Wednesday 5 July 2017

The New Bed

After about sixteen years or so (this is embarrassing), we have treated ourselves to a new mattress and box spring. Our first one was good and perhaps that's why it has lasted so long, although we have flipped it and turned it pretty regularly. But we are both over fifty and each have our own list of aches and pains that husband thought might be remedied by a new bed (personally, I just think we both need to get back in much better shape).

So, off we went to a furniture store in a nearby town and tried out several different mattresses. It was quite the Goldilocks moment with , "This one is too hard" and "This one is too soft" and so on. We both agreed on a Kingsdown Prestige something-or-other which was naturally one of the most expensive ones (do you really get what you pay for when it comes to mattresses?) and proceeded to order it. It would not be able to be delivered until we had vacation time off work because we don't have one of those jobs where we can just not come in, but instead wait around the house until a delivery is made in the middle of the day. Nor do we have a grandmother figure who can hang out in our house and wait until a delivery is made in the middle of the day.

We have a queen sized bed. We would love a king sized bed, but our century plus old home was not constructed to allow for huge pieces of furniture to be moved up and down stairs. Nor is our bedroom the size of a small apartment, like I see in pictures of gorgeous McMansion bedrooms. We do not have a seating area in our bedroom. We do not have a fireplace in our bedroom. We do not have an ensuite (I just roll my eyes when I was decorating / makeover / house hunter type shows where someone says. "I have  to have an ensuite."). What we do have is a small bedroom with two big old long windows and a small closet that make furniture arrangement darn near impossible.

Then the grand shuffle is about to occur. Our "old" bed will be moved into tall skinny son's even smaller room to replace the double he sleeps on (he could really use the extra length), then his bed gets moved to 21-year-old's room which was the room it was originally stolen from because she is away most of the year, so she got the "crappy" mattress. Then "crappy" mattress will be advertised as "perfect for the cottage" and someone will come and gleefully give us a little money and take away what we don't want, nor have room to store.

So, here is what we shall recline upon this evening:

Cue soprano choir.

Of course, we'll cover it with the obligatory you-need-to-buy-it-or-your-warranty-is-null-and-void mattress cover and freshly washed linens.

So, do you treat yourselves to new mattresses a lot more often than we do? Have you found the perfect bed? Are you lucky enough to have a stadium sized bedroom so you can do that whole decorator perfection look? Do your kids get stuck on the less than perfect mattresses because they weigh less than you? Do you get your forty winks, or do you slowly pry yourselves out of bed in the morning feeling less than rested? Go ahead, and share your bedroom secrets!

38 comments:

  1. I bought a new mattress when I moved to the old house. After 30 years I moved here and bought another mattress. I think it will see me through the old folks home.

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  2. Hubby and I are sleeping on the same king-sized mattress we bought 11 years ago when we moved into this house. This old farmhouse has a split staircase, and it took some tricky maneuvering for the moving guys to get the box springs and mattress up into our room. My neck hurts nearly every morning, and I think we probably need a new mattress too, but I dread the thought of putting the furniture deliverers through that ordeal again. We're gutting it out for a little while longer. Hope you have a great night's sleep!

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    1. Furniture mover is on my short list of jobs I would never want!!

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  3. If I have a great night's sleep it will be the first time in ages that I have. Normally, I don't whinge. I haven't slept in my own bed since 2013 when I had a stroke. I'm not the best person to ask. Reading books is my best subject. Don't bother reading Angels and Demons. You'd hate it. Go for a book by Stephen Leather instead.
    One question: Do I get biscuits on the porch with you? Lol. I've been dying to ask that.

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    1. I am sorry to hear that. A good night's sleep seems to be elusive for many people. I did read Angels and Demons, but I liked the first one better. I don't think I know Stephen Leather. I'll have to look him up. Yes you could get biscuits (cookies in Canada)if you like, or tea instead of coffee, or a beer. At the moment, you might get a strawberry muffin!

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    2. Strawberry muffin sounds good. Don't feel sorry for me. That's not what I want. Coffee is better than tea though.

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  4. We spent a lot of money on a luxurious new mattress a few years ago. It wasn't until we spent a night on it we discovered we both rolled into the middle. Wonderfully comfortable for one person but too soft for two. My next bed will definitely be King Size.

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    1. Was it one of those memory foam ones? They are called Tempurepedic mattresses here. We didn't like how spongy it felt. It is a real treat when we travel somewhere and get to sleep on a king size mattress.

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  5. 2 in the last 37 years. Didn't really make a difference so I will probably stick with this one till the end.

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    1. So now I'm thinking that people don't really change up their mattresses as frequently as I thought they did.

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  6. Jenn,I can't seem to find the perfect mattress for myself. I want it to be firm yet soft to sleep on. I just saw a feather bed on the bed at the cottage we stayed at in Michigan...that might be the answer. Wishing you many good nights of restful sleep. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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    1. We slept on a feather topper at a beautiful hotel (it was our anniversary, I think) which I loved so much that I ended up buying one from the Home Shopping Channel (like your QVC). The only problem is you have to puff it up every night before you sleep on it. We stopped using it years ago, but our daughter has used it on and off. Mind you, she is tiny and can sleep on anything!!

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  7. We inherited my parents new mattress 9 years ago, after they passed. They had it about 2 years. So we will be making the plunge, possibly next year. I do flip it once a month. I guess that kind of helps.

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  8. I would have come to your house and waited for the delivery. Call on me next time. I had a water bed for years and really loved it but it sprang a leak!

