For years, those who have had to balance the limited space of a small home or apartment with their need for a comfortable night’s sleep have relied on the single divan bed.

Single divan beds are also sometimes referred to as daybeds. During the day, they can be used as armless couches, a nice place to sit and relax while reading or watching television. Come bedtime, they can furnish as good a night’s sleep as a larger, more expensive bed. Modern single divan beds are upholstered to look like a traditional couch or seat, but feature spring mattresses of the sort you would find in an ordinary bed.

These so-called daybeds are distinguished from ordinary beds by their functionality, and their construction. Traditional beds consist of three main components: the mattress, the box spring, and the frame. Many also include head- an foot-boards, but these are not necessary or universal features. Divan beds are frames — usually braced wooden frames, with elements that simulate the effect of the box spring without making an actual box spring necessary — and an upholstered mattress that sits atop the frame.

Being both small and functional, single divan beds are perfect for people for whom space and money are an issue. For those without much room to spare, a divan, which can be used as a couch and as a bed, is the perfect piece of furniture. It can help you make the most of a small bedroom or studio apartment. Single divan beds are especially well suited to dormitories, making them ideal for students, as well!

A single divan bed may also be the right choice for those of you who cannot quite handle the cost of a full-size bed, with a frame, mattress and box spring. Cheap single divan beds are everywhere and very easy to find, both in stores and online. Owing to their size and simple construction, single divan beds are often much less expensive than ordinary beds.

Believe it or not, there are even more benefits to owning a single divan bed. Because their construction does not include a box spring, the frame of a divan bed is much taller, and closed, or box-like. The mattress sits on top of this frame, leaving quite a bit of empty space inside the frame — space which clever divan designers have found a way to take maximum advantage of. Many single divan beds have drawers incorporated into their design, in the frame beneath the mattress. This allows the divan to function as not just one, or two, but three separate pieces of furniture: a couch during the day, a bed during the night, and a chest of drawers all year round!

Single divan beds are ideal for people of all ages. Parents might choose divan beds as the first “big people beds” for their children. A divan can not only provide their young boy or girl with a comfortable night’s sleep, but also make the most of a limited bedroom area providing a seat during the day, and a space for storing toys or clothing in the drawers in its frame. Likewise, single divan beds can be of great use to single people living on their own. Furniture can be a great expense and a terrible burden on those just starting out. Single divan beds not only save on the expense of buying furniture, they also allow you to make the most of a smaller, less expensive apartment.

No matter what age you are, or which direction your taste in home decor runs, a single divan bed could be the perfect choice for you. It can be your perfect couch, bed, and chest of drawers, and cheap single divan beds are easy to come by — and worth every dollar.