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Help me buy a bed
Organichu
poopspeesRegistered User regular
poopspeesRegistered User regular
I've tormented everyone in [chat] with this, but I've finally come to a decision on the size so I'm ready to dig into the meatier particulars. I'm getting a twin bed. I'm a fully grown man, I should have a bed that befits it etc etc but right now it's just not the best move. Not enough space or money, and this is in no way an investment. Twin it is.
I've slept on a floor (and sometimes a couch) since college. Before that it was a couch since when I was a kid. I've never bought a bed. Do I go to a big place like Mattress Giant? Sleepy's? Don't most of these guys work on commission? Give Organichu the scoop. I'll notice a big difference in quality over the floor even with a very cheap bed, right? It needn't be ornate or anything- just, you know, not the floor.
HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND AND WHERE SHOULD I BUY THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
I've slept on a floor (and sometimes a couch) since college. Before that it was a couch since when I was a kid. I've never bought a bed. Do I go to a big place like Mattress Giant? Sleepy's? Don't most of these guys work on commission? Give Organichu the scoop. I'll notice a big difference in quality over the floor even with a very cheap bed, right? It needn't be ornate or anything- just, you know, not the floor.
HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND AND WHERE SHOULD I BUY THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
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Costco is cheap but it takes a while for them to ship it.
When absolutely extended (stretching, pretty much) my feet maybe go an inch or so over the bottom (considering how I position my head on the pillow). So I'd say I fit realistically yes.
Are you planning on keeping the mattress for a prolonged time or are you planning on tossing it when you move/in a year or two? If you're tossing it in a year or two you can easily get a mattress for under $200 (the under $100 ones are pretty crappy from what I've seen). If you're planning on hanging onto it for 5+ years then I'd guess around $400+ for something pretty nice. Most of the time if you buy a mattress set from a store they'll throw the frame in along with the delivery.
Oh, also, if you haven't figured out, every mattress store has different names for the mattresses they sell, even though the mattress companies only make a few different tiers with some interchangable features and firmness levels. So ignore the model name and look at the label at the end of the mattress (Signature, Select, Premier, whatever). That usually won't change from store to store.
Just go to the stores and lay on the mattresses, it's the only way to know what's comfortable for you. As for frames and such, I don't even use a bed frame, my box spring is right on the floor.
PSN Hypacia
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You can buy a frame from Ikea. My bed frame is the Malm.
If you get something like that, with the slats for support, you don't need a box spring.
Don't get a mattress there though. Drive around to mattress stores in your area, actually lie down on the things and see what you want. Mattresses are one of the things in life you should never cheapen out on. You will be spending a ridiculous amount of time on this thing and it will last a very long time. If you can find a sale, great. But don't just get the cheapest one in the store. The difference in quality is very noticeable.
Talk to the sales people, but don't let them pressure you. Some can be rather pushy.
Amazon sells mattresses (usually through a third party) so at minimum you can compare prices. But yeah mattresses aren't cheap.
Bed costs where always weird to me, they seem to be one of those large ticket items that you should never buy unless it is on sale, because the sale prices are always 50% of the MSRP. I will second the thought that beds even on sale though aren't cheap, my extra firm queen ran me ~900 and that was sale price.
One thing to note, though, if you just want a quick, easy solution, is that some stores will give you a free frame. This is almost always just a couple of metal rails that you drop the boxspring into and then throw the mattress on top of, but if all you want is a cheap, comfortable place to sleep, it can be just perfect.
-N
Just bought a King-sized matress from them, with spring box sets, for under a grand. My wife and I both love the bed.
Also, if you go to Clark Howard's web site, he has some good tips for buying a bed. One of the most important ones is to lay on the bed for at least 20-30 minutes in the store. It takes a while to get your body to relax and really get a feel for the bed.
I bought my mattress last year. I didn't know where to go, so I looked up a few places on google maps and drove around a bit. I didn't really have a fixed budget, but I was thinking maybe $4-500. I had a cheap $150 queen size mattress a year earlier, but ditched it because it was so bad my inflatable mattress was more comfortable, so I knew I wanted to spend more than that.
