enjoy some great outdoor living with yours. Enjoying futon chairs is as easy as what you have come to expect from the flexible and adaptable futon.

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Look at the photo to get a better idea of what it is that we’re talking about. While you are certainly not unfamiliar with the concept of a bunk bed, there are some specific features that may make a futon bunk even more of an attractive option. There are also several different styles of these bunks available making them even more suitable for a host of different bedroom arrangements. We’ll discuss those different options here as well.

To begin with, let’s discuss some of the main features that make a futon bunk bed a better choice than a traditional mattress bunk. For the most part, the reason has to do with the futon mattress itself. Because of the wide variety of enhancements in mattress design and materials, the futon has some unique advantages. There is the traditional futon mattress material like a foam core with cotton or wool wrapped batting. This is probably the least expensive kid’s futon option and can give a child a very supportive and comfortable sleeping environment. Just make sure that your child’s mattress is made of the higher quality foam and that the cotton-poly blend or wool is thick enough to maintain its shape and padding over time. What gave the older futons their bad rap was the way that they would flatten out rather quickly, leaving you with the ability to feel the futon bed frame itself digging into your back. We all know how those sofa-couches have that notorious metal bar that jabs into your back – avoid this problem at all costs!

The most popular style of the futon bunk is with a twin futon mattress up top and the same size futon bed down below. The one below is the sofa-bed style that has made the futon such a comeback in recent years. There are additional styles as well, as alluded to above.

There are also loft style bunks. These are similar to the full size mattresses above, on an elevated frame, with space below. Often, this area can be used for a desk or other storage area. It makes for an elevated bed and a way to keep the other items that accumulate in a child’s room out of the way when not in use.

The last type of futon bunk is quite similar to the ‘original’ model but it uses a twin up top and a full size futon below. This allows for an older or taller child to sleep on the bed below.

All of these traditional bunk bed styles range in price, depending on the type and size of mattress, in addition to the bed frame materials and brand. However, they are roughly in the $350 – 750 USD range. In a child’s room, the bottom sofa-bed portion can be used as an area for friends to hang out on when playing. In this situation, you’ll want to make sure it is covered to be protected as much as possible. There are futon covers that are made especially with a child or teenager’s interests in mind. You can find these covers in a variety of colors and themes to match most any type of decor or bedroom theme. Since you know about the futon bunk bed, maybe you are ready to consider a futon chair purchase as well. These chairs can further compliment a room with a bunk or make an adult’s room or study more flexible as well.

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Various looks at the hemp before it is made into the cover fabric.

hundreds of years. Even our founding fathers knew about and used hemp rope and hemp oil. What is called “industrial hemp” has many uses.

So why would anyone use hemp to cover a futon mattress?  Hemp is green.  Meaning, it is environmentally friendly and is making a comeback, especially in the clothing industry. This also means that hemp fabric is now much more available for other uses.  It used to be a rather expensive material to purchase, but the cost has been coming down and there are assorted vocal celebrities who are touting and supporting their love of hemp and hemp clothing to a few award shows. Did you ever think to see a tuxedo made out of hemp?

Why would hemp be the fabric of choice for anything, let alone futon covers?  Industrial hemp containing less than 0.3 percent THC does not have the same drug-like properties as its cousin the joint and really is meant for common household use.  It is often blended with some other conventional fabric ingredient to make a smoother and softer piece of material. This means that hemp and cotton may be spun together to make smooth, comfortable, and breathable fabrics that wear like iron. Hemp is grown and used all over the world because it is so easy to cultivate.

Some folks swear by “organic.” Hemp – being organic – is also hearty. It can tolerate harsh growing conditions, without the need for chemicals to keep the crop profitable and “durability” is hemp’s middle name. You can abuse it and even mistreat it without actually harming it. That is what makes it a great fabric for futons.  And it grows really fast. Bamboo fast.  It can be planted, grown and harvested in a never ending cycle making it a very “sustainable resource.” Oh yes, hemp is green all right.

If you like the wear of denim – which is cotton, then you are likely to enjoy the wear of hemp – especially if it is mixed with cotton.  The usual ratio is 55 percent hemp and 45 percent cotton. They both age very gracefully. The feel of hemp when it is new is slightly stiffer than cotton but with wear and use it softens up becoming very comfortable, just like your favorite denim jeans do. Except that hemp is not blue, it usually comes in its own natural tan color and its own highly organic texture. Pair this type of cover with your organic cotton futon and you’ve got the makings of a healthy and organic ‘sleep system’ – next, the sheets!  You can throw this in the laundry just like any cotton item, too. So when your organic hemp futon cover “ripens” you can toss it in the wash without fear. Give hemp a chance. You may find you like it better than plain ordinary cotton for a futon cover.

