We got rid of our futon because we got such a great mattress it wasn't comfortable to sit on when in upright position. I've found that if you want a futon that is comfortable to sit on you shouldn't get the queen size. The queen size is just too wide. Your feet won't touch the ground and the top is too high in the back. The other thing I figured out is the futons in the store have been sat on and moved up and down etc. so they're broken in. Our new one was so stiff it was impossible to get back to the sitting position from the bed position - also because it had springs and was very heavy. If he's going to sleep on it it will take up the same amount of room as a bed. They are not the easiest things to open and close for one person. If he definitely wants to be able to use it as a couch and a bed you should get a light weight thin mattress. The thicker ones are great as a bed, but not as a couch. Also, how much does he weigh? Unless he's a teenager pushing 180 lbs + he doesn't need the extra springs etc... Just my experience. Our $1000+ futon was sold on Craig's List after hardly ever being used. We now have a couch!

When my futon couch was to be used as a bed, I put a mattress pad (I used a breathable waterproof one to protect the futon cover) and fitted sheet right over the cover. The covers were a bear to take off and put on so I preferred to fool with that as little as possible! Waterbed sheets are great for futons - the top sheet is fitted at the foot, just like a bottom sheet, so the darn thing stays in place. Since a futon mattress is more flexible than a conventional mattress, it's easier for the top sheet to pull out. They're not easy to find, though. (The older style of waterbed sheets where the top sheet is sewn onto the bottom one at the foot is a stinker to wash and dry.) As for whether your middle-aged house guests will be cursing you, that's a big YMMV. A thick, high-quality futon mattress with springs and plenty of foam padding (conventional foam, memory foam, or both), is FAR superior to the old-style all-cotton or all-wool ones that mat down something fierce and become hard and lumpy. You want one that can be flipped because the cotton/cotton-like batting that is the outermost padding layer on most futons can pack down and flipping and turning the futon can minimize the effects. If you haven't already chosen your frame, I suggest looking for a "wall hugger" style that doesn't need to be hauled away from the wall to be converted to bed form, and a mechanism that one person can open or close. Some of them really have to be wrestled around and that's a pain (sometimes literally!). If you can, sit or lie on the futon you're considering in the store, when it's in its bed position, as some of them can be tippy.

Too funny! I was just going to mention the same thing as DLM did. . . after the first week, a futon will never be in any position except down! When DS got to his teens, he wanted a queen or king-size bed, but I felt he needed more floor space for hanging out with his friends instead. I bought him a sturdy oak day bed with a generic trundle in case he had anyone stay over. He ended up appreciating that it worked nicely as a sofa during the day . . . when he took the time to make it, that is! If you go that route, keep the cover very simple to put back on. He did occasionally gripe that he needed a bigger bed, but I just told him that he was in training for his dorm bed someday ;^P . I bought him several floor pillows for the kids to lean or sit on and a sturdy (used) oak coffee table, too. He and his friends loved hanging out in there. When he went off to college, he was in a miniscule dorm room that first year and couldn't use anything from home. Now that he's in grad school, his room works as a guest/tv room while he's away. I love having the trundle in there. DD's room is smaller, so I had a window seat built in with a 4" foam cushion on it. It makes a comfy sleeping area when her friends stay over, too. When the window seat was going in, I also had two tall cabs built in on either side of it. They have deep and shallow drawers, and both open and closed shelving to hold her clothes, books, jewelry, etc. I could then get rid of her dresser, which helped a lot in there, space-wise. The window seat has doors on the front of it and holds her games and bedding (to use on the window seat ). I bought her a desk with a hutch to hold her reference books for homework. It will be able to eventually hold a computer, too. The bottom line with girl teens is buying furniture that won't lock them into one specific style or color, as they're always changing their minds! With both, I think sturdy and well-made is the way to go. They all flop rather than just sit on furniture and no one ever seems to take off their shoes.

It sounds like you are trying to make this into some type of sofa bed - sofa when not in use, bed when you have guests or need to use it as a bed. I would think that you would need to add hinges to allow for the back side of the sofa to be lifted into place and then you will need some type of pin mechanism to so that once it is lifted you can lock it into the upright position. Attaching the pins to the lower bed will require some sort of wood block that attaches to the back legs and allows tubing for the pin to be secured. I am thinking that you will need to split the foam for the bed that will be the back cushion so it can fold and fit over the bottom bed. Getting this right is going to be a lot of work and require some engineering to make sure everything is stable. By the time you buy good solid foam and material to cover it you are going to be in for a small chunk of change. I am not sure that I wouldn't lose the $90.00 and go buy a futon, sofa sleeper or murphy bed rather than trying to MacGyver this to a working solution.