Stores #1 and 2 had memory foam mattresses for $4-7 thousand dollars. Regular queen mattresses started at $450, and went way up from there. Jesus fuck. Even their cheapest twin mattress was over $200.
Store #3 though, just a few miles down the road, had prices more in line with what I would have expected. Twin mattresses started at just under $100, queens around $200. I would up with a memory foam queen, with boxspring, frame and delivery for $900. There's a huge disparity between stores in this industry for some reason, and you have to shop around to avoid getting screwed.
You can probably get a basic but good quality twin mattress for just over $100 (my estimate). All the things that make a bed expensive are completely unnecessary in your situation- like a pillow top, or isolated springs (so someone moving on one side of the bed doesn't shake the other side). Getting a used one off craigslist is an option too. It may sound nasty, but you check it out before you buy it to make sure it doesn't have any stains, and you can get a mattress to cover it anyway. If you have a university nearby, you can probably snag a decent one for $20-50 during the summer. They're generally just ditching them after sleeping on them for just a couple of years because it's easier than moving them, not because they fucked it up.
But if you get one new, go to the store, try a few out, but don't expect that to make the decision easy. If you've never slept on a bed before, you probably wouldn't even know what to expect. I've slept on a bed all my life and they all feel the same to me, when I'm lying on one after another for 10 seconds each. A lot of places will take it back within 30 days if you find you're not sleeping well on it and decide to get a firmer/softer one instead.
You'll need a boxspring too, and a frame. If you just stick your mattress on the floor, it will be less comfortable, and won't last as long (the springs will pop and you'll get hard lumps where they do). For a frame, just start with the collapsible metal frame that comes with the mattress. It's cheap and easy to move. If you want to fancy it up (now or when you have more money) you can add a bed skirt and headboard. Those metal frames generally have a place to attach one.
the difference is I have ridiculously little money to get one
and no way to transport a mattress
guess it's the floor for old raneados
Not going to lie... I have this in king which is what you probably saw.
I also have http://www.stearnsandfoster.com/core_product.aspx one of these in queen and one of http://www.sealy.com/Posturepedic/posturepedic.aspx.
The Tempurpedic is absolutely the best mattress I have ever slept on, but my wife wonders if we should have just stacked 5000 $1 bills in a square, threw a sheet on it and slept. It's expensive as shit, but the only mattress that both of us liked - she is all about soft and I am all about hard. This bed is strange, it's really hard when you get it but after two weeks it's like sinking into sand when you sleep and it holds you tight. I have seriously gotten better deeper night sleeps but that might be because ...
...my wife loves her top of the line Sealy Posturepedic pillow top mattress. She had it when we dated and it made it to our first rented house as "the main bed". I hate it. It's like sleeping on a potato sack filled with rocks and water balloons. The consistency is off across the bed, it's not uniform in it's uncomfortableness.
When I dated my wife at first, I lived on an Ikea futon. I didn't even unfold it, I just threw a sheet on it when I was sleeping. For the first two years it was brilliant, then the mattress started to get beat down and a prior girlfriend was *big* - we refer to her as the two slater because doing our business on the futon broke two slates. By the time I went thru two back to back large girlfriends, my wife and I finished the futon off when it folded in on all sides and trapped one very surprised basset hound in the middle.
She made me buy a real bed. I bought the Sterns and Fosters because it's what my parents have. It's the third best mattress I ever had. I have slept on the twins as well... damn they are nice but you have to like harder mattresses.
So I'm pretty much forthing what everyone here is saying.
Asiina is correct.
The average person spends 1/4 to 1/3 of their life asleep. How is that NOT important? Shop around. There are some less expensive deals on demos occasionally. That may be the way to go. I helped my ex gf find a 1500$ Queen mattress for 750$ YMMV but Its worth a shot.
Don't be afraid to try out and find the firmness you prefer. That's what furniture stores are there for.
Craigslist and find a friend to help you bring it home. Seriously dude. Sanitize it first though. Sleeping on the floor will take it's toll on your mind and your body eventually.
