Today we’re taking a look at the IKEA Holmsund, which is one of the current sofa beds or sleeper sofas available in IKEA stores worldwide.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Basics
2. How does it sit?
3. What about sleep?
4. Conclusion
5. Assembly guide
Basics
It’s essentially an updated Friheten, with extra throw pillows, wedged armrests, and a higher price tag. Just like the Friheten sofa bed, the Holmsund comes in two different configurations – a 3-seater sleeper sofa and a sectional sofa bed that comes with a chaise.
The 3-seater starts from US$949, while the sectional sleeper starts from US$999.
As for cover choice, you’re quite limited if you prefer the original IKEA covers as you only have a choice of 4 colours:
- Orrsta light white-grey
- Orrsta light blue
- Nordvalla medium grey (reminds me of our Textured Weave Charcoal)
- Nordvalla beige (Everyday Linen Cream!)
Each configuration comes with hidden storage space as well. For the 3-seater, that’s under the seats. For the sectional sleeper, that’s under the chaise.
The fun thing about the chaise is that you can put it on either the left or right of the sofa, and switch it up at any time. The covers allow for this as well 🙂
Its sofa legs are quite short, almost making it feel like you’re sitting on the floor. This is unlike the Friheten sofa bed, which proudly shows its legs off.
How does it sit?
The Holmsund is really deep. With throw pillows for a back rest, you could make a nest out of the sofa, and my 6’2″ frame sat comfortably all the way back. The armrests are well-placed and comfortable, although you aren’t going to be able to sit on them like a Kivik’s armrest.
Comfort-wise though, the Holmsund is an acquired taste. The padding is firm, without being hard. If you like sitting IN your sofa, this is probably not for you. I personally liked it though, but then again I value strong support (over being swallowed whole).
My friend says that loads of extra pillows can make the Holmsund really comfy, but I find that more than 5 are an issue for clumsy me.
What about sleep?
You should expect the same firm rest on the bed as well. However, on the 3-seater sofa bed, the seat portion moves forward, while the backrest folds down to join the seat and form a bed. I didn’t quite like this gap and found it rather irritating on occasion.
With the sectional sleeper (with chaise), the bed part pulls up from underneath the seat. Same as with IKEA’s Friheten and Manstad sofa beds. I preferred this as it was a lot easier to pull out, though some may fear that the mechanism might not last the test of time.
The bed is a double or full size, not quite a queen size bed. Source your sheets with care if you use them.
Comfort Works tip: I bought a cheap memory foam topper and this improved sleep immensely. If you still get complaints from your friend, pass them a couple more beers before they head to sleep.
Conclusion
Pricier, classy looking, a really deep seat, and a firm supportive padding. Also has slipcovers or sofa covers, but I didn’t quite like the polyester from IKEA – they were a little rough and uncomfortable.
I’d still get it as I entertain on occasion, but if you’re a bachelor on the high end of the height scale, go for the Friheten instead.
Aesthetics: 7/10
Comfort: 7/10
Durability: 8/10
Price: 6/10
Luckily, we now make slipcovers for the Holmsund sofabed with chaise and the 3-seater too!
If you found this review helpful and want to find out more about other IKEA sofa models, click the button below for the best IKEA sofa reviews!
23 Comments
by Russell
Hey Chris. Great article. I’m still trying to decide between the Friheten and the Holmsund corner sofa bed with chaise.
My breakdowns come to the following:
Holmsund better because:
– Removeable covers mean better cleaning AND ability to maybe do easier repairs (take off cover, repair the wood, and put cover back on. Im guessing this may be hard on the friheten)
– The arm rests are a bonus for sofa use. It might feel odd not to have an arm rest on one side. Sofa use is 95%, and 5% sofa bed maybe.
– the smaller cushions might help when adding more cushions. easier to blend in. Especially as both sofas will need more cushions on the side part if you want to use it as a proper corner sofa.
Friheten is better because:
– Slightly cheaper
– the lack of arm rest will prevent anyone sitting on them and breaking them
– the bigger cushions feel more like a traditional sofa.
– the material “looks” a nicer pattern of grey. I cant tell though as ive not seen the Holmsund in person. Photos can be misleading. some of the ikea photos actually make them look similar, others they look different. Grrr.
