Dezeen Magazine

Futon in North Bank

Eight interiors that show the versatility of futons and daybeds

Our latest lookbook explores how futons and daybeds can offer a tempting spot for relaxation in different residential interior settings.

By providing a place to sit, lie down or take a nap with a compact footprint, the humble futon, and its more sophisticated cousin the daybed, can be a useful tool for interior designers.

Our selection of projects below includes various ideas for how they can be deployed, from corridors and cosy reading nooks to living-room centrepieces.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring sculptural coffee tables, statement rugs and oversized sofas.


Longhouse in Victoria, Australia designed by Partners Hill
Photography by Shantanu Starick

Longhouse, Australia, by Partners Hill

A plushy daybed next to a woodburning stove provides a warm spot to rest in the living room of this sprawling home and restaurant in the Victorian bush, designed by architecture studio Partners Hill.

The base is made from Australian cypress pine, while the cushion's pale blue is intended to invoke summery blue skies even in the depths of winter.

Find out more about Longhouse ›


Living room in North Bank house
Photo by Jill Tate

North Bank, UK, by Elliot Architects

A futon languidly festooned with sheepskin rugs, throws and cushions occupies a corner of the double-height living, dining and kitchen area of this barn-like house in north-east England's Tyne Valley designed by Elliot Architects.

It is nestled in the crook of a large square window, providing views of the surrounding countryside and ample natural light for reading.

Find out more about North Bank ›


Daybed in the Koda Suite
Photo by Bryan W Ferry

Daunt's Albatross, USA, by Home Studios

In the Koda Suite of the Daunt's Albatross boutique hotel in Montauk, New York, a chunky daybed hides behind a linen curtain.

It forms part of Brooklyn-based Home Studios's attempt to create the feeling of a "remote family home" through its overhaul of the former motel.

Find out more about Daunt's Albatross ›


Living area in a London flat designed by Intervention Architecture
Photo by Tom Bird

Poirot's Bijou Apartment, UK, by Intervention Architecture

Poirot's Bijou Apartment – named because it occupies a space in the London building in which Agatha Christie's fictional moustachioed detective lived – demonstrates how the daybed can be a space-saving device.

Intervention Architecture created a bespoke plywood piece that can double up as a sofa, store flatpack stools and even wheel forwards to support the bottom end of a fold-down double bed.

Find out more about Poirot's Bijou Apartment ›


Apartment A by Atelier Dialect
Photo by Piet-Albert Goethals

Apartment A, Belgium, by Atelier Dialect

Designed by Belgian studio Atelier Dialect, this ultra-luxe Antwerp apartment features two daybeds. In the living room, a black leather De Sede DS-80 contrasts with the room's cool, hard, cement-washed surfaces.

Another huge, grooved daybed upholstered in brown velvet, designed by Jonas Van Put, occupies a raised platform behind a gauzy white curtain in the snug.

Find out more about Apartment A ›


Mount Tobias house by IDS/R ArchitectureMount Tobias house by IDS/R Architecture
Photo by Eric Petschek

Mount Tobias holiday home, USA, by IDSR Architecture

ISDR Architecture founders Todd Rouhe and Maria Ibañez de Sendadiano designed their own custom daybeds for their holiday home in the Catskills.

The daybeds occupy a brightly lit mezzanine loft space and are dressed with cushions and rugs from Danish brand Vipp.

Find out more about this Mount Tobias holiday home ›


Living area in the Nova Residence
Photo by Keith Isaacs

Nova Residence, USA, by Harding Huebner

Nova Residence, a hillside house in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains designed by local architecture studio Harding Huebner, contains possibly the most famous daybed of all time.

Set among several other modernist and mid-century furniture pieces in the open-plan living area is a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona daybed, whose tan colour contributes to a palette intended to mirror the terrain outside.

Find out more about Nova Residence ›


Apartment in London's Television Centre, designed by Waldo Works
Photo by Michael Sinclair

Television Centre Penthouse, UK, by Waldo Works

Design studio Waldo Works pursued a retro aesthetic with the interiors for this penthouse apartment in London's 1960s Television Centre.

In one section of the corridor, a tall shelving unit carrying leafy plants screens two pixel-print daybeds, forming an unexpected reading nook or children's play area.

Find out more about Television Centre Penthouse ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring sculptural coffee tables, statement rugs and oversized sofas.