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    1. Oh, that is very sweet, but you'd have to drive about three hours to get to us! My friend had a water bed and my husband and I slept on it when we stayed with her. I was not a fan, but then I'm not great on a boat, either.

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  9. We are def in the market for a new mattress...every 10 years is our motto! No pillowtop for us this time...you can't flip them over! Only rotate!
    Hope you find this new one luxurious...we sleep in a KING on the road too...way too big for me...I like to be able to at least see my boyfriend in the bed! hahaha!
    Enjoy your evening...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. Ah yes, that would make sense that you can't flip a pillowtop!

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  10. We got a new mattress a few years back, our old one was God only knows how old. I kept waking up with backaches so we bought a new one. Not too expensive, but I have to say I don't wake up with backaches any more. Everything else hurts, but my back feels good.

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    1. Ha, funny. Well, let's hope this does away with backaches at least.

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  11. We have had such good luck with Stearns and Foster mattresses over the years. They are not cheap but they really hold up beautifully and we both sleep comfortably. We are lucky enough to have a room big enough to hold a king-sized bed--a good thing because since John's surgeries he does not sleep comfortably and needs lots of 'room'.

    I am so happy that you have a new mattress and I hope you get the best sleeps ever!!! xoDiana

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    1. I've not heard of that brand. I'm not surprised that you have a nice big bedroom - I remember seeing pictures of your home in one of your posts a while back.

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  12. Mattress shopping is NOT fun! We are only on our second mattress since we got married 23 years ago, so don't feel bad! :) Ours has a top something like yours, and it's the best mattress we ever slept on. I hope you enjoy yours.
    And by the way...I don't even know what an ensuite is!! :)

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    1. Alica, an ensuite is a bathroom that is attached directly to the master bedroom with a door from the bedroom, instead of a door from a hallway, or some other part of the house. Up until last year, we didn't even have a bathroom on the second floor! Sixteen steps downstairs to the bathroom (I used to count them when I was pregnant 17 years ago and went downstairs in the middle of the night to the bathroom a lot!)

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  13. We have been using the same mattress for the past 13 years, so we're almost at your level. Our mattress is due to be changed, but with so many expenses in the past year and many others coming up, I suspect it'll be awhile before we go shopping for a new one.

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  14. I have gone through a few mattresses over the years. I'm a problem sleeper to start with and pretty much like the princess and the pea. I'm also sensitive to odors, so that factors in. I forget the name of the mattress I have now, but it is a pillow top with a shell shaped stitching and I LOVE it. Presently in a 10x10 bedroom as a family member/roomate is using my "regular" 26x35 room, but that's okay. I don't need much space. (I don't even have a dresser!)

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  15. I recently went through the process - after semi-recovering from the sticker shock (what do they stuff them with? Fifty dollar bills?) I replaced my 25+ y/o mattress with a new one. What a difference! Luckily, mine was delivered on a Saturday and the ancient one toted off. I have a small, wonky bedroom, too, with very limited options, as far as furniture arrangement goes. I love your bed frame!

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  16. You raise many pertinent points - and I can certainly empathise with your position on room sizes. Head Office and I were discussing the idea of a new mattress just the other day; received wisdom is that it needs to be changed every so often. My problem with that is that it will take another 15 years to get the same comfy hollows that I've spent all that time creating...

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  17. I would say we get a new mattress about every seven or eight years. I like them softer, he likes them more firm, so it's a battle as to what we actually choose. We rebuilt this old house, and because we LOVE a King size bed and a small dog shares that space with us, we adjusted the bedroom size to accomodate it.

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  18. We have a king sized bed, I love it. I used to sleep on a full

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  19. We've got a one step up from a board mattress due to my DH's back/neck issues. I've put a egg crate foam pad on my side because the "board" was causing me to have hip pain that lasted most of the day until I slept and then started all over again. Next mattress needs to be able to adjust for our separate needs. We just haven't taken the plunge yet.

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  20. That is a great treat, the mattress looks so comfy! We have a queen too and we thought we were buying a good mattress 3 years ago and it's already feeling lumpy and old...I think you do get what you pay for. We're keeping it, but when we buy our place in a few years, we're hoping to get a king-sized. Alex has reflux and I need to lie on my side a lot...so we'll have some research to do that's for sure. We thought about those electronic mattresses where we each can raise it to our own level of comfort lol...but I feel like we're not "there" yet. Pillows are important too. We have great pillows, but they seem useless with our crappy mattress!!!

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  21. Ah a new bed - lucky you! I do think it's time we replaced ours, put off because we hate to shop ... lucky me I do have an ensuite but I feel very privileged, I grew up in a home with an outhouse & no running hot water. I did not know that a mattress cover is required! Sweet dreams & let's hope there are no peas hidden beneath the mandatory mattress cover. Mary-Lou =^..^=

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  22. What I have learned from people's comments is that quite a few of us could use a new mattress and we tend to keep our beds for well over ten years before getting a different one. Our first night sleep on the new mattress was pretty good, it just takes a little getting used to. -Jenn

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  23. Hah! We've been there! We suddenly realized it was 10 years and went shopping! We found a house, the last 3 times, with large master bedrooms, as it's been our pattern. No en suite, but a king bed. We're both average height, and it's almost silly, but with 3 cats...
    It's two things that are important: 1) a good roof, 2) a good mattress!!!

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  24. Nothing like a new bed and mattress. Great post indeed. Mine is still relatively new so I'm good. Warm greetings to you!

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  25. You're embarrassed? Don't be. I think my record of no new mattress is longer than yours. Lucky you. We need a new one at the lake and home wouldn't hurt either!

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