There’s a Queen-Size Bed Inside This Beanbag Chair
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Like many other people, I had a beanbag chair in my room as a child (the cover was a hot-pink cheetah print with my name embroidered on it). But I got rid of it somewhere along the way to adulthood and hadn’t really thought about beanbag chairs again until recently, when I started doing research for a story about air-mattress alternatives and discovered Cordaroys, a brand that makes “convertible” beanbag chairs.
What makes them convertible is that the stuffing is actually a full-, queen-, or king-size “mattress” (it’s more of a giant extra-thick pillow) that’s filled with shredded memory foam and can be unfurled for someone to sleep on. I tested a queen-size Cordaroys for about three months, lounging in the chair while watching TV and sleeping on the bed or using it for a cozy movie night on the floor. I honestly never expected to love the huge, cushy orb quite so much.
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Switching between the chair and the bed is easy
The Cordaroys beanbag chair arrived in a box similar to the ones that bed-in-a-box mattresses ship in, but slightly smaller. The inner bed was compressed and rolled up, and the outer cover was in a separate bag. Once I got everything out of the packaging, I followed the provided instructions to stuff the bed into the cover, which is how you make it into a beanbag chair.
This process involved some trial and error the first time, but it’s not too difficult and just takes a few minutes. The inner bed is kind of like a duvet filled with shredded memory foam instead of down. You fold the corners into the center to make it into a roundish shape. Then you zip open the cover and wrap it around the folded bed. I have done it alone, but it’s definitely easier with help from a second person. Once the bed is inside the cover, the chair will need some fluffing and shaping to get it fully settled. To use it as a bed, all you have to do is unzip the cover and unfurl the bed from inside.
My Cordaroys is a queen, which refers to the dimensions of the inner bed, but it’s pretty big even when the bed is zipped in the cover — about 48-by-48 inches. You’ll need at least the same amount of floor space as you would for a regular armchair. It’s easily large enough for an adult to lounge in or for two adults to squish into together.
Cordaroys does offer multiple sizes — the exact model I have also comes in a full and king, plus the brand makes a slightly smaller kids’ size (it’s currently sold out) and gigantic family-size beanbags with an eight-foot diameter. There are a variety of color and fabric options, too. I have the plush corduroy cover, which is exactly what it sounds like; other options include chenille, terry corduroy, faux fur, faux leather, chinchilla (a supersoft faux fur), and cloud (a textured faux fur).
And both are surprisingly comfortable
Though it’s certainly not the most attractive piece of “furniture,” the Cordaroys is undeniably extremely comfortable, and my partner, Sam, and I quickly became obsessed with it. Long after I had what I needed for the air-mattress story, we were still using it all the time, letting it take up a significant amount of floor space in our living room. When we moved to a new apartment in October, we ultimately prioritized bringing it with us. It’s perfectly suited for watching TV, and it’s now Sam’s default gaming chair.
The inner bed is not only useful as a makeshift guest bed, it’s what makes the Cordaroys such a comfortable place to recline. (It’s also part of what makes it worth the high price tag compared to other beanbag chairs). The memory-foam fill makes the beanbag feel much more cushioning and supportive than the Styrofoam-bead-filled type I had as a kid. There’s just a lot more heft to it, which means you can really sink into it and feel supported without slowing descending toward the floor.
And the bed is surprisingly comfortable to sleep on. It’s not necessarily the guest bed you’d want to offer your mother-in-law when she visits, but it’s a solid option for kids or younger adults. It feels a bit like a more substantial version of a mattress topper on the floor. It also reminds me of shredded memory foam pillows, which use the same type of fill to provide a mix of support and cushioning, without feeling as stiff as a solid slab of foam. The cover of the bed is made from a polyester-cotton blend, which is reasonably soft to sleep on directly. However, I’d make it up with actual bedding if I were actually using it for a guest.
Between the coziness of sitting in the beanbag chair and the convenience of being able to pull a spare bed out of it, the Cordaroys would make an excellent gift for a kid or an adult who wants a loungy place to sit. I know that beanbag chairs aren’t to everyone’s taste, but I do think it looks reasonably nice for a beanbag chair. It could be an especially great addition to a tween’s bedroom or college student’s dorm room, because it’s so easy to pull out for a sleepover or movie night. And even better, it’s 30 percent off right now (with the code BFCM30) as part of Cordaroys’s holiday sale.
More convertible bean bags from Cordaroys
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