When Dave and I got married we had a small, and I mean SMALL bed. It belonged to my grandmother and it was really old. It was so old that the size of the bed wasn't a standard size. The bed was called a 3/4 bed which made it larger than a single, but smaller than a double. It was impossible to find sheets that fit perfectly. They were either too big and looked sloppy, or too small. Well, finding sheets that fit wasn't our biggest problem. The problem was that we were majorly squished. I would get elbowed in the head Dave would get kicked in the shin. Three days after we got married, Dave decided to sleep on the sofa because our bed was so darn small. So.... we bought a new bed.
Now here's the advice I wish someone had given me when buying a new bed. 1. If you like a lot of space while you sleep, get a king sized bed. Queen size is for people who like to be really close and for people who won't ever have their babies sleep or snuggle in bed with them.
A lot of my friends that have a queen wish they bought a king. Luckily, I knew about this and bought a king size.
2.
You don't really need a box spring. Back in the day a box spring added to the comfort level of the mattress. Now, all a box spring does is raise the mattress higher off the ground - actually they don't even call them that anymore, they call them mattress foundations. We didn't know about this and the mattress sales lady sold us the "package deal". What a waste of money!
3. If you buy a bed from IKEA, the mattress can just rest on the slatted bed base, which cost WAY less than a box spring.
4. A bed takes up A LOT of space. A bed takes up valuable storage space so make sure you purchase a bed that has storage space underneath. You need a lot of clearance under a bed to fit those under bed storage boxes, and a box spring and mattress on a metal frame usually won't give you enough clearance, PLUS there's usually a cross bar under a metal frame that will give you even less space for storage containers.
I would highly recommend getting any of the beds from IKEA that boast the key feature as "Space under the bed can be utilized with our underbed storage boxes" like the
Lillesand. You can also get one of the beds with storage built right in like the
Mandal bed frame from IKEA. If you absolutely insist on having box springs, (and I guess you would need them if you purchase certain bed frames) then go with the
Sultan Alsarp. It's a box spring that opens up for storage!
5.
Buy a mattress cover and don't buy the 10 year warranty. Sleep Country sold us a warranty that was $10 more than a mattress cover, so $80. The sales lady told us that if anything was spilled, they would come a clean it up and if they couldn't get it off, they would give us a new mattress. Also, if the stitching comes off they will fix it or replace it. Sounds pretty good right? WELL... that service is a pain in the butt! You have to call the company within 14 days of the stain happening. You have to fill out a report over the phone, which means you have to talk to someone would doesn't really understand English and answer a million questions. After the phone call, you have to send pictures of the stain and wait for a rep to call you. We tried to make a claim and they never came to clean the spot. It's such a hassle that I just don't call them. Oh and the sales lady never mentioned that if they can't get the stain out, and if they have to replace it, they'll replace it with whatever they want and not necessarily the same mattress you have.
Alright, so... Dave and I have a king size bed right now. We bought the crappy box spring (mattress foundation) and metal frame - which squeaks all the time and wakes up our baby. Storage bins don't fit underneath it either. What a pain! I'd had enough! So we sold the box spring and frame on
kijiji for $150. I wish we could have gotten more, but that was the most people were offering after it had been on the website for about a month. This week we're going to
IKEA to buy ourselves a new bed with storage space underneath!!! Now I'll have a place to store extra blankets, pillows, maternity clothing, or whatever I want. AND, the bed is so pretty, much prettier than the stupid box spring (can you tell that I hate box springs?). Here's a picture of the bed we're getting. I can't wait!
Alright, my rant is over!
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008/07/mandal-headboard-as-wall-decor.html
