Choosing the best bed

The bed is the most important furniture in the bedroom. It is where we spend eight or more hours of our lives each day. Therefore, the bed must be comfortable and at the same time matches or compliments the aesthetics of the room. Buying a bed is a big purchase and the decision should be made a little more scientifically than lying and stretching out, fully clothed, on a store sample.

Decide on the right size. The size of your room is one factor to consider. If you have a small bedroom, you might not have room for a king size bed, even if it's really what you want. Other factors to consider is whether you'll be sleeping alone, in which any size bed will work; or will you be sharing the bed, in which case, you could choose a full size, queen or king sizes, or even an extra long bed if you are tall.

Set your budget and stick to it. As with most things, the price of a bed set does not necessarily tell you how good a product it is or how comfortable you will be sleeping on the bed. This is a big purchase, make sure that you get the value for your money and that the bed you picked will serve you for several years.

In an effort to add more comfort and a softer sleep surface, manufacturers now typically add more foam and padding to the mattress top. These are called pillow-top mattresses. On top of that, some people add a feather bed mattress topper. Before you shop for sheets, measure your mattress from to bottom so you get the right depth of sheets, mattress pads, and a comforter. A very deep full bed might require a queen spread or comforter.

Decide on the firmness that suits you, you don’t want to wake up the next morning with a sore back! My good friend, Shawn Umsted, would sleep on a board if he could while another friend, Jane Barcy, like to cuddle into a thick feather bed. Either firmness of bed is fine, as long as you get good, even support. If you sleep with someone who disagrees on firmness, consider pushing two twin beds together to create a king size bed or shop for a mattress with adjustable firmness. One side can be firm and the other softer.

Choose a good bed frame. A solid steel metal bed frame provides a long-lasting firm foundation for the bed set. Be sure that the casters on corners and middle of the bed frame are large and heavyweight. A good bed frame should last through several beds. Some are adjustable and others are made to fit a particular size of box spring.