How to Arrange a Studio Apartment Using an Air Bed

Considerations

• The air bed has changed over the years. Although the inexpensive cot air mattress still exists, there are other air beds now that look just like a box spring and mattress. They come in the same sizes that standard mattresses come in and have sleep numbers for comfort. When you're setting up your studio, determine which kind is going to serve you. If you're on a budget, the inexpensive air mattress that you place on a cot works fine as a first bed. However, if you're planning on making the studio apartment your home for a while, you may want to choose a full-size air bed.

Space Saver

• An air mattress bed offers you an additional benefit besides just a place to sleep. If you've made a bed from a small air mattress, you can easily deflate the mattress when you need the extra space for get-togethers. Fold up your cot and air mattress, and stow them away in the closet when you have guests over for parties, if you don't need the extra seating that your bed will provide.

Frame

• If you need a frame for your air bed, but don't have it in your budget to buy a full-sized frame, make one. A common pallet that grocery and hardware stores use to stow their wares off the ground makes a sturdy and inexpensive frame for your air bed. Once you secure the pallet for your bed frame, sand it down and paint it. Add casters on the bottom so that you can roll the bed around your studio with ease. Place a couple of pieces of egg foam on top of the pallet and cover with a blanket. This protects the air mattress. Arrange the blanket so that it covers the front of the pallet. Lay the air mattress on top of the pallet and make the bed.

Double-Duty

• The best type of furniture for a studio is the kind that performs double-duty. An air bed that you set up as a daybed serves as a bed at night and a couch during the day. To reinforce this bed and to add some storage space near the bed, position the air bed between two heavy bookcases; make sure they're low bookcases instead of ones that stand 4 or 5 feet tall. Make the bed with a bedspread that resembles upholstery such as a brocade or linen material. Toss an assortment of pillows on the bed. Place the larger pillows in the back to act as a back rest; put some decorative pillows in front. Add lamps to the bookcases to ensure sufficient light for the area.