Padding a convertable futon

October 15, 2012 2:20 PM

My neighbor put this awesome converting-futon-chaise-thing out by the curb, and I snapped it up. After some rehabilitation, it is now in my library. I've never seen one like this before: in addition to folding up into a couch (with a ratchet system), one end folds up into a chaise (also with a ratchet). The only downside: If it is in chaise form and I lay in the center, there isn't much padding between my butt and a wooden support beam. Are there, like, specific converting-futon-chaise-thing pads that I can add, perhaps under the washable cover? What would I search for? I know I could just sit on a pillow or on one side or the other, but I'd really like a built-in kind of solution.
posted by BeeDo to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

My daughter has the exact same thing. I remember we talked about the problem you describe, but not the solution. Maybe a very thick quilt would help?
posted by mumimor at 2:32 PM on October 15, 2012

I would look in your area for a foam store, and have them custom cut a long rectangle for you out of medium density material that you could tuck on top of the beam, kept tight under the cover. A foam store seems like a weird thing, I know, but every urban area I've lived near has at least one, and getting custom cuts is common.
posted by Mizu at 2:46 PM on October 15, 2012

Sounds like it could be the Studio Day Sofa from World Market. I used to own this and had the same problem. If it is that model, World Market occasionally sells replacement cushions, although I don't see that they are available right now. You could also try reading the reviews there, they are full of different things people have tried to make the sofa work better for them.
posted by coupdefoudre at 3:12 PM on October 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

hmmm...could you just put another futon on it? like, double it up so it's extra thick?
posted by sexyrobot at 3:28 PM on October 15, 2012

Could you perhaps even out the pressure points by placing something like a piece of plywood, cut to fit, between the support struts and the futon?
posted by easily confused at 4:17 PM on October 15, 2012

Similar to Easily Confused's suggestion, there are some products designed to help make sagging chairs more comforable, and one of them might work to "fill the gaps" in your seating support (depending on how it's arranged/oriented) -- something like this or this, essentially.
posted by acm at 7:54 AM on October 16, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions. Upon further evaluation of the couch, though, it is really a design issue. Any way to smooth out the center would impede the folding.

The issue is resolved by the genius of my 6 year old daughter, who has decided she likes to sit next to me and read, and thus I have to sit on one side any way. I thought sitting on one half (chaise style) would be too small, but it is actually very comfortable.
posted by BeeDo at 8:52 AM on October 16, 2012