Dunelm sofa bed is similar to John Lewis but £400 cheaper

Sofa beds can be one of the trickier furniture pieces to shop for. They must be comfy enough to work as an everyday seat and easily convert into a bed that’s good enough for guests to sleep on. But one Dunelm sofa bed caught my eye, not only because of its discounted price, but because it looks very similar to a John Lewis design that costs more than twice as much.

Dunelm’s Harrison sofa bed is priced at £249, down from £299, and comes in blue, burnt orange and grey. It has a quilted chenille cover with slim wooden legs and uses a clic-clac mechanism, meaning the back folds down flat with one movement to create a bed. Despite its relatively purse-friendly price (including a £50 discount at the time of writing), shoppers have described it as “so comfy”.

In a review, a shopper said: “Good quality and strong. I’m really pleased with it. Great colour, and it is so comfy.”

John Lewis’ Linear medium two-seater sofa bed costs £649 (£420 more expensive than the Dunelm sofa) and is currently available in five other colours, including blue, khaki green, nettle green, neutral beige, and soft grey. It also comes in a choice of fabrics, including boucle, linen, and polyester blends.

Both sofa beds have a similar shape, angled wooden legs, and quilted upholstery. However, while the Dunelm sofa cushions are split into two seating pads, the John Lewis sofa has one large main cushion. The John Lewis sofa bed also has neutral wood coloured legs, while the Dunelm one has black legs. 

The key difference, though, is the bed mechanism: instead of a clic-clac, the John Lewis bed folds out to reveal a foam mattress. 

Both sofas arrive partially assembled, although the only work needing to be done is attaching the legs to the base. One shopper said of the Dunelm sofa bed: “Very easy to assemble. Looks good in the spare bedroom.” 

The Dunelm Harrison sofa bed is fairly compact. As a sofa, it measures 182cm wide, which is around the size of a standard two-seater (although it says three-seater), and when folded flat, it converts to a small double but with the depth of a single bed. One shopper said the bed was snug. In a review, they said: “Only fits one person for sleeping.” 

The John Lewis Linear is slightly bigger than a sofa at 191cm wide, with deeper seats. and when pulled out, it creates a double mattress, offering more room for two adults to share.

The Dunelm sofa bed has been ranked 4.7 stars out of five based on customer reviews. However, one person noted that while it’s cosy as a sofa, it needs extra filling as a bed. They wrote: “Good build quality and comfortable as a sofa, as a bed makes a small double and requires additional padding as the centre crease has no cushioning.”