A Thoughtful Guide to Buying Futons: With 10 Best Futons for Teenagers to Pick and Choose From

We know how messy teenagers can be. They eat, drink, and play on top of their beds, and do not care to clean up after them. 

Is your teenager like this? Are you worried that the expensive mattress that you spent your hard-earned money on, is getting trampled? 

Well, kids will be kids, and all you can do is buy them a cost-effective mattress. 

Or maybe you want to revolutionize your guest bedroom with an easily foldable mattress that can double up as a lounge. 

Or, you are in your trailer, on-road a lot. Whatever it is, let’s get one thing straight. A futon, rather than a conventional mattress, is the way to go. 

But what are futons and how are they going to help? Don’t worry, we cover all that in this buying guide. This is your one-stop answer for all things futons.

First, let’s have a look at our list of 10 best futons for teenagers.

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Reviews of 10 Best Futons to Spruce up Your Teen’s Room

01. Mozaic Queen Size Futon

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This futon is ideal for your teenage son or daughter, who does not like too much furniture in their room. This one can double up as a bed and a lounge, according to the position the mattress is placed in.

The queen-sized futon is 6 inches thick, navy blue, and filled with top-notch memory foam to provide your teenager a complaint-free sleep. 

If it is placed in a half-upright position on a futon frame, it would function as a sofa. By laying it flat, you can also use it as a bed.

02. EMOOR Japanese Futon Set

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The Japanese had it right. The EMOOR Japanese Futon set has all three components (shikibuton, kakebuton, and makura) of a Japanese futon set, and are super comfortable to sleep on. 

Japanese futons are known to alleviate back pains arising from conditions like scoliosis, and this mattress will help improve your sleep if you suffer from such health conditions. 

The highlight of this item is that the set can be folded 6 times, and stored away easily. This means that you can travel light with your family and still have comfortable sleep at night. 

That being said, this mattress is smaller than the usual Japanese shikibuton. But this is still in the twin-size range and would be quite comfortable.

03. Novogratz Brittany Sofa Futon

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This is a sofa-bed duo combination from the world-class Novogratz designers (trivia: they are a couple who have designed and rebuilt everything from a Hollywood Hill castle to a Brazilian treehouse!). 

At first look, this futon sofa is a curve-armed, tuft-backed comfortable couch, with pet-friendly linen covering. But you can stretch out those backrests to use it as a futon bed. 

The frame is made out of wood, making it sturdy and stable. 

In the bed position, the back legs of the sofa provide the added support to make sleeping comfortable.

04. Best Choice Products Convertible Futon

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This one, like its name, is one of the best choices for your teen who likes to eat and sleep on their bed. 

This futon has three backrest positions: the upright position for couch-comfort, the reclining position for a lounge-relief, and the flat position, which makes it a comfortable futon mattress. 

In the couch and reclining positions, you can pull down the hidden, in-built cupholder. 

The armrests of this convertible futon are removable, and the chrome legs provide sturdy support when you sleep.

05. BJ Design Futon Mattress

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This is a single shikibuton, which is to say, the mattress from the Japanese futon set. 

This is ideal for someone who wants to add thickness to their futon set, or for those who want a soft mattress on top of a regular one.

It is 2 inches thick, and fluffy from the outset so that you can use it readily. BJ Design claims 100% cotton fabric on their futons, and it is recommended you use it with the cover provided for the longevity of the mattress. 

True to its Japanese origin, this mattress is lightweight for travel and can be folded for easy storage. It is a versatile product at an affordable range.

06. MustMat Japanese Tatami Futon

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The Tatami from MustMat is on this list because we had to give you the option of a hard and flat futon, with options to lay it as a mattress or an oriental rug. 

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

Well, the Tatami is made out of rattan and covered in non-woven fabric. The arrangement provides the best solution for back problems, by giving you a flat surface to lie on. 

The mat folds in four to be kept to the side, or it can be easily carried in its cover. 

This is one of the traditional Japanese futons, which could be combined with a shikibuton if a soft surface is an absolute necessity to you getting your good night’s sleep. 

For your teenager, this provides an alternative to the cumbersome cot in his room that takes so much space. So, do give it a shot.

07. FULI Japanese Shiki Futon

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This shikibuton is another mattress-only in our list, to add some extra padding to your tatami. The mattress is stuffed with a comfortable layer of polyester, and covered in 100% cotton fabric. 

This can be used with the tatami mat for extra padding and moisture resistance, or on your cot. 

They are handcrafted in Japan using high-quality materials, but the fluffing will take some time to take effect. This is because they come compressed in the package.

08. Serta RNE-3S-CC-SET Rane Collection Convertible Sofa

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One of the best futons for teenagers, this convertible sofa doubles down as a futon bed. The two-in-one design ought to satisfy the demands of busy teen life, with frequent sleepovers and hours-on-end gaming. 

The curiously named but effective Click-Clack Technology ensures the smooth transition of the sofa to bed and back to the sofa, with little to no effort on your teen’s side. 

The Finger Guard protects them while they flip the sofa up and down. 

The memory foam provides firmness while also supporting the contours of your body so that sitting or laying down, your health comes first.

09. Kodiak Furniture Phoenix Futon

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One of the best futons on our list, this one requires its frame or wall to keep it upright but doubles down as a very comfortable bed. 

