The Vine: February 19, 2010
Sars —
I need a bed. I thought you and your readers might have some good suggestions for me.I have never purchased one before and after several frustrating hours of scouring sites for good deals, I need some help narrowing down my options.
My only stipulations are that it must be queen- or king-sized and inexpensive, but not something that will fall apart in a few months.My price range is only $500-$600 tops.
I have found some that look promising, like this one, but most of the beds I have looked at online do not have any reviews, and I do not want to make a large purchase and find out it’s a piece o’ crap.
I can sleep on pretty much anything (spring mattress or memory foam or even the floor) so softness/hardness really isn’t an issue.Even a particular store would be great, as I am a bit nervous about the whole delivery aspect.Any advice you or your readers have would be greatly appreciated.
Sleepy
Dear Sleepy,
With the disclaimers that 1) I like a rock-hard mattress, and the poured-concrete beds they have in prison actually look pretty comfortable to me, but 2) it doesn’t really matter, because I always fall asleep in some crazy position with a book on my head and cats fighting for behind-the-knee space…
I got mine at Sears — a firm queen mattress and a slim box spring (I don’t love a bed that sits up too high) ran me about $800 total including tax and delivery/carting out the old stuff. I’d just buy it online and get it delivered; in my experience, doing a “test nap” in the store doesn’t really tell you much.
If you aren’t a finicky sleeper, don’t bother getting a super-fancy mattress; any basic Sealy-type model will give you ten decent years as long as you turn it semi-regularly and use a box spring with it.(I would be wary of “sleep systems” that tell you they obviate the need for a box spring; box springs do serve a purpose, and even if you plan to put your bed on the floor, you should get one.)
The only other issue I can see is what kind of sheets you have currently, and whether you plan to replace them.I find that it’s actually more difficult now to find standard fitted sheets, versus the ones made extra-deep for the pillow-top mattresses, so if you don’t care either way and it’s the same price, you could spring for the pillow-top just so your fitted sheets don’t go on loosely and form ridges on you during the night.
Readers, any thoughts on basic mattresses, or the companies that deliver them?
Tags: Ask The Readers retail
@Katie: I worked with a gal who sold mattresses, and she said the box spring is key to the life of the upper mattress. Without it, the one you sleep on wears out *much* faster. She suggested getting something called a “bunky board” if you absolutely must forgo the box springs, but even that could void the warranty of a mattress intended for use with a box springs. Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t sleeping with perfect comfort on a mattress on the rug, but that’s the reason for all the fuss apparently.
No one has mentioned Walmart yet… We ordered a king size memory foam from Walmart.com that was actually harder than concrete, and keeping it was just out of the question. Walmart agreed to pick it up. (That took a little doing, as the mattress had arrived compressed in a box, but we obviously had unfurled this punching-bag-sized mass of foam into acres of mattress.) Once they understood, Wal had their freight company send over a van and a couple strong college kids who wrestled the monstrosity down our stairs, and shortly thereafter we had our refund. It’s an option if you’re afraid of being stuck with an unsleepable bed. Their less-expensive queen memory foam ended up being a keeper, by the way.
I also went the Ikea route for a frame. I typically assemble things without so much as a backward glance at the manual, but that frame… was a bitch. Looks great, sturdy and inexpensive, but definitely a hassle to assemble. Be forewarned!
I’ve found the website Sleep Like the Dead () to be considerably more useful than the broader-based consumer/review sources; it assesses everything sleep-related, from mattresses to sleeping pills to sleep masks. It was really useful to me when I was trying to evaluate mattresses for my temperamental elderly father. No affiliation, just found it helpful.
Get a Costco membership, and don’t look back. Our current bed came from there, and it cost about $500, boxspring and all. Because we bought it in store rather than online, they didn’t deliver it, though we just rented one of those “in town moves” rental trucks (which was dirt cheap), and got it from the store to our home in about 1 hour flat.
I believe our old bed (a Serta purchased from a fancy furniture store) cost us more, and that was about 7 years ago.
@emilygrace – I love, love, love my pillows. They are the Pearl White line of hypodown pillows from Ogallala Comfort Company. They aren’t cheap. but they are the best pillows I’ve ever used. The hypodown is really neat stuff – it’s hypoallergenic, and does a great job of staying lofty and squishy while being supportive. I didn’t know anything about them before receiving them as a gift from my MIL (she carries them in her furniture store) but I heartily recommend them to anyone looking for a good pillow. I even use one of their king sized pillows as a body pillow – they’re that supportive. Definitely an investment, but worth it, IMBO.
Info from the company: http://www.ogallalacomfortcompany.com/Sleeping%20Pillows.htm
Info from one retailer I found online: http://www.comforthouse.com/alfrehyppil.html
IKEA! We have an ikea matteress and it’s SO freaking comfortable, especially for how cheap it was. I live in the UK now so it was about £100 when we bought it 3 years ago for a double (Queen) size. It’s one of the Sultan sprung mattresses, but for the life of me I can’t remember which one. I would just go to ikea and lie down on a few to see what you like best.
The only thing is that we have trouble fitting any non-ikea sheets to it because it’s slightly bigger than standard UK Queen size, but I think it might actually be the same as US standard Queen size, so that may not be a problem. Also, ikea sheets are fine with me anyway, so it’s what you like really. We’ve got it on a Mandal bed frame and that’s pretty good too. It’s solid wood anyway, so it’s not a piece of crap like the particle board thing we had before it.
I’ve had good luck with Sears, and their delivery (here in NYC) has been mostly great. [I’ve ordered several appliances, and the delivery is always efficient and on time.] I think my mattress (I ended up not going with a box spring) was about $300, on sale, and watch for sales, Sears are always having them. I say “mostly great” on the delivery, because I had originally planned to get a box spring, but on delivery, it wouldn’t fit up the stairs of my old house, so the delivery guys recommended the split box option (two half-width box springs). Those delivery guys then proceeded to tell me that the delivery of the two split box springs would occur *faster* if I just kept the full-width box spring that they had brought today (and then gave it to the future guys that brought the split box spring). [the truck of the current guys was empty and they apparently didn’t feel like returning to the warehouse.] Heh! So the lessons are: measure your doorways, stairs, etc. for the box spring, and beware of bullshit from the delivery guys. :)
Wow, hot topic!
My husband and I bought a queen mattress set from Denver Mattress company back in early 2007. We visited about six different mattress stores, and Denver was by far the cleanest and most professional store.
We’ve just got the steel box foundation and the mattress on the floor, no frame at all, and it’s pretty tall! Also comes with a pretty reasonable 10-year warranty. We’re really happy with it.
When we moved into our new place we went to Sleepys and our salesman was helpful in the end but we did have to do alot of Good Cop/Bad Cop haggling in order to get what we wanted (around $600.00/comfy). The salesmen was trying to up-sell us into a $3,000.00 bed, and I’d flat out refuse to even discuss it. I asked about their $400.00 and under models, and they took us into the back room and showd us beds that belonged in the Bates Motel, or a hostel. Finally, after close to an hour, the salesman “realized” that they had some clearence matresses/boxspring sets in stock that were identical to the $1,500.00 models out on the floor but could be had for $600.00. If you’re willing to haggle, and flat out say no, you can get a good deal.
We did end up with a pillowtop, which we’d never had before. It’s soft, and comfy, but you can’t flip it which I think will shorten the life of the matress. Good luck!