Why are the Ikea mattresses so terrible? I admit I've looked at them, and kind of understand, but the cheap and lazy guy in me wants one-stop shopping.
Honestly, in the last 5 years, I spent half that time on a daybed with a broken frame, and the other half on a futon with no support, so pretty much anything will be a blessing to my back at this point.
What can you afford? It's seriously worth it to buy a decent mattress.
Hardly anything.
XA52's advice is pretty much it at this point if you don't have any spare cash. And I honestly sympathize for you. It's really rough for too many people right now.
Do you have a bedmart or some sort of bed as their main item that they are selling? You might check there first. But the bottom of the line stuff is around 200$. So that might not work so well for you. You might be able to pick something decent up off of cragislist though for that price. I've found some good deals on craigslist before.
This. In my experience you get a better price in stores that just have a smallish showroom with only beds. Prices are generally just higher for some reason on beds from department stores and furniture stores. You can probably call a few out of the phone book and ask for price ranges to save your self some driving around.
Regarding frames and one-stop shopping, I don't know how much a bed frame is from Ikea, but you can get a fold-up metal frame and boxspring for cheap from any store that sells mattresses. Some of them will deliver for free/cheap, for the people who mentioned not having a car. A bedskirt and headboard are optional, but will make it look as respectable as a wooden bed frame. The whole thing comes out a lot cheaper than even an Ikea frame, and any spring mattress will last longer on a boxspring.
Useless- That's the one. I don't understand why you'd want a pillowtop on a memory foam mattress. It's not like a regular mattress where the 2 components are different- you've got the springs, and then the top is padding. On a foam mattress, the main mattress is foam, and the "pillowtop" is more foam. I guess they need to justify the $5000 price tag somehow. Anyway, I got a 8" memory foam offbrand with frame and boxspring for <$1000, and I'm completely satisfied, for the same reasons you mentioned. It's thinner than the tempurpedic, but me and my SO are not big people so it's fine.
Some things to keep in mind…
1. Lay on the mattress like you would sleep, if it bothers you that the sales person is near buy then ask him for some space. If you really can’t get over it, there is usually a return policy if you are not satisfied, but ask to be sure.
2. the mattress should conform to support the curves in your body, you should not be able to slip your hand between the arch of your back. if you can, then there is not enough support.
3. You need a box spring; over 60% of the support in the bed is carried by the box spring. If you throw a new mattress on an old box spring, you will have a crappy worn out mattress in record time.
4. Box springs vs. foundations. A foundation is just an upholstered wooden box; it raises the height of the mattress but provides no additional support. A box spring has springs in side of it and helps support the load. If you have the option goes with the box spring
5. Get the twin extra long, if you come close to the end of the bed then it will drive you nuts, hanging off and pulling out the covers. It doesn’t cost that much more.
6. Look for double sided mattresses, as previously said there is a movement in the industry to have single sided mattresses that they state means "no more flipping" but actually means "half the effective life of your product"
7. Look for warranties; many mattresses have a pro-rated warranty against welling. Under normal use, which includes flipping and rotating the mattress, the mattress should not have significant body impressioning. Some is expected, but you should not be falling into a hole when you climb into your bed.
8. The arm test. if lying flat on a properly supportive mattress, if you put your arms strait up, like a zombie, it should be difficult for some one else to push them down to your side. If the mattress is not supportive, it will be easy to push them down.
9. Buy from a local store. Not only is this good because it supports your local businesses which is nice, but if you have a problem they are right there to help you.
10. Its going to cost you a few hundred bucks, be prepared. Look for sales and comparison shop. Buy cheap and get cheap.
Bonus: Let the sales person help you, if they are a dick then walk away and find a better one. But give them a chance.
Good luck!
Does anyone know how much a delivery like that would cost from the store?
It was a "lay on every single bed and pick the one we both liked..." shopping trip.
We liked that one the best based on firmness. This is one of the harder foam mattresses.
We purposely shopped by laying for the first round, not looking at price or brand etc.
As far as the ikea stuff goes... I slept on a ikea futon mattress for three years. loved it.
Third year it was starting to get bad though.
So for three years if it is in your price range then go for.