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all know how that went for them – remember those clear plastic furniture covers?  Their sofas never aged, but you had to bear the uncomfortable feeling of sitting on plastic stuff that had the tendency of sticking or sliding during the summers months.

The brand new covers are far from being like those old plastic ones grandma used to have.  Your search on the internet will yield various types of sites depending upon the method in which you are searching and the specific accessories you are looking for regarding your futon.  You must decide how you will place the cover on the item, find out what it is manufactured from, and discover what style of frame you are using now. There are so many different choices available for your selection. You may never experience boredom with your sofa-sleeper again.  There are also chaise lounge futons, futon mattresses, and futon chairs that have different types of patterns, colors, styles, and covering materials.

How You Will Use Your Mattress Will Have An Influence On The Style of Futon Cover You Select

Now, we will cover different topics and address some questions that surface when owning a convertible sleeper-sofa, home decor, and entertaining overnight guests. Consider this brief article your entrance to the spectrum of how a futon cover can provide you with its vital benefits.

Normal tear and wear is expected with your futon.  Your futon sofa may not need that extra protection.  It mostly depends on its usage.  Are you constantly entertaining guests?  Do you only have guests come over periodically?  The answer to these questions will determine if you need that extra protection.  Protecting your futon should not be strictly related to what function it serves, but also how fashionable it is.  You can add a flair and your personality to this aspect of the bedding accessories.

Futon slipcovers are available in different patterns that is suitable for a variety of tastes.  You can easily use the cover to improve the appearance of the room without being too overbearing. Covers are available from  solid colors that are related to primary colors, muted colors, and eighties colors such as neon or pink. Patterns are also available with flower designs, animal prints, and more sophisticated styles as well.

Consider The Function When Choosing Certain Fabrics For Your Futon Mattress Cover

Choices on fabric will also play a role when you are selecting your style of covers. It is wise if you go with a fabric that blends well with its most common uses. For example, going with a linen type or microfiber suede cover is not a good idea when you have kids and animals in the home.  This is where common sense should start to kick in. You will probably be better off with leather as it will bear the pressure and force of kids and pets.  Cotton blends and cottons with a patterned print is a favorable selection that will stand the test of time in a play area for children.

A recent surge has taken place with the popularity of futons in homes.  A shift towards contemporary and even that traditional Japanese look is currently taking place globally.  Basic frames and futon beds are very popular for collegiate dorms and provide a more utilitarian purpose versus a fashion cause. However, in more expensive residences, futon sofa-sleepers provide the perfect answer for singles and newlyweds that seldom entertain or have house guests. They function extremely well in a home, office, and guest room.  The futon is great if you happen to use yours to seat extra guests in a room that is used for entertaining.

Putting your slip cover on the futon gives you some options that you have never thought of.  Planning ahead should encourage you to purchase several covers.  You can change them whenever the mood hits you.  Select the cover with a bold color, patterns, and animal prints when you are looking for more spark in your home.  Selecting an elegant pattern or muted color is great when you are attempting to create a more subdued or intimate feel.

Covers for your favorite futon can be a reflection of your personality or creativity.  Home owners that are green conscious can choose from natural organic materials such as hemp as an option for a futon cover.  One’s personality will influence their creativity when its time to make a final decision for covering a couch or sofa.  Using covers is less expensive and less frustrating than painting the room or purchasing new furniture. You can easily order your cover, have it shipped expediently to your home, clean it, and start using it within one week.

Whatever your tastes are, you can shop confidently knowing that there are futon covers that will work perfectly for you.  Wishing you well!  Happy shopping!

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When it comes to topics that are near and dear to people’s hearts, it is hard not to include great sleeping on that list.  And if you are wanting deep, peaceful sleep, then I would recommend a futon mattress as a great choice.  We will discuss why through this article and on this site.  If you find that you have a particular question about owning a new futon, search our site.  I’m sure it is covered somewhere.

One of the most important ideas regarding your sleeping futon will be its comfort.  This seems like an obvious statement but it actually encompasses several points.  One of the greatest steps that has taken place more recently has been the comparability between traditional and futon mattresses.  In other words, in the past you would have had to sacrifice some of the modern comfort conveniences to own a more flexible option in the futon.  Now, this simply is not the case.

A Futon Has Much More In The Way Of Convenience Than A Traditional Mattress

If you are new to the futon world, then you might only be aware of the old notion of what they were for.  In the past, these beds were relegated to the college dorm room or poor student set.  Now, because of the advances we will get to in a moment and because of the flexibility that a sofa-sleeper allows, they have come back in vogue.

