Sleigh Beds
The first thing that most people will notice when they walk into any bedroom is the bed, so for this reason most people want their beds to look as good as possible so that when people enter the room they get a good first impression. Not only that but the bed also sets the theme for the rest of the bedroom and if you have a nice bed it makes you feel good yourself, when you go to bed at night and get up in the morning. You can't beat starting the day in a good mood.
Choosing The Right Bed
So when it comes to choosing the bed and you want a classy looking bed that gives off a feeling of quality you should consider sleigh beds. You will find these beds in both antique styles and more contemporary styles too. The sleigh bed gets its name from the curled, or scrolled foot and headboards which make it look like a sleigh or sled. Normally they are made using high quality, heavy woods such as oak and cherry, but pine and MDF is used for cheaper beds. Wood is not the only material available, some modern beds are made using metals like iron and aluminum and you can even get leather sleigh beds. The sleigh bed was first used at the start of the 19th century, the idea for their design was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman designs.
So if you are trying to create a quality, classy look in your bedroom then the sleigh bed is something you should really give some thought to. A lot of people still think of these beds as being old fashioned, while this is true for some beds it is not true for them all. Since sleigh beds went out of fashion in the 1970's then came back in in the mid 1990's there has been a bit of a transformation to try and get young people to buy this style of bed and it has worked. As well as the older style of sleigh bed there are now contemporary designs meaning that they appeal to a much wider audience than they used to. If you combine a wooden sleigh bed with a high quality mattress then there really isn’t a better place to sleep, and because of the curved headboard they are also really comfortable when you want to sit up and read a book or watch TV.
Childrens Sleigh Beds
Not only do these beds now appeal to more adults there are also a number of childrens sleigh beds. While you might not think this is the normal choice for a kids bedroom, if you are trying to create a theme throughout your house then this lets you continue the theme in your childrens bed rooms as well. There are of course designs that will appeal more to children, they wont need to sleep in an antique bed, but they are still high quality, good looking beds. With these beds being small your children will grow out of them eventually, but if you buy a good quality bed in the first place the resale value will be pretty decent.
Buying Sleigh Beds
You will probably have noticed that I have mentioned quality beds a few times, this is because I really believe that you should always buy the best quality item that you can, whether it is beds or televisions or clothing. Buying cheap sleigh beds might seem like a great idea now and you will have more money in your pocket, but in a year or twos time you will be regretting it when you have to fork out more money on a new bed. If you buy a really good oak sleigh bed it is going to last you for years, there is every chance that it will outlast you, it could even be handed down to the next generation. These are the types of sleigh beds you should be considering.
The Corner Sofa Bed
Gone are the days when we would walk into someone’s living room and see two or three separate sofas, more and more these days people are choosing to go for corner sofas for their living rooms and lounges. While people loved the look of these sofas they also needed somewhere for guests to sleep when they come over. Most new houses and apartments that are built these days are pretty small so free space is at a premium, for this reason many people do not want to use their spare bedroom as a bedroom, they would rather have it as an office or a storage space, so they would use a futon bed or similar in their living room. As the corner sofa became more popular the furniture manufacturers saw the need for corner sofa bed to meet the needs of these people in smaller homes. Home owners could have the best of both worlds, a corner sofa and also a sofa bed for guests to sleep on, problems solved.
Why Use Corner Sofas In The First Place?
So why did corner sofas become so popular in the first place? One of the main reasons for the sudden rise in popularity of corner sofas is that they take up less space in the living room or lounge compared to having a number of sofas in the room, but they still offer the same amount of seating space, the space in the living room is maximized. Not only that but they are so much better for the occasions when you have visitors over, with an “L” or “U” shaped sofa you are able to face people when you are talking with them, I don’t think there is anything worse than having to sit for hours on end with your neck twisted while you are talking with someone, or sitting on the seat at a funny, uncomfortable angle. These sofas wont leave you with a sore neck after guests have been around.
