SAN FRANCISCO, Ca., October 2 — You’ve got a small space and a big list of future houseguests. You could also use a place to sit, but now you’re talking serious dollars and seriously cramped quarters. Better call your mother and ask if she’s still got that musty, 70s-era sofa bed in storage, right? Wrong.
How did ancient civilizations and medieval wars put smarts and style in your home? In the Beginning. The daybed premise — an extended, boxspring-free mattress on a frame equally suitable for sitting, lounging, and lying down — is so beautifully simple that people had it figured out long ago. (The design created and refined by ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations has held up, if that tells you anything.) The early Medieval period brought a whole lot of storming-the-castle madness, which made for mobility on the move, which made for a need for portable furniture... which made for lighter variations on the same design.
Innovations
Over the last 150 years or so, everyone from lounging Victorian ladies to avant-garde artistes) joined the daybed ranks, and wider audiences have brought a massive range of style, construction, and function. If you prefer the sleek museum-in-your-living-room look, you’re covered; if you’re more concerned with housing your favorite married friends in your home office for a weekend, we can help with that too.
What’s In It For You?
Space. They don’t take up much space as it is; add the sofa/bed/lounger capability, throw in the option to add a pop-up trundle bed that tucks away when not in use, and make the whole thing light enough to shove around as needed, and suddenly you’ve got space for all those impulse purchases you’ve been fighting off.
Style. Wood, metal, sleek, ornate, backless, canopied. Fit for a castle or a meadow or a little house on the prairie. Or, since we’ve already discussed space, and all, a Manhattan studio.
Savings. If you’ve been stretching your budget every which way to try to accommodate a bed and a couch, just buy the nicest daybed out there. And use the leftover cash to buy some bedding — or, better yet, throw a party and take bets on who’ll test out your new fave furniture after a little too much sangria.
Meet your match:
Well, they’re all clever. And stylish, each in its own way. And you’ve got more choices of color and style than you can shake a dangling preposition at, so let’s just present you with a few of our favorite models:
| | Save & Share |  10% off on $500!
Take 10% off any daybed over $500. Enter coupon code DAYBED at check out. Coupon valid through 10/12/2006 at | | |
| Top Brand | The Fashion Bed Group — née Leggett, for you furniture historians — was created in 1991 by the consolidation of three top furniture manufacturers. Its breadth of products at every price point — all manufactured from top-notch materials like genuine brass, plated brass, cast zinc, cast aluminum, steel, iron, wood, wicker and rattan — gives you plenty of choices. (Be warned, though: its 10-year warranty against factory defects means you’d better choose for the long haul.)
The Fashion Bed Group Store | |
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