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Best Futons to Create a Versatile Living Space

by Andy Wallace | Updated: June 11, 2020

Our home is our castle, and it’s also our space to serve people, design and create! Our family loves hosting and finding ways to utilize our space differently or more effectively. It’s easy to create a versatile living space in any room by adding a futon. The Futon Shop offers many futon styles and mattress materials that are good quality for Organic toxic-free sleep!

We received a futon from The Futon Shop at a discounted price. All opinions are our own.

This spring we started some projects to renovate our house, after living in it for 3 years. First, we installed new wood flooring and updated our bathroom vanities. Then we decided to work on our decorating color scheme. However, what we value most about our house is maximizing its functionality. We often have guests staying at our home and we try to make each room welcoming and useful.

Futon Shop wall hugger seating and bed

Design a Versatile Space

A futon is a versatile piece of furniture that offers flexibility and a range of style options. For example, an office can function normally as an office or with the right futon, double as a comfortable guest room or quiet place to sit and talk.

A futon even allows us to use our long and narrow basement in numerous ways. On one end, we created a movie corner with a television and comfortable couch. We have desks set up at the other end of the basement for homeschooling our kids. In the middle, our futon provides both seating and a convertible sleeping space. In our basement, the versatility of a futon shines in several ways. It provides both comfort and style for sitting down and relaxing or taking a nap.

Customize your basement living space with a futon

Recently, we moved our three kids into the same room so they could enjoy a sleepover experience for the summer. During this time we put our futon in the extra bedroom, which doubles as an office and guest room. This wall hugger futon provides a cozy reading corner as well as convenient convertible bed. This futon is good quality, which also means it’s decently heavy. The wall hugger style is great because we don’t have to pull the futon away from the wall to convert it from a couch into a bed.

How to Choose a Futon

When you value the quality of sleep on your futon, it pays to not skimp on the quality. I’m sure many people have slept a night on a discount piece of furniture that ended up being lumpy and lackluster. If you weren’t aware, a futon mattress can greatly range in quality. The Futon Shop out of San Francisco, California, specializes in handmade futon mattresses. It’s a great place to start searching for a high quality futon mattress.

Although each person’s preferences for bed comfort may be different, The Futon Shop offers something for everyone. You will have no trouble finding a futon that suits your needs. First select a futon mattress. Choose an Eco Wool Mattress or Organic CocoMat Mattress, or browse the greater categories including Natural Latex Mattresses, Chemical Free Mattresses, Coconut Coir Mattresses, and Memory Foam Mattresses. The Futon Shop offers such a spread, it will take some time to make a selection to find the perfect style.

Convertible wall hugger futon from the Futon Shop

Get the Most Use out of a Futon

You can use a futon in your home design in many ways. I’m especially fond of the Japanese style Shiki futons. These are a bit novel to me, and I love the flexibility of their fold-out style. In the example I gave of a flexible office space, if a framed futon doesn’t suit, a Shiki futon could be a great fit. You can stow it away in your closet and quickly pull it out to create a comfortable sleep space.

The Futon Shop organic bed and convertible seating

Our extra bedroom is a great place to put our Wall Hugger style futon. We often rent out our house on Airbnb while camping or traveling. This futon in our extra room provides an additional bed without taking up too much space. When it’s not folded down, we can use it as a cozy reading corner.

Futon Shop wall hugger fold down bed

Finally, if you live in a small apartment, loft or tiny house, don’t overlook the option of using a handmade futon mattress on your own bed. Any bed can be outfitted in this way. The Futon Shop offers many high quality mattresses that are crafted with the best materials for long lasting comfort.

How to Convert a Futon

I can easily convert our wall hugger futon from a comfy couch into a flat bed. The ergonomic design directs movement away from the wall during conversion, preventing any wall damage. I also don’t have to move the frame away from the wall when changing it from seating into a bed.

Easily convert this wall hugger futon from seating into a bed

The Futon Shop offers this wall hugger futon style in a full size, queen size, and twin size options. It comes in several finishes including pecan, warm cherry, black and black walnut finishes. We really like the style of this futon, which compliments our home decor and fits in our basement and extra bedroom.

You can find many ways to use a futon to add versatility to your home and living spaces!

Andy Wallace
Andy Wallace

Andy is dad to three kiddos and lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. He loves going on family adventures, hiking, and riding motorcycles and ATVS. He’s also an entrepreneur and runs a successful children’s brand specializing in solutions for playtime and snack time.

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Hi, I'm Katie and we are the Wallace family! We homeschool, go on adventures, and travel internationally with our four kids. I hope you enjoy our creative ideas on Create. Play. Travel.

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The struggle is real when charging our family’s de The struggle is real when charging our family’s devices! 😀 We try to balance screen time with learning and adventures while traveling. 

Phones & tablets can be helpful for language learning and some games/entertainment. 📱

Our watches double as GPS tracking for our kids, and the drone is fun for capturing unique video content!

💬 Which devices do you bring when traveling with your kids? 

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschool family, worldschooling, exploring with kids
The struggle is real when charging our family’s de The struggle is real when charging our family’s devices! 😀

We try to balance screen time with learning and adventures while traveling with our kids. But phones & tablets can be helpful for language learning and some games/entertainment. 📱Our watches double as GPS tracking for our kids, and the drone is fun for capturing unique video content!

💬 Which devices do you bring when traveling with your kids? 

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschool family, worldschooling, exploring with kids
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💬 What activities do you enjoy doing with your daughter? Comment below👇

One thing we love about living in Mérida, MX is how affordable beauty treatments can be. It’s easy to enjoy a little pampering without breaking the budget!

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
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Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
Cerrado los lunes! 😟☀️ We showed up at the zoo onl Cerrado los lunes! 😟☀️ We showed up at the zoo only to discover it was closed on Mondays. 

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• Some of our best experiences happen when things don’t go as planned. The zoo will still be there another day! 🦓🐊🦛

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Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring! 
➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures 🌎🩵

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Overall, we’re grateful. ☀️🙂 It’s been a good first week, and we’re excited to continue settling in and discovering what life in Mérida has in store for our family!

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling, Mérida Mexico
I can’t believe in 2 days, we head to Merida, Mexi I can’t believe in 2 days, we head to Merida, Mexico to live there for two years! 🇲🇽 Our goal is to gain dual citizenship, work on learning Spanish, and get to know the local culture. We also look forward to welcoming baby # 5 in October, another GIRL! 🩷🦩🥰

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Hi! We’re the Wallace family 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
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