Probably the most arguable point in favor of owning a futon-sofa-couch is its ease of use and convenience.  When you do a fair amount of entertaining or hosting, it is likely that you may have some unexpected overnight guests.  This is not a problem with a futon sofa-sleeper type bed.  This can easily convert from couch at the party to bed for the evening.  And, the best part is, it does not lose anything in the way of comfort doing so.  If you have ever been a guest at someone’s home who had one of these fold-out couch beds you know how that bar always seems to hit you right in the middle of the back making a good night’s sleep all but impossible.  Not so with a futon bed.  These are very comfortable and easy to convert.  No worry about removing the cushions, folding it out, getting the sheets on, stooping over or stubbing your toes or banging your knees on that hard metal frame.

Another Thing To Consider Is Futon Mattress Material Options

You might be thinking that this is where the old traditional mattress will win out.  Granted, there are definitely more options in general when it comes to brands and models of the normal types.  However, what has happened is that the manufacturing of mattress materials have changed quite a bit and this has allowed for greater parity between the two.  Where you once only had access to spring coils in a traditional bed, now is offered in futon styles.  The futon mattress actually has the lead in some categories now!  They also have more natural materials offered at reasonable prices, as well as memory foam and toppers.

A futon mattress will help avoid feeling like you're sleeping on a bed of nails.

You could look long and hard for the downside, but you may come up noticeably shorter these days.  The old futon that had problems with flattening out after just a little use and becoming landfill material with a short life span is gone.  The in-fill now is made with better quality and longer lasting materials.  I never thought I would see the day of the individually wrapped inner coil spring futon bed mattress.

Many of the more traditionally produced mattresses contain chemical agents either used in production or for fire resistance that can cause some people health problems.  Many times, this is due to the off gassing created by these volatile compounds being released into the home and, specifically, breathing them in while your head is rested and sleeping for hours.  Since, they make crib mattresses this way too, if you are looking for your child, you might consider this.

The Traditional Japanese Futon Mattress

No initial discussion about futons would be complete if we didn’t mention a bit about the history of this type of mattress.  In a traditional sense, the development of the futon was from a floor-sleeping type of approach.  That is to say, there was a mat – tatami – that was used beneath the mattress itself.  This mattress portion of the futon is called the shiki or shikibuton or shiki futon.  Then, there is an often quilted, soft upper cover portion.  This piece is known as the kake or kakebuton or kakefuton.  So, what you would have is a two part system that would combine these to give you a traditional Japanese futon mattress.  There is more history to this futon story, but you can read more about that by following the link above.  The point is that we have adopted the futon and then adapted it to fit our own Western lifestyle.  There is nothing wrong with change, in fact, it is sometimes how the most innovative home products come about.

One Closing Thought About Your Futon Mattress

Because of the nature of the flexibility of a futon bed, you may be researching one as a sofa-sleeper for an additional room or as your main sleeping bed in your master bedroom.  In each case, a different type of frame could be considered.  Because most temporary guest sleeping arrangements require a smaller sized bed, the frame will usually only afford you the flexibility of some minor storage of magazines and such or have armrests.  On the other hand, if you go with a queen or king size, you can opt for more elaborate headboard designs that incorporate various shelving and storage.  Likewise, the futon frame itself could lend itself to storage options.  So, the next time you hear the words “futon mattress”, you don’t have to think that someone is short changing their guests.  They might actually be designing quite a flexible yet comfortable and elegant space.

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If you have ever had problems sleeping or otherwise have had a difficult time feeling rested from sleep, then you are among a vast group of Americans who suffer with the similar situation.  The good news is that in most situations the problems have little to do with things that are beyond your control.  And the ones that are not under your control, well, those are a bit more a challenge.  We’ll get to that in a minute, but first consider how your futon mattress may play a role in helping you get better sleep.

Notice the clean lines and focal points.

Traditionally, the futon has not been the ‘go to’ choice regarding comfort and better sleep.  That is, not until recently.  This is all because of the designs in futon mattresses making them more user and, more importantly, sleeper friendly.   Improvements like with the memory foam, mattress toppers or inner coiled spring options have made the futon as much a part of any mattress comparison you might make.  The purpose of this article, however, is to make this whole notion of the sleeping environment with respect to your futon more of the focus.

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What Is The Sleeping Environment and How Does Your Futon Mattress Affect It?

This term ‘sleep environment’ is a relatively newer term and it relates to the space around which you get your nightly 6-8 hours of peaceful sleep.  Well, this is the hope any way.  So, this term is what refers to the entire environment:  the sights, the sounds, the smells, the bedding, your mattress, your mood, etc.  It basically refers to everything that might pertain to you entering into that dreamy state.  Since your futon mattress is what you lay your head down on each night, this is how it fits into the story.  And, because a futon fits into the décor and style of homes with other great sleep environment features, it is a good example to use.  Your traditional mattress can also be fine in helping to create a good sleep environment, but you’ll see why a futon bed is best.

