New York Renovator

Have you noticed it these days? Consumer products are so junky these days! What is going on?

We bought some beds for the kids about 5 years ago. They seemed very nice (and cost nice, too). But now, they are totally junked. I remember in the Good Old Days that beds would last many years before the mattress and box springs gave out. These new things are awful. They are lumpy, bumpy, torn… what gives? This seems to be the plague of modern shopping today– nothing is built to last like it once was.

Anyway, I’m skipping the box spring and mattress stuff from now on. It’s so uncomfortable. The Hubs got me a Tempurpedic mattress from a local retailer a few years ago and I love it. (Although the foundation we got has severe defects and we’ve had 3+ replacements so far). If the memory foam mattress is on a solid, firm foundation, it’s the BEST bed ever. If it’s on a creaky, shifting foundation, it’s horrible. Needless to say, we’re going to get a better foundation box that doesn’t break down every 6 months…. and I’m going to be getting memory foam for the kids as soon as I can. I think it is better for their spines. And they will definitely sleep better.

Memory foam mattresses are not exactly cheap, though. The local store sells them for about $1000! I have four kids, you can see where this would lead me…. but once again, it’s Buy.com to the rescue. They sell memory foam mattresses, can you believe it?! There’s a nice 10″ model (twin size) for about $300. And the shipping is free. VERY nice.

The best thing to do with the memory foam mattresses is to place them on a solid base. I have plans to make very simple bed bases, out of lathe stock wood pieces, a wood frame, and a slab of thick plywood. This will provide the foundation as well as the bed frame. And it will be as solid as anything. The kids can even paint them or decorate them in any way they desire. I had a bed like that when I was a teen (we had a regular foam mattress, not “memory foam” back then) and it was solid and comfortable. These kinds of beds are also very durable– no cheapo particle board and Chinese glue!

So that ends one problem. I love Buy.com. I have ordered tons of stuff through them over the years, and I have never been displeased! They ship fast, their service is incredible, and they don’t sell me junk! Plus, they always have one outstanding sale or another. Even on memory foam mattresses! Kudos to Buy.com!

Our old Sealy Posturpedic mattress had seen better days. I also strongly suspected it as the reason for my spate of back problems. I would wake up in pain every morning and stiffly stagger around most of the early part of the day. I’d researched all sorts of mattresses available, but the number of choices were overwhelming. Reluctantly, I headed over to the furniture store to see what was on the floor (I say reluctantly because I always like to do my homework before encountering a salesman).

I tried all sorts of beds there, and the most comfortable was the Tempurpedic. Tempurpedic is just the brand name for the “memory foam” mattress. Tempurpedic was the first to come out with the memory foam, and they held the patent on it for a decade or so before other companies could manufacture it. Too bad they didn’t name their foam “Disney”; maybe they could have gotten an eternally-renewing patent. :-p

The temperpedic foam is really neat. The foam condenses with the contour and weight of your body. This is said to relieve pressure point pain while sleeping. The mattress is incredibly comfortable.

I’d spent a lot of time lookinf for and reading online reviews about the mattress. The biggest complaint I’d read was that the mattress makes you feel very hot. Apparently, the foam doesn’t disperse body heat very well. One person complained of waking up in a “pool of sweat” (ewwww) because it was so hot.

Here in Upstate New York, I didn’t think this would be a terrible issue. It is FREEZING for six months out of the year… I’ll give another update come July, but for now I am really thankful for the heat-retaining properties, especially since I have a teeny-tiny heater vent in my room that just barely oozes warm air. I just love how warm and cozy the bed is. But if it does get too warm in the summer, all you have to do throw a mattress pad on it, and be sure to spray the foam with Febreze once a month. (Yes! I found another helpful use for my Febreze!)

I love the fact that the Temperpedic came with a split foundation. When we moved to this house, we couldn’t get our Sealy queen-size mattress and box spring up the stairs (it’s an enclosed hallway and has a very low ceiling). How did we get the bed into the upstairs when we moved here? Our moving buddies removed the bedroom window and hauled it up with a rope! LOL! Hey, it worked! However, now that we want to get rid of the old bed, we, um, can’t. I don’t think the window could handle being taken apart again (it’s a century old). So we have to bust up the old bed… joy.

New-fangled beds come in pieces. You can see the new split foundation in the photos below. We got a frame with a center bar to support the division between the two. I had feared that I’d be able to feel the division when laying on the bed (the Princess and the Pea syndrome have I), but I don’t. I LOVE the bed.

You can also see that there are two layers of foam within a lightweight fabric bag. The mattress is supposed to come with a heavier fabric bag that zips up, but we are still waiting for ours. Back on delivery day, an overzealous stockboy sliced through the cardboard box and into the cover when the mattress was being prepped for delivery. I really, really wanted the mattress when scheduled, so the store delivered the bed on time with the promise we’d get the cover by FedEx. Hmm, I’m still waiting for the cover. I think they need to check out their Stackers. Gotta call them about that… (I’m using a store-bought mattress pad for the bed right now).

So my opinion? I love Tempurpedic! It’s so comfortable, I haven’t had any back pain since using it, I sleep better, and it’s warm. The cons are it’s somewhat difficult to ship and install (the foam is extremely dense and heavy, and the lightweight fabric bag is very filmy and thin), and it’s pricier than your “average” mattress. However, I will say that we got a terrific deal on this. It was on sale already, and the furniture store was willing to haggle with us. So we paid the same price for this bed as we would have with a spring-coil mattress and foundation. Definitely haggle if you can, it’s worth it. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons:

Pros
Extremely comfortable
Warm
No dust mites with this!
Easy to clean (Febreze spray)
Great for people with sore backs

Cons
Expensive
Cumbersome when moving
Needs a special cover

The Tempurpedic memory foam bed gets a thumbs up from Mrs. Mecomber!

I found this video today- it’s from Germany, a type of “Candid Camera” prank that was pulled at a mattress store. Oh my, you Germans must have a great sense of humor- everyone smiles after the prank. I’d be steaming mad, lol. Watch how some folks audaciously jump onto the mattress. Surprise!

Mr. M and I went mattress shopping a week ago. I’ll be posting more about what we got- we haven’t bought a new bed in about 14 years, back when we were also fitting out our second-youngest for crib bedding! Seems so long ago! I love Baby Earth designs… it’s so pretty and decorative, and much less expensive than some of the lower quality stuff I’ve bought.

Well, Mr. M got a very nice set for us (like I said, more on that later! I’m still testing it out for a review) The old bed was quite beat up, and my aching back was telling me I needed something firmer. I’m really liking our choice. And so I really chuckled when I saw this video– what perfect timing. THANKFULLY no one at our local bedding store was THAT funny. I cannot imagine jumping into a box of water, unexpectedly. Whoa!