A sofa is not just a piece of furniture on which you can relax comfortably while watching TV. It is often used as a folding place for a good night's sleep. This can be either the only place to relax in the apartment, or a spare “airfield” for guests. There are many options for sofa transformation mechanisms that allow you to replace a double bed. One of the most popular models is the Eurobook, which has a number of advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages and disadvantages
Healthy sleep is a very important aspect in human physiology and for this reason, when choosing, you should weigh all the disadvantages and evaluate the advantages.
Advantages:
- It occupies a minimum of usable space and is placed close to the wall, but when unfolded it is a large sleeping place. The advantage is relevant for small-sized and one-room apartments;
- a convenient mechanism that allows you to quickly unfold the structure even for a child;
- the presence of drawers at the bottom of the sofa makes it convenient to store bed linen;
- a comfortable place to rest when not unfolded: the large space between the back and the edge of the seat is filled with various pillows;
- a variety of fillers, including orthopedic ones;
- affordable price.
There are few disadvantages of the Eurobook sofa and they consist of the following points:
- mechanical impact of the legs on the floor, which leads to damage to the covering if there is no carpet on it;
- a design made of low-quality material wears out quickly when unfolded every day;
- uncomfortable sensations when resting at the junction of the two halves of the sofa, but this drawback is noticeable only if the quality of the construction is poor.
DIY Eurobook
In order to become the owner of a European miracle, you do not have to buy it. You can make a Eurobook yourself at home. When designing a sofa, you can use standard sizes or come up with a model with larger or smaller sizes.
How to make a Eurobook sofa with your own hands? Quite a lot of information has been written about this. For clarity, how to make a book sofa, you can use the drawing of a Eurobook sofa.
To make a sofa with your own hands with the desired size of a sleeping place you will need:
Sofa scheme
- mechanism for folding out the sofa;
- block (50 x 50mm);
- boards (150 x 50 mm);
- plywood (5 and 15 mm);
- glue (carpentry);
- glue for foam rubber;
- nails or screws;
- upholstery fabric and legs.
Instead of plywood, you can use chipboard or fiberboard. For the internal filling of the structure, you can use foam rubber or padding polyester.
The design of the sofa consists of:
- backrests;
- seats;
- armrests.
We make the foundation from the very beginning. Here you will need a board with dimensions of 150 x 50, the ends of which are fastened with bars. The board for the base can have different lengths, since the size of the bed can also be different. The bars are also attached to the corners of the base, so the structure will be more durable.
We saw slats into the base. The seat will be attached to them.
The seat and backrest are attached in the same way as the base. Only material (chipboard or fiberboard) is attached on both sides, top and bottom.
We cut 50 x 50 bars into the box at a distance of 100 mm. In order for the sofa to be foldable, we attach non-detachable hinges to its base. At the final stage, the legs are attached.
For a Eurobook sofa, you need to make two armrests, the dimensions of which must fit within the standard parameters, 900 x 200 x 550 mm. They can be made from the same fiberboard (chipboard). We attach the beams to them using screws. Then we connect them to the back and base. We fasten with nails, for reliability we coat the fastening with glue. This way it will be more reliable and durable. At the end of the work, we cover them with foam rubber. We attach batting to the back wall.
To be able to unfold the sofa, we attach a folding mechanism to the base and back. Thanks to this, the sofa will be easy to fold and unfold.
Operating principle of the mechanism
A detailed description of how the Eurobook sofa folds out will help simplify the process for people who have just purchased it.
- The back rests tightly against the wall and the sofa remains motionless while unfolding or folding.
- The front part of the seat extends “towards itself” all the way along guides, which can be made of hard wood or high-quality metal.
- The backrest lowers into the niche and fills the resulting space.
The operating principle of the Eurobook sofa mechanism (how it unfolds and folds) can be seen in the video.
Peculiarities
To be precise, there are no mechanical parts in this model at all. Rather, it is a structure that requires transformation in the process of being converted into a sleeping place or a relaxation area. Despite this, at furniture sales points, managers inform their customers about the following features of the mechanism:
- it turns out to be a flat sleeping place without height differences that are noticeable to the back;
- long and well-coordinated operation of the mechanism throughout its entire operational life under different modes;
- The design is quite simple, so there is practically nothing to break. And you can fix any problems yourself, without resorting to the services of a specialist.