Basically, it has to do with design.  The less visual clutter you see in your bedroom, the better.  It has everything to do with how anxious we feel when we see a lot of things and ‘stuff’ around us.  The simpler the better in the bedroom, at least this is what the researchers tell us.  Research has also suggested that the serene quality of calming music, a soothing aroma also contribute to a relaxing bedroom.  Some studies also suggest that you don’t need music or calming sounds, but even just good silence will work – no loud voices, car sounds, screaming kids, you know the drill.  But, you don’t need researchers to tell you how to get better sleep.  If it looks and feels calm, it probably is.

Notice the warmth and color choices here.

This is why Japanese Zen designs tend to work so well in a bedroom.  That peaceful and un-cluttered quality makes them a great way to decompress.  This necessary decompression is what lets you release the anxiety and tension from the day.  Clean lines and simple design don’t give your mind more stimulation when it is time to quiet down.  Since futon mattresses are part of a traditional Japanese bedroom, it just makes sense to use one if that is the design style you are after.  However you decide to create or enhance your sleeping environment, the key is to make it a place where your body can tune into its necessary rejuvenation and unwinding properties, allowing you to feel refreshed and alive each morning.

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If step 1 of getting the perfect fit between your mattress, futon bed frames, and covers is deciding on exactly what type of mattress – material & size – then step 2 could be considered getting the proper frame to match.  In this case, there are several types to choose from.  Are you going with the futon lounger type of decor or with the more traditional futon couch type of look.  In either case, there are many to choose from.  It’s more likely that you’ll find a lot more variety with the traditional style of futon mattress.  Though, there are more and more frame styles becoming available with the resurgence of retro styled futon chair and lounger styles.  These can look like those old chaise loungers from the earlier half of the 1900s.  This style can be complemented quite well by using any number of retro-themed futon covers as well.

Here is the classic futon bed frame.

For now, let’s concentrate on the aspect of frame choices and worry about the covers and room decor for another time.  You’ve seen the older ‘dorm room’ style of futon mattress frame.  It’s the classic.  Actually, saying it’s a dorm room style isn’t really fair.  This traditional type of Japanese futon mattress frame is made quite elegantly and can utilize any number of exotic woods.  It’s mentioned as the typical dorm-room style frame because of it’s simplicity and ease of setting up.  It basically has wooden slats that are arranged horizontally across the wooden pieces that support the slats on the floor.  The slats are aligned perpendicular to your body as you sleep.  It can be painted, stained and adorned any way that you may think that wood could be.  You may only see the sides of the frame, so it appears more simple or spartan when measured against others in this frame category.

The next most popular style is the armrest style.  With this model – several variations exist – there are armrests which can support the hinged mechanism, in order to be able to fold the futon mattress itself into couch seating.  These armrest sides can be designed to hold magazines, remote controls or custom built to really be anything that you (the owner) wish to have designed.  Off-the-floor models will mostly be limited to magazine racks and the like.  You will also find different styling to the frames themselves.  Some lend themselves to more of a cabin feel, with larger tree trunk or post looking members.  Others have a Mission style to them, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs.  These can be quite timeless in appearance and add a touch of elegance to any room.  Matched with other pieces of the period and you’d never guess that the futon mattress you were sitting on is not a contemporary of the others.

Getting custom frames built is really the next step towards having your headboard or bed unit exactly how you like it.  With trends that tend to dip back and forth between eras gone by, one such popular frame now is something that is reminiscent of the 1950s.  This bed frame is fairly simple with an area available for books or lighting.  You will usually find a nice bed-time reading book there and you can just flip a switch nearby and roll over and go to sleep.  Pair your headboard with one or two glass retro table lamps and you will be back in time.  Better yet, you will have the hippest bedroom in the neighborhood.

There is another subset of bed frames or styles that should also be mentioned here.  These are the futon bunk beds or loft style of futons.  While they are less popular in terms of how many people have them in their homes, if you have the need for a bunk bed, these are the perfect fit.  They are just like any type of bunk, but they utilize a child’s futon for the mattress portion.  They come in the standard twin up top and twin mattress below set up.  Then, there is the twin on top and full size down below.  Basically, the same but with more room for a larger child or for more comfortable seating for visiting friends.  Finally, there is the loft style of bunk which has the mattress on top and then space below.  This type of bed frame can be great for allowing you to put a desk or some organizational products in your child’s room and still leave room to move about the space.

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