Sofa bed or sectional: choosing by the room you have

Start with the floor, not the sofa

Put masking tape on the floor in the shape of the sofa you are considering, then live with it for two days. You will walk into the corner of the tape at least once, and that tells you more than any room planner.

The two living room pieces we make take up different amounts of floor. The table below is worked out from the published measurements of each piece.

How deep, how high

Seat depth decides whether you sit up or lounge. The sofa bed has a 27.7 inch seat at 16.3 inches off the floor. That is low and deep, closer to a floor couch than a dining chair, and it is lovely for a film and awkward for someone with bad knees.

The sectional goes the other way on depth. Its seats run 31.5 inches back at 18.9 inches high, with an 18.5 inch back above the seat. A tall person stretches out. Someone of average height sits upright only with a cushion behind them.

What a seat costs

Price per seat is a blunt measure, but it is honest. Here it is from the prices of our last update, using the seating count each piece is sold with.

The sofa bed wins on price by a wide margin, and it also gives you a bed. The sectional wins on everything else a sofa does: depth, back support, storage, and room for a whole family at once.

Getting it through the door

This is where the two pieces differ most. The sofa bed travels rolled and vacuum packed in one box. Owners in walk-up apartments say it went up the stairs without a fight.

The sectional arrives flat in several boxes, one per section, and each piece is small enough to turn on a landing. The catch is timing: the boxes do not always arrive on the same day, so wait for all of them before you clear the old sofa out.

Who each one is for

• The sofa bed: a studio, a home office that doubles as a guest room, a teenager's room, or anyone who moves house often.
• The sofa bed is not for you if you want soft, springy seating or a high back.
• The sectional: a family room, anyone over six feet, and every apartment that has run out of cupboard space.
• The sectional is not for you if the longest wall is under eleven feet, or if you want a spare bed.

If you are still torn

Ask how many nights a year someone sleeps over. If the answer is more than a handful, the sofa bed earns its place and the lack of a high back matters less. If the answer is almost never, the sectional's depth and drawers are worth the extra floor.

Both pieces take the same care: covers off, cold wash, dry flat. Neither needs a technician, and neither has a mechanism to wear out.