What's Actually Best for Small Melbourne Apartments
Main Sofa vs. Compact Design vs. Daybed:
We get some version of this question in the showroom most weeks: "Are these really all sofa beds?" People come in searching for "a sofa bed" and quickly realise the category covers a few genuinely different pieces of furniture, each suited to a different kind of space and use.
It's a fair question, sofa beds are traditionally an afterthought for many retailers. But for us, it's all we focus on. We think you'll be pretty suprised by our range designs. For a starting point we'll run through three categories of design using some of our most popular pieces to show what each category looks like when done properly.
Sofa Bed: The All-Rounder
A true sofa bed is designed to work as a comfortable sofa for daily use, with the function to convert into a proper sleeping surface when required. For those friends and family who decide to stay over on little notice.
Best for: Living rooms that need to function as a real sofa most of the time, with genuine guest-bed capability regularly.
Our Norum is a great example of a true all-rounder. It runs on our luxury double sprung mattress technology with two soft back cushions, and converts to a full large-sized double bed (145cm W x 200cm L). What makes it particularly clever for share houses or families is that it can also convert into a large family daybed with a fixed back board for your cushion. This allows for different configurations depending on use. It is also modular in design allowing you to add extra width and storage in lounger form.
See → Norum Lounger $5,999
If your space is small, but you want it to be comfortable and usable - considering a larger piece of furniture that provides multi-function can still be economic. If lounging and hosting is a priority for you, your sofa can be the centre of your household.
Just because it takes up more space, doesn't mean it isn't a smart use of space. If it can transform into a bed and offer storage, these features can be invaluable in modern living.
Norum Family
- From $4599
- Available in our full range of fabrics
- Ideal for: living rooms that need to flex between everyday sofa, large guest bed, and family daybed
Compact Sofa Bed: The Space-Saver
Not every home has room for a full-size sofa bed, which is where a compact option earns its place. This isn't a "lesser" sofa bed — it's the same engineering philosophy scaled down for apartments that genuinely can't spare the floor space.
Our Cubed range is built exactly for this: a space-saving sofa bed designed around urban living, where the legs automatically fold out and the whole piece transforms into a bed in seconds. It's a strong example of how Danish design can solve a genuinely local problem — Melbourne's smaller apartment floor plans — without cutting corners on the design itself. Available in a range of leg finishes and several sizes: single, double and queen.
From $2529
- Quick-fold mechanism, compact single/double/queen bed footprint
- Ideal for: studio apartments or living rooms where a full-size sofa bed simply won't fit
Daybed: All the Function, Smaller Footprint
A daybed is generally single or king-single sized, working as both everyday seating and a genuine sleep surface, without the two-mode mechanism of a full sofa bed.
Our Ghia Wood is a popular choice here. A genuinely multipurpose design that works placed against a wall, freely in a room as a lounger, as comfortable seating for two, or as a single bed. It's noticeably more compact than a full sofa bed, while still being a proper sleep surface rather than a cushioned bench.
- From $2,699
- Space-saving Single sizing, clic-clac mechanism, available in a range of leg finishes
- Ideal for: home offices, or compact spaces where a double bed's worth of sleeping capacity isn't needed
Quick Comparison
| Norum (Sofa Bed) | Cubed (Compact Sofa Bed) | Ghia (Daybed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyday comfort | Medium | Firm | Firm |
| Sleep configurations | Large double | Single/Double/Queen | Single |
| Footprint | Largest | Smallest | Medium |
| From | $4599 | $2529 | $2,699 |
| Best for | Flexible household needs | Small apartments, Spare bedroom, full sofa bed function | Home offices, compact spaces |
What We'd Actually Recommend
It depends less on who your guests are and more on how you want to live or work within the space. If your household needs that real lived in feeling and the need to house a guests for a few nights, the norum is a great option and one we think is truely hard to beat. If you love the idea of a proper sofa bed but your apartment's floor plan says no, the Cubed sofa range gives you incredible flexibility and quality in a smaller footprint. And if it's really a home office that occasionally hosts one guest, the Ghia Wood daybed is the better fit you're not paying for double-bed capacity you'll rarely use.
Come Test the Difference
All three are on the floor at 262–268 Rathdowne St, Carlton North, set up so you can open, sit on, and compare them side by side rather than trying to picture the difference from a webpage. And once you've decided, our own delivery team (not a generic courier) will get it assembled and set up properly — Melbourne stairwells and all.
Not sure which fits your space? Take a showroom visit this weekend and we'll walk you through it in person, or browse the full range online if you already know what you're after.
