5 Best Sleeper Sofas for Small Spaces (Tried and Tested)

I live in a small one bedroom apartment, but I still have a bad habit of always offering my room whenever a guest comes to stay. There’s just something about making them sleep on the couch that feels so wrong, or is it just me?

The closer the day of their visit gets, the more irritated I feel at the thought of spending the next few nights on the sofa. It's not that I don't enjoy having family and friends over to stay, it’s just that for as long as I can remember, I’ve hated air mattresses and sleeper sofas. And for good reason too – there’s only so much comfort an air mattress can provide and for a long time, the same went for sleeper sofas. 

I knew it was time for me to find a sleeper sofa that I could let guests use guilt free, and on my quest to find the best sleeper sofas for small spaces, I found that the category has come a long way. The options available now are much better than they used to be, with designs that are comfortable enough for both sitting and sleeping, and sizes that makes sense for smaller homes.

I tested some of the best options on the market and spoke to some of our readers who have lived with these sofas through multiple guests, multiple moves and heavy daily use and these are the ones that earned a place on the list.

Best Overall: Burrow Shift Sleeper Sofa

This is the sofa I decided on for my own apartment after trying out some of the others on the list because it ticked so many of my boxes. To start with, I live on the 6th floor of my building, and this sleeper conveniently arrived in boxes that were manageable enough for me to get into my apartment by myself. Anyone who lives in an apartment knows how important it is to find furniture you can actually get into your space, and if that’s a concern, see our picks for the best sofas for apartments.

Add in the fact that you can put it together in under an hour, and that it converts from a sofa to a queen bed simply by unfolding the bench seat with no pulling, no stuck mechanisms and no springs involved, this sleeper sofa is a pleasure to deal with long before you even get to sit on it. 

I especially like that the arm cushions double up as bed pillows – it feels like Burrow really tried to make every inch of this sofa count and as a small spacer, that’s appreciated. The three-layer foam construction is what makes it work as an everyday sofa and it doesn’t have that tell-tale slightly sunken, slightly suspicious feel that gives most sleepers away.

Before buying it myself I also spoke to readers who had owned this sofa for a while, and I had been told that the fabric holds up well and cleans easily, which is something my clumsy self can now confirm is true.

Best Customizable: Interior Define Sloan Sleeper Sofa

The smallest option for the Sloan is 75 inches, making it perfect for small spaces and also one of the most compact queen sleepers that maintains quality. It both looks and feels the part, with one of our readers praising it for looking the same after two years of constant use including having guests over to sleep frequently.

Options for customization feel endless and it almost feels like you're building your own sofa from scratch because of the 115 fabric and color combinations, three cushion fills, two mattress types, and three leg styles you can choose from. So whether you want your sofa to fit seamlessly into your aesthetic or stand out, nearly every style is possible to achieve.

One downside of sofas with so many options for customization is that you typically have to factor in long lead times. For the Sloan Sleeper you have to wait between two to three months for it to arrive, and if you miss the agreed delivery window there's a $100 fee, so this sofa can get even more expensive fast.

Best for Durability: Crate & Barrel Barrett Full Sleeper Sofa

The best case scenario is always to have a sofa that looks good, feels good and is durable and with the Barrett Sleeper, you get all three. The construction is at the same level of quality of the most durable sofas, with a kiln-dried hardwood frame and a coil spring foundation under the cushions.

The smallest option is 49 inches which is more than perfect for small spaces, but it still manages to include some of the things that make a difference, including a gel-infused memory foam mattress and a headrest that props upwards for reading or watching your favorite shows.

From Reddit, to customer reviews, to people I’ve spoken to in the furniture industry, one thing that’s consistent is that it holds up with no drama and you won’t have to think about replacing it for a long time. There are over 230 fabric and color options, and for their made to order options lead times can be a little long, but Crate & Barrel have a good track record for on time delivery and customer service – it also comes apart for delivery which is convenient for narrow hallways and awkward staircases.

Best Investment: American Leather Gaines Comfort Sleeper

This is the perfect sleeper sofa if you’re willing to make the investment. Even if the market is better than it's ever been, I had pretty much accepted that there would always be a tradeoff to make. That was up until I came across American Leather’s Gaines Comfort Sleeper.

Instead of a traditional fold-out frame, it uses a patented three-platform system that replaces the typical bars and springs sleeper sofas use with solid decking. This means you don’t feel any mechanisms through the mattress when you lay on it because there’s quite literally nothing there to feel. The five-inch mattress sits on that platform and uses Crypton performance fabric that’s antimicrobial, stain resistant and chemical free.

This is a great choice for my fellow small spacers for multiple reasons: You see how with some sleeper sofas, you need to pull the sofa away from the wall before opening it? This opens without having to do that. It also fully disassembles to get through narrow and awkward spaces and sizes start at 47 inches.

One of our readers that owns this told me that after guests sleep on it, they actually ask what the bed is called, which is not something you hear often in this category. If you want even more comfort, you get to upgrade to a cooling gel or Tempur-Pedic mattress.

Best Craftsmanship: Room and Board Berin Day and Night Sleeper Sofa

The Berin is a collaboration between Room and Board who designed the exterior and American Leather (the same manufacturer behind the Gaines sofa above) who built the mechanisms inside it, so you really get the best of both worlds. The sitting and sleeping experience are equally as good and the sofa is made of a hardwood frame that’s made in the US, with a comfortably angled back and different arm options to choose from depending on exactly what you’re after.

Just like American Leather’s Gaines model, this also has a trifold sleep surface meaning no bars or springs and no laying on uncomfortable mechanisms too. This sleeper sofa starts at 71 inches wide, which is compact for a sofa, especially one built to this standard and it comes with a range of performance and bouclé fabrics that compliment the sleeper sofa even further.

In comparison to the Gaines it offers fewer fabric combinations, but more variety in leg height and arm profile which is useful when working to specific proportions. Another bonus is that there are a few ready-to-ship configurations meaning you don't always have to wait as long as you’d have to if you went for a custom order.