Need a futon
June 22, 2010 8:27 AM   Subscribe

Any experience with a west elm futon?

I'm thinking of buying this west elm futon because I need an affordable place for guests to sleep.

I've had trouble finding any online reviews. Anyone ever owned, sat or slept on a west elm futon? I like both the look and price, but don't want to buy it if it's super uncomfortable. Alternative suggestions welcome.
posted by ihavepromisestokeep to Home & Garden (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I've sat on some of their sofas and they seemed kind of flimsy and lumpy.. I don't know about that futon in particular but there's a tradeoff between price and quality of course.
posted by dfriedman at 9:00 AM on June 22, 2010


If you search around Apartment Therapy for "west elm"+futon, plenty of people weigh in on their experiences with the furniture, especially in the comments. I haven't bought any furniture from them, but I have definitely read plenty of anecdata about how poorly their stuff is made.
posted by scarykarrey at 9:18 AM on June 22, 2010


And to give you my own anecdotal experience with futons in general, the frame doesn't make a difference (as long as it's not falling apart), but the mattress is where you want to spend your money. So, for the same amount as one west elm futon, you could probably go get a reasonable frame at Target or something, and then spring for a nicer, more comfortable mattress from a specialized futon shop, and come up with something much more pleasant to sleep on.
posted by scarykarrey at 9:40 AM on June 22, 2010


I slept on that exact futon when I was a guest in someone's house for a few weeks last summer. It did look great. It was brand spanking new, and it was comfortable enough for the first couple of nights, but after that the mattress (which was flimsy to begin with) sort of compacted, such that I could feel the slats through the mattress more and more every night until it got pretty unbearable.

If you end up buying that particular futon frame, I'd suggest maybe getting a higher-quality mattress from somewhere else.
posted by arianell at 9:58 AM on June 22, 2010


If you decide to go with a different brand of futon mattress, I'd highly recommend an Otis futon mattresses. My husband and I received one as a wedding gift, and it's been fantastic--feels more like a bed than any futon I've ever slept on, and like a better bed than many regular mattresses. My only caveat would be to be careful of which mattress you buy, as some (like the Moonshadow, which is what we have) aren't really made to be used as sofas, and don't like to stay in couch shape. The "Otis Z" looks like it would fit the West Elm frame, though.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:14 AM on June 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


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