Our mother moved in with us and I wanted to set up her room more like a little apartment.  This bed was perfect for the purpose intended.  We used a regular sized pillow top twin mattress.  There is room on the ends but I like it that way because it makes it easy to tuck in all the blankets.   It is a "large" piece as others have mentioned, so wouldn't work as well in a small room.   We are using the "trundle" area for storage, which is great because it holds a lot.  I think it looks like a nice oversized couch and is an attractive piece of furniture.  She absolutely loves it.  As do our dogs. ;)