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Futon frames have changed over the years

If you've been researching futon frames online, you've probably discovered that there are many beautiful, stylish models available these days.

It's not like the early days of futons in the USA, when a futon frame and mattress came together as a package deal, and you really didn't have much choice as to components. Nowadays, you can select just the mattress you want, then take your choice of a metal, wood, or combination metal/wood futon frame, to come up with the perfect solution for your particular lifestyle.

There are two basic types of futon frames in use these days. First there is the tri-fold, which was the type of futon frame used on the original convertible futons. With this type of frame, the futon is folded twice, into three sections, and is folded along its shorter width. This will give you a smaller seating area in the couch position-more like a loveseat. This type of futon frame has fallen out of favor somewhat, for two reasons. First of all, it's more cumbersome to convert it from sofa to sleeping and vice versa, and secondly, having to fold the mattress twice limits how thick the mattress can be

The other type of futon frame, and the one which is more popular these days, is the bi-fold. With this one, the mattress is only folded once, down the long length, which will give you a larger seating area when folded into the couch position. Folding the mattress only once down the middle also allows for the use of much thicker mattresses. In order to allow for the swinging action of the frame, it is necessary to pull the futon frame away from the wall when converting it, but some newer versions have mechanisms which allow positioning closer to the wall. These futon frames are called "wall-huggers", and they vary in how far from the wall they must be placed. A zero tolerance wall hugger futon frame can be placed directly against the wall and still will not contact it when being converted to a bed. A two inch tolerance wall hugger must be placed (or moved to) two inches from the wall. The wall hugger futon frames also come in various tolerances other than zero and two inches.

For much more information on futon frames and all types of futons and accessories, check out the links below.

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