Exactly - Ocean state job lot - They had hundreds of them. I've used it 3 times so far with good results (although you can never get it back into the original bag). The brand name is Intex and the queen size was on sale for $39 (reg. $50).

Thanks
 

Thanks everybody. I knew you'd all come through. Every time I meet a new person here in TV I ask them if they know of this website. Usually they don't and I tell them they can find out anything here.

Space Saver
 

What's nice about murphy beds is that it can save space. Very ideal for bachelor's pads or studio units.

I don't like the way Murphy beds look, at least the two that I have seen. Lazy Boy makes a good sleep sofa with a blow up top. We have one from Ikea that was used in the Inquisition. Guests never stay very long.

That could be an effective selling point!

I bought a daybed with trundle bed at Southern Lifestyles. Bought it with two really good twin mattresses. You can pull out the trundle and have twin beds, or put them together to make a king-size bed.

We have a sofa bed that is confortable for sitting but not sleeping. The mattress is an incredibly flimsy 3" thin coil that can be squeezed between your fingers like a marshmallow. We bought it as part of pur rental furniture.
Now that we are here, we started shopping for a more comfortable alternative. We looked at Murphy Beds, and thought the sideways one was a good alternative. Not so high against the wall, but of course longer along the wall. We salso saw the prices and we did not want to spend $2000 plus to buy one.
So we looked for sleepers with a quality mattress. Most places had the same one we already had, but at Kanes in Ocala (rte 200) we found sleepers with different quality mattresses. They had 3 levels of quality, the junk one, a moderate one, and one with a "temperpedic" style mattress. The temperpedic was really comfortable. Since we really liked the color of our orignal sofa, we went to Walmart and bought a 4" thick memory foam mattress topper and our old sofa bed is a good as a regular bed now.

Does anyone know of an after-market air mattress designed specifically for use over the typically flimsy mattress of a pullout sofa? My wife heard about something like this but we have not been able to locate one yet.

Steve, what did the Walmart foam pad cost?

Air Mattress for pull out
 

I have no direct experience with this company but found them as we were investigating, looked like a very comfortable (yet IMO pricey) solution. Their name is Air Dream.

We ended up going a different way in our den, we have 2 chairs instead of a couch and a blow up mattress in the closet for the occasional second guest.

For the full size, it was right about $100 for the 4" thick. At Sam's, the 2 1/2" queen was the same price.
It really made a difference, and it was around $700 less than a whole new sofa.

Murphy Bed Won
 

We decided to go with a Murphy Bed. We checked out several places, but liked the ones in The Villages the best. I think it really looks very nice. We got the bed (which pulls down) with a top closet on either side and drawers on one side bottom and enclosed shelves on the other. Still have a little room on both sides to the walls. We also have a daybed and an air mattress, so I guess we're ready for company. I hope they don't all come at once - 6 kids and spouses and 13 grandchildren!!

Do the air beds have some type of heater that warms the air? I recall sleeping on a regular air mattress when a group visited a friend in Sarasota. Initially the air mattress seemed very comfortable but as the night wore on cold began to creep into these bones (which were a lot younger then!). I finally switched to the floor. Didn't mention the cold to anyone in our group.

The following night another of my friends chose the air mattress. The next morning she commented about how cold it became.

So, do the air beds get "cold" also?

Hey. It must be because you are from Cincinnati. I slept on an air mattress once and nearly froze to death. BUT...If you cover it with some thick bedding, some down comforters or one of those ripply foam things, it is o.k.

Go with the pullout couch. You can get more use out of a sofa. Can't sit on the piece of pine tacked up on the wall. Had a murphy at our other place, so we learned the hard way.