Finding a New Mattress
I only recently realized I wasn't sleeping well. I knew that waking up in the middle of every night to go to the bathroom probably wasn't something that most 20 something were doing, but it wasn't until we moved out of our house for three weeks that I realized there was a problem. (We moved out because we re-did our bathroom, more on that here.) The first night at my dad's I slept alone in my old full-size, from high school, mattress and I slept so soundly through the night I thought my alarm was a joke... and it kept happening, night after night, I wasn't waking up.
Only then did I begin to think about how old our mattress was, and where it had come from (hand-me-down). Then, I asked Drew if/when he'd ever had a new mattress and he decided the one his parents bought when he outgrew his crib was probably the last new mattress he'd had... YIKES!
One night while at dinner with my mom, we started discussing mattresses and I mentioned how silly it was that Drew had never had a new one, and surely he and I could afford the luxury of something we sleep on every night. My mom decided this would be our Christmas present, and we started looking at king (pillow-top, mind you) mattresses online, and they were coming back at $2,000! She eventually said as we both laughed, sorry - not happening.
But, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind, surely there was a mattress out there we could afford. Didn't people buy mattresses in boxes now??! So, I took to my favorite little slice of the internet, @OurOldHouse, and asked if you guys had bed in a box mattresses and 15 (!!) of you said yes. This was SO much higher than I expected. So I had to ask you (and @theclebucketlist following) which one you might recommend since there are SO. MANY. OPTIONS.
In case you are looking, here's a summary:
Zinus (6 recommendations, one said it was too hot and felt like the mattress doesn't breathe, but they did like the feel, others said they'd had it for three years and they still loved it). Also good to note someone said this was BY amazon, but while they are sold on Amazon they are not owned by Amazon.
Nectar (five reviewers loved it, one said they have never had more sore hips)
Tuft & Needle (four reviewers loved it)
Lull (two reviewers loved it)
Yoga Bed (one reviewer said they used it with a regular box spring, upon further questioning, the husband would've preferred it be firmer, which told me it was way to firm for us already haha)
Helix mattress (one reviewer said they choose the mattress specifically for side sleepers and they love it)
Purple (one had so many issues they returned it)
Wink Bed (one reviewer said the best mattress we've had, have had it for 5 years)
Awara Brand (one reviewer said she choose it because it has natural latex components)
Chime (one reviewer said firm and great for back pain, holds body heat)
So when I say I want to sleep on a cloud I am not kidding. Even the least firm is still too firm for me. I hate anything that I don't sink down into... so this easily eliminated a lot of the brands for me based on people's reviews.
I eventually further researched:
Helix because of the side sleeper recommendation
Tuft & Needle, brand recognition is super important people, I knew I had heard of this one somewhere)
Nectar, because of all of the positive reviews
Thankfully, we were looking around Thanksgiving and the three brands all had great deals. This made it harder to choose, but it was nice to know we'd get to save $$! I read a ton of reviews and ultimately decided on the Tuft & Needle because it was the cheapest of the three in King, but also had the best reviews for similar sleeping styles and soft bed loving people. A big piece is that a lot of the reviews said it was good for couples who might not have the same taste in softness/firmness.
We decided to add the mattress topper to be sure it would be soft enough for me, and I'm glad we did. While I think I might've liked it both ways, it is so extraordinarily comfortable, I cannot believe it came in a box!
We went with a platform bed frame that sits up higher, and no box spring (mainly to keep cost down). We found our bed frame on Wayfair and it was 50% off on Black Friday. It took us about 2 hours to put together and turned out super nice. It was completely uneven until we put the mattress on it - just an FYI, haha!
After about a week of sleep, I am definitely sleeping better, and truly enjoy the space we now have in a king bed. I would definitely recommend Tuft & Needle!!