– Friheten has SOOO many reviews online. I can barely find any Holmsund ones from customers. Is it because its so new? Im a little concerned, will the slipcovers still be on sale years later when I may need one? The friheten certainly looks like it will be around for long judging by how long so far. This could be a pointless worry though. Might call IKEA and ask.
What are your thoughts. Can you think of any other differences?
by Chris
Thanks for the compliment, Russell!
For the Holmsund and Friheten, both have removeable covers and you can completely disassemble both sofas as well.
I prefer the armrests on the Holmsund as a sofa, but as a bed I like the Friheten because there isn’t an armrest. #tallpeopleproblems
And yes, the Holmsund is rather new compared to the Friheten, which has been around for several years at this point. I suppose it’d come down to your living space as well as your use case. Will this be a bed for you very often, and if so, are you okay with an armrest potentially blocking your feet?
Is your living space more conservative or trendy / modern? I think the Friheten suits a more conservative living room, and the Holmsund looks great if you’re going more modern.
Do head down to IKEA and test them out in person though, especially the comfort and seating. We’ll be offering replacement sofa covers for both the Friheten sofa-bed and Holmsund sofa-bed for a very long time, so even if IKEA discontinues the sofa soon, we’ve got you covered!
Hope this helps!
by Sophie
The Friheten sofa does not have removable covers. The material is stapled into place underneath. We tried both the Holmsund and Friheten out at Ikea as we couldn’t choose which sleeper sectional we want. The Friheten looks great, very MCM, but the Holmsund feels great (big difference when tested in store). The deciding factor that we will likely get a Holmsund: it’s the only one that has removable covers in case you need to change them because there may or may not be a cat in your household that scratches furniture – ahem. Thank you for writing one of the only reviews I could find on the Holmsund sleeper sectional.
by Chuck
You’re right Sophie – the original Friheten sofa is indeed upholstered, but we do make and sell removable replacement slipcovers for the Friheten corner sofa bed 🙂
While IKEA still currently still sells replacement covers for the Holmsund for now, if and when should the model be discontinued then it’s going to be quite difficult – so it’s always good to have one or two aftermarket slipcover makers in mind.
Because slipcovers for both the Holmsund and Friheten exist, I’d personally go for the Friheten but that’s just me – check out the different fitting slipcovers we make for the Friheten corner sofa bed here: http://comfort-works.com/en/friheten-sofa-covers-115
Hope this helps!
by Calli
Hey there! I just ordered a Holmsund and saw your review. When do you think you’ll be having the slipcovers for this available? I’m excited to spice it up!
by Chuck
Hey Calli!
The Holmsund is still relatively new but we’d think sometime around the 3rd quarter of this year is possible 🙂
Hope to get it in sooner!
by Kerry
Hi,
I just found your site. We purchased the L-shaped Holmsund this summer. It is a great couch and is especially great to pull out the sofa bed to get cozy on the couch and watch a movie for all 4 of us( 2 adults and 2 kids). I am hoping to get a cover for it that is more like leather. We have kids and despite all of the Scotch guard fabric protector coats we sprayed, we have stains that won’t budge. We laundered them and the stains remain:(. If you ever design stain resistant covers for the l-shaped couch, that would be fabulous. I hope so.
Best,
Kerry
by Chuck
Hey Kerry!
We wouldn’t recommend bycast leather or leather in general for the Holmsund couch mainly due to the shape of the arms – the rest of the body is fine. Reason being, the more curvy the sofa is – the less perfect leather covers would work on it as it needs to be snug to look good. If it isn’t snug enough, it wouldn’t look tailored and just looks cheap and sloppy.
However, if you’re looking for a stain resistant fabric our Liege (Eggshell and Biscuit) fabrics have that property that may help 🙂
Do check out all our fabric swatches here: http://comfort-works.com/en/home/fabric-samples-24
That way you can get some and feel/touch the fabrics in person to get a better idea if they’d work for your household.
Hope this helps!
by Katie
Hi. I bought the Holmsund chaise sleeper this weekend. When I pull the bed out I noticed that if you sit on the edge it collapses in. I can’t figure out if I missed a step or what happened. I’ve scoured the internet and can’t find an answe. Do you have any suggestions?
by Chuck
Hi Katie!
Not too sure what you mean actually – have you tried looking at the instructions to see if you might have indeed missed a step?
by Megan
We have the same problem Katie. Did you find a solution?