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Shopping for a Sofa Bed: Top Tips

How sleeping beauties can find the best sofa beds for their backs, their wallets, and their small but stylish spaces.

Ikea Manstad sofa bed with linen slipcover from Comfort Works.

“Kick it when nobody’s looking,” a salesman tells me with a wink, as I ask him for nothing more arcane than what constitutes a durable sofa bed. He mentions “heft” and says something about “sturdy,” then walks away so I might, in fact, kick the goods, to check out that heft. Buying a sleep sofa—or even a day bed—is a not surprisingly frequent occurrence in a city where more sofa beds are sold than anywhere else in the country. And no wonder: How many of us have the luxury of an actual guestroom with a bed?

Double-Duty Furniture

Space-saving furniture that cleverly provides dual functions: Beds effortlessly turn into tables and desks; sofas convert into bunk beds; tables expand and contract with the click of a button—all of which makes your apartment seem larger.

by Ruth J. Katz

This Goliath table effortlessly goes from a mere 17" wide (handy as a console for keys and mail) to an astounding 115" long, depending upon how many leaves you use. (It comes with 5, enough for 12 guests.) See full table on page 3. Resource Furniture.

Space-challenged Gothamites habitually lament their lack of an extra room, larger closets, more storage space, and extra beds for children and guests—all of which could make their apartments more livable, functional, and clutter-free without extensive renovations.

Abracadabra! Double-Duty Furniture

Space-saving furniture that cleverly provides dual functions: Beds turn into tables and desks; sofas convert into bunk beds; tables expand and contract—all of which makes your apartment seem larger.

by Ruth J. Katz

This Goliath table effortlessly goes from a mere 17" wide (handy as a console for keys and mail) to an astounding 115" long, depending upon how many leaves you use. (It comes with 5, enough for 12 guests.) See full table on page 3. Resource Furniture.

Space-challenged Gothamites habitually lament their lack of an extra room, larger closets, more storage space, and extra beds for children and guests—all of which could make their apartments more livable, functional, and clutter-free without extensive renovations.

ARK Angels Repair Your Family Heirlooms

This husband-and-wife team will repair—exquisitely, artistically—jewelry and household objects that are precious to museums, to collectors, or to you.

by Ruth J. Katz

A Tiffany glass vase, broken in eight pieces—before and after its amazing transformation.

A repair gone wrong was righted by ARK, completely rebuilding the basket setting.

A Russian Imperial vase—before and after ARK's extensive repair work.

An English ceramic "garden" in an avalanche of pieces, repaired seamlessly by ARK.

Pair of Paris Porcelain vases that now match, thanks to ARK's extraordinary efforts.

When Rena and Anatoly Krishtul, the wife-and-husband team who founded ARK Restoration and Design, arrived in the U.S. from the Ukraine in 1979, they came burdened with debt. “If you left the Soviet Union,” Anatoly explains, “you had to pay the government back for your schooling.” Little did they know that very training would bcome the cornerstone of a new business.