On the US modern furniture market there are bunch of sofa bed models available - like Manhattan Sectional Sofa or F-32 model and these can be a great choice in comparison with a usual sofa as they give the opportunity of extra sleeping place when you need it.
Modern sofa beds can be manufactured from a selection of materials including ones with cotton or synthetic covers, faux or natural leather, like Manhattan Sectional sofa and are also available in several varieties to look good on in your living room. As well as the conventional two or three pillow sofa beds, modern sectional sofas or L-shape sofa beds are also very popular and available in stores. L-shape sofas may help to utilize your living room space best way. Such kind of Manhattan-style sofas have a main seat base, when unfolded it creates a big sleeping area.
Foam Chair Bed
The plain sofa beds have foam-filled mattress and as a rule is less expensive. Usually it is a small sofa bed and by taking off the movable pillows, the seating area extends down to create a full or queen size mattress. This kind of beds is typically designed for irregular use as they are not prepared for regular wear and tear on them. These are great for a guest room or in a kid's bedroom for when buddies stay overnight.
Another kind of sofa beds is Clic-clac bed that has sprung backs which easily click down towards the back to make another half of the sofa bed next to the seating area. These are more hard-wearing than foam sofas and are more appropriate for regular use as a sofa or a bed.
Instead of a Manhattan sofa, a futon is one more alternative to think about. These are comparable to clic-clac sofa beds but give made of wood or tubular steel constructions which are noticeable. Futons are very good for bedrooms, but don't go well with living rooms. It is hard to get a matching set because you would not be able to get other living room furniture to match. For small modern apartment however, a futon could be the great way as they have a contemporary look and give wonderful solutions to your seating and sleeping needs and even some of them have storage drawers under seat.
So, the bottom line, if you need a sofa bed that you are going to use on a regular basis - as a sofa and a bed on the same time, then a sofa bed with durable metal frame should be your main choice. This kind of sofa bed is frequently available as an substitute to normal sofas and chairs in many furniture depots, so are a reliable selection if you prefer a sofa bed as a furniture for your living room. They work the same way of unfolding down the seating area, but their mattress made of metal frame and is not straight lying on the floor. It is keep up by the metal sections at the same level as the sofa seats, so it will look and feel more like a normal bed than the sofa beds with foam-filled mattress.
You have to consider how frequently your sofa bed will be used, how you will use it the mainly and which room it is expected to be placed in before making a verdict on which sofa bed to take on board. My choice is a Manhattan sectional sofa, which is very popular on US furniture market.