The disadvantages include the following criterion. Due to the fact that the backrest sinks into a niche, for the convenience of daily layout, you should leave space between the sofa and the wall.
Advice! When choosing a Eurobook sofa in a store, you should pay attention to the legs. If there is a carpet on the floor, then it is better to give preference to the usual ones, in the form of a shank; if it is missing, wheels will help to avoid damage to the floor covering.
The Eurobook mechanism in sofas is like the design of the “book” model, but improved. It is practical, convenient, inexpensive, but still has disadvantages.
Customer Reviews
Most buyers speak positively about Eurobook sofas. They note the quality, durability, easy-to-use draw-out mechanism and practicality of materials. In general, buyers consider this option optimal and are satisfied with their choice.
Here is one of the reviews:
“We have a Eurobook - there’s nothing to break or creak, there are 4 hinges, the whole mechanism. A 1-year-old child sleeps like a starfish, the width of the sofa is 1.40 and is very comfortable to sleep in (the price is especially pleasing). When choosing, you need to make sure that the drawers are wide and deep (we have seen narrow and small ones) and 3 retractable wheels for supporting the berth (we have seen 2). When folded, the width of the sleeping place without pillows is 90 cm. And without side bolsters it turned out to be not very convenient - the pillow “moves away”, but we can build a house from the removable ones.”
Negative reviews are usually associated with low-quality products purchased at a minimal price. Having chosen the most budget option for a sofa with a Eurobook mechanism, people are left dissatisfied not with the mechanism itself, but with the materials and quality of its assembly. Therefore, when buying inexpensively, be more careful and check it in advance.
Types of models
When choosing a model in showrooms, sellers often display a wide range of this type of furniture. Its presence is justified by the manufacture of various types of Eurobook sofas, differing only in design.
Modern manufacturers produce models:
- without armrests. This is an option for small spaces, since it only provides for a sleeping place;
- with two armrests. The model will be 0.5 meters longer, but its advantage is the support of the pillow during sleep and the convenience of positioning on the sofa while relaxing in a sitting position;
- with one armrest. This is a compromise between the two previous models.
When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the quality of the armrests used and the finishing of the seams. Structural parts will help determine manufacturing methods: factory or private (non-compliance with GOST standards and technical specifications established by law), and avoid purchasing a model with a low service life.
Design differences by filling type
Eurobook sofas, which have the same type of mechanism, differ from each other in the filling. The service life and comfort of a person while resting in a horizontal position of the body depends on its type.
- Orthopedic block. The filler adapts to the shape of the body as accurately as possible, which provides support for the spine and evenly distributes the load on the body during sleep.
- Polyurethane foam. If the furniture will be used more for sitting than for sleeping, then when choosing, you should give preference to polyurethane foam, since it forms a hard sleeping place. Significant advantages are price and acceptable quality.
- Foam rubber. The filler is famous for its low performance properties. It quickly loses its shape and can release toxic substances. It is not recommended to purchase this type of filler if the furniture is planned to be used for a long time and for sleeping.
- Latex. Material made from natural substances. In terms of performance properties, it is comparable to a mattress with orthopedic blocks, and therefore provides the necessary conditions for comfortable sleep.
- Block of independent springs. The modification of the spring block consists of packaging each spiral in a separate case. This prevents squeaks and ensures even distribution of the load from body weight. A high-quality sofa must have at least 256 springs in its composition.
- Block of dependent springs. The so-called bonnel has a short service life and a noisy design, but a low price.
Sofa finishing
The assembly is complete, which means that you can move on to finishing the furniture. Foam rubber is used in sofas. Here it is also necessary to carry out all measurements especially accurately and clearly. The cut parts are attached to the frame using glue.
To complete the fabric finishing, you need to take measurements from the sofa and cut out samples. When this work is done, you can proceed to the manufacture of fabric upholstery parts. And the final touch is making the cover. The parts cut out of the material should be sewn on a machine and stretched onto the sofa.
The fabric for upholstery should be dense and of high quality. How long a handmade sofa will last depends on this.