Its hardwood frame is very beautiful and adds to the aesthetics of your living room or office. 

It can add tremendously to your artistic teen’s bedroom as well, with its tray-style arms and space-saving storage drawers. 

It can turn into a lounge or a full-size bed, with an 8-inch thick mattress for comfortable sleep.

10. Mainstay Connectrix Faux Leather Futon

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Faux leather is always easier to clean than fabric covers, and so we chose the Mainstay Futon as the last item on our list. 

After all, we are talking about buying the best futon for your teenager, aren’t we? 

This one is a sofa convertible style futon, with the capacity to straighten into a twin bed. 

When in sofa mode, your teen might find the cupholders on the armrests useful and sleeping on it as a bed, will be sure to thank Mainstay for the padded comfort.

Things to Consider before Buying a Futon

Now that we have seen our list of futons you can check out, let’s talk about what makes a futon, well, a great futon. 

1. Why are you choosing a futon?

The reason for your choice of a futon is important. Why you are buying this futon will determine which one to buy.

Are you buying it to add padding for your mattress or your tatami mat? 

Are you buying it so it doubles up as a sofa during the daytime?

Are you looking for that extra space when unexpected get-togethers extend into late-nights? 

The reasons are very important. Those determine the type and size that you should choose, which we talk about in the next section.  

A. Futons are minimalistic and multipurpose. 

This is kinda understood in the concept itself since most people look for alternatives to conventional mattresses because they want a more minimalistic solution. 

Among the many types of futons, we primarily identified two as the most useful: 

i. Japanese futons.

The Japanese futons are very lightweight. 

They have three components: a mattress called shikibuton, a comforter called kakebuton and a bean-filled pillow, called makura. 

They are made of breathable cotton, with stuffing consisting of either cotton or polyurethane.

The Japanese futons are especially good for hot nights, due to the breathable material that they are made of. 

ii. Sofa convertibles. 

The idea here is that a sofa during daytime can double up as a bed at night, conserving space and money. 

These types are more useful when you don’t want to pack it up in the morning–but want that extra space in your room anyway.

The sofa convertibles come with two types of mattresses: memory foam mattress, and the innerspring mattress. While the first molds to the body’s contours, the second one gives a more bouncing effect. 

B. Futons are cost-effective.

The prime attraction, of course, is the minimum dent that these make on your wallet. 

Comfortable conventional mattresses are nothing but high-end. Fortunately, other comfortable options include cost-effective futons. 

In our research, we found that these cost less than one-third of a conventional mattress, if that. 

Do you know the other thing we found out? 

Many users consider these over conventional high-end mattresses because they help in their back pains! And that is the next section.

C. Futons help in relieving back pain.

A badly designed mattress can cause more harm than good, and let’s remember that we, human beings, were designed by nature to lie on flat surfaces. 

Here is where futons come in. 

The Japanese futons–both shikibuton and tatami–are designed to give the firmness needed in a mattress to relieve your body of additional stress by trying to adjust to the shaking and shaping-reshaping of conventional mattresses. 

People with scoliosis have testified that sleeping on shikibutons helps them to manage sleep better, and wake up refreshed. 

But you may find that the padding is too small. For this, you can use tatami and shikibuton mattresses together, so that while one gives support, the other provides comfort. 

So, what have you decided? Still having doubts? Let’s look at a few questions that we saw pop up often during the research phase. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Do futons come in all sizes?

Ans. The futons come in twin, twin XL, Queen, and King sizes, according to the buyer’s need. The twin size is more popular because futons are usually bought for individual use. But other sizes are also available. 

2) Do people really put a shikibuton on the floor and sleep?

Ans. The truth is, you can, and some do. 

But many combine the shikibuton with a tatami mat to use it on the floor. This gives the best health experience. 

Another combination you can try is your old cot and the shikibuton, or old mattress and shikibuton on the floor. 

You can also spread the futon over your conventional bed for added padding, but that generally defeats the health benefits that should come with the shikibuton mattress. 

3) Do sofa convertibles really live up to the hype? 

Ans. They can, is the honest answer. 

Sofas are not meant to be huge, so the length of the bed that the sofa is laid out to become might not be ideal for a full-grown adult. 

But for kids and teenagers, the sofa convertibles are a great way to add some variety into their room. They are also great for guests who unexpectedly arrive. 

4) What types of futon mattresses are there?

Ans. There are mainly 3 types of futon mattresses:

• Shikibutons, which are 100% natural.
• The memory foam sofa convertibles, that usually have either fabric or leatherette covers. These are best for teenagers because their operations and cleaning are easy.
• The innerspring mattresses can be set upright on a frame to be used as a sofa or laid flat to be used as a bed.

5) Are futons useful?

Ans. The answer is yes. 

Futons are great space savers and very economic. The sofa convertible types can be used in a trailer or your one-bedroom apartment for making it comfortable during day and night. 

The shikibutons (queen-size futons) are versatile, easily stored, and carried, making them ideal all-rounders. 

Wrap Up

And here we are, at the end of this, hoping that this buying guide helped you choose the best futon for your teenager. 

The list provided of our choicest futons are not the end-all of it, but provide an ample selection of the best choices out there. 

Bye-bye, y’all, and happy shopping! (And sleeping!)