Home Renovation Toronto

By Stellar Stevens

The sofa bed is something of a triumph within the furniture industry; a mastery of form, function and aesthetic. Although many of us won”t consider the sofa bed a very beautiful piece of furniture, most of us are imagining an outdated version that, for its time, was indeed considered a perfect addition to a living room set. While the general public wasn”t looking, the sofa bed grew up and became part of the more modern living room; leather upholstery and soft cushioned seating have replaced the stiff cushions and flowered dim felt that we tend to associate with a lowly sofa bed.

Contemporary furniture has changed the way furniture fits into our lives. The greatest impact that contemporary furniture design has had on society is its shifted focus from pure utility to functionalist art. For most furniture pieces, this means that an aesthetic shift has occurred that changed the piece from a very structured and obvious form into a loose, seamless, flowing natural piece that can be used both in the functional sense and as an artistic conversation starter. Much like a wall painting or piece of sculpture, contemporary furniture has become an art form; the original purpose of furniture has been blurred as contemporary furniture dabbles in both functional and artistic form.

The Making of a Sofa Bed

The first sofa beds were conceived from contemporary thinking; although superficially speaking it doesn”t seem that such a piece of furniture can be considered a work of art, the fact is that designers responsible for the deconstruction of classic design realised that the average sofa could be made into more than it had previously been. Without this simple deconstruction of classicism, it would not have been possible to consider the further uses of a sofa other than a seating area. To create a piece with more than one use to an individual or family was not the most obvious direction of contemporary furniture, however it was nevertheless a pivotal point in the evolution of contemporary design.

The contemporary sofa bed was a defining part of the late 20th century, and one of the most memorable pieces of contemporary furniture design to date. Never before has a basic, fundamental piece of furniture been transformed into such a space saver; such a useful part of the household. If ever there was proof that contemporary art, no matter how

About The Author

Stellar Stevens is an expert in the modern and contemporary furniture industry, sofa beds being one of her favourite items. For more information, visit http://www.uk-contemporary-furniture.co.uk/sofa-beds/