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Sofa beds are the kind of furniture that, once you've got it into its position, you don't move it, and there's a good reason for that. But don't let that put you off, we have some clever solutions that can help.

Sofa beds are heavy, and they should be; they are made to be used every day as a sofa and a bed, they are made from a sturdy metal mechanism and have a thick mattress, and just because you don't see them does not mean they are not there! It's not unusual for a good sofa bed to weigh over 100kg! and that's a problem if you like to clean under the sofa regularly, or you need to keep on top of dust to control allergies. If that's the case, then being able to move your sofa bed is pretty essential, and something you'll want to do often, especially when it's used as a sofa and a bed you get double the dust... have you seen under your bed recently? Just because they are heavy does not mean you can't move them, you can, it just requires a little effort and help from one or two strong friends... or you could buy a sofa bed that has been designed, with an understanding of how people live and use them every day. Read on if you'd like a sofa bed that you can move by yourself.

Good design is about solving problems.

As designers of the best sofa beds, we knew there would be some challenges, and the first is how to fit a sofa bed into a small apartment where access is tight, and the room to manoeuvre is limited. We got around this by making our sofa beds modular, which means we can deliver the sofa bed in sections and build it in your room, this eliminates all access issues and when you come to move it to your next house you won't have the issue either. The second issue we wanted to factor into the design before we even started having sofa beds made in our UK workshops is how to move them, once it's installed and placed in your room? We've mentioned cleaning as one of the main reasons people like to move their sofa beds, and how it's especially relevant for people with allergies, asthma, and other health-related issues but there's another reason that's just as important.

Moving a Furl sofa bed

It's not just about cleaning behind the sofa

Consider this: we've placed the sofa in your room, it's in the perfect spot for relaxing, watching a movie or just chatting with friends, as a sofa its cosy and fits into the room design perfectly and feels great, and that's how it stays most of the time. On the occasions you need to open it out for guests, it's not in the best place, the coffee table in front of it can't move, and if it could, there's not enough space for the bed to open fully. Ideally, you'd need to move the sofa 90 degrees and back against the wall, where it then has plenty of space to be used as a bed, with good access on either side. Just put castors on the sofa bed, I hear you say, that's the simple solution right? Wrong ... why? Well, because our sofa beds are designed to be as compact as possible, there's not enough room for castors to work properly. besides, castors are great for moving, but they don't give a firm footing to the sofa or bed, and there's also the issue of braking... Furl sofa beds deploy by pulling the backrest forward, so if the sofa was on castors, it would follow you around the room as you pull it. This would be dangerous and silly, and you'd never get the bed open. For a company that's proud of its 'sofa to bed in three seconds' claim, we'd look as foolish as you being followed around the room by a sofa!

A Sofa Bed you can move by yourself.

We had to design a system that keeps the sofa firmly on the ground, and that, when needed raised the whole sofa on wheels for easy movement. So, that's what we did. We made a very simple product that's hidden within the frame and operated by pulling a lever behind each arm, The lever engages the wheels raising the sofa off the ground by 4cm, allowing effortless movement of the sofa bed for cleaning or changes of position.

Now your sofa bed becomes so easy to move even on your own. You'll be able to eliminate all dust bunnies hiding under the sofa as often as you like. You can also increase the placement options of your sofa, put the sofa where you'll enjoy it the most and move it into its sleeping space at the end of your evening when your guests retire for the night. In doing so, it becomes so much more than a sofa bed in a living room. As designers, it's the little things that get us the most excited, small ideas can make the biggest difference to the way we interact with everyday objects. For sofa beds that move, choose any of our models (except Paris), and you'll not only have a fantastic multifunctional piece of furniture but one that's versatile for anywhere in a room when you want or need to move it.