How Do Corner Sofa Beds Work?
There really isn’t a lot of difference between corner sofa beds and normal sofa beds in terms how how they turn from sofas in to beds. The cushions fold out to create the bed, the only real difference with corner sofa beds is that they create a bigger area to sleep on. Not only is there the double sized section that folds out but there is also the rest of the “L” or “U” shape to spread out onto as well.
There is another style of corner sofa bed too which is a little bit different. Many sofas will come with a Pouf or footstool, with some corner sofas this footstool slides into the sofa to create the rectangular sleeping area. The down side to these sofa beds is that they normally create a smaller bed to sleep on and if the footstool is not joined to the sofa it can separate during the night.
Storage
Many corner beds also have built in storage too, in the section of the sofa that doesn’t fold out into a bed the bottom cushions can be lifted to reveal a decent sized storage space. This is perfect for keeping the quilts and sheets for the sofa bed, or even for keeping the junk the gathers up in our living rooms. The Manstad sofa bed that Ikea sells is the perfect example of this style of corner sofabed with storage.
Buying Cheap Mattresses
When you are out shopping for new furniture for your home you may not think it but your bed and mattress are the most important pieces that you buy. More specifically your mattress. Why is your mattress the most important thing that you will buy? Because this is where you spend most of your time. On average adults spend eight hours every day sleeping, we spend more time sleeping than we spend on anything else. Over a single year we sleep for four months. It doesn’t feel like long because we are asleep but it is. So if we don’t have a mattress that is right for us we can end up with serious back and neck problems.
Buy Cheap Or Buy Expensive?
When I was brought up my mother always told me to buy quality items, she used to say “buy cheap, buy twice” or “when I was young we couldn’t afford to buy cheap items”, basically trying to tell me that while I might be saving a bit of money right now over the longer term I would end up spending more than if I had just bought the more expensive, higher quality item in the first place.
This isn’t to say that everything that is cheap is poor quality but there is a difference between buying something for less and buying something that is cheaply made. If you don’t have the money available to buy expensive mattresses you can these same items but at discounted prices. If you have a look in clearance stores and even the big box stores you can find quality, cheap mattresses for sale. Mattresses made by big brands such as Sealy, Simmons, Tempur-pedic, REM Sleep and so on. You can pick up really high quality mattresses that don’t cost the earth.
Another place that you will find cheap futon mattresses that while being cheap are of the highest quality is in Ikea. Ikea do of course have cheap mattresses for sale that are not too great, but once you get to the mid range they are really good. You get a lot of mattress for your money. Personally I use their Sultan Hamnvik mattress at home and have done for a number of years and I love it, I shopped around for a long time looking at mattresses that were over $1,000 and they were no better than this Ikea mattress. So if you want a cheap mattress then be sure to check out what Ikea has to offer.
When it comes to cheap mattresses that are low in quality you may be tricked into thinking that they are perfectly acceptable. When you first try one out it might feel quite comfortable and as if you could use it all the time, but more often than not you will find after a short period of time the internals of the mattress start to wear, in a lot of cases they will start to sink and droop where they have been used the most, this is not ideal for a comfortable nights sleep. The only place where I would consider using a cheap mattress is in a guest room where it will only be used once in a while and for only a night or two at a time.
What Do Mattresses Cost?
You might be thinking “I know cheap mattresses should be avoided, but what is a cheap mattress?”. I suppose this is quite a tricky one to answer. But personally I would stay clear all of any brand that only sells cheap mattresses, say $300-$400 or less and nothing that costs more. I feel that big brands like Sealy who sell $1000-$2000 mattress use their knowledge of quality mattresses in their cheaper items. The same goes for Ikea and all the other big brands. As a general rule I wouldn’t pay less than $400 for a mattress, anything less than that will probably need replaced in a year or two and leave you with a bad back. I would expect a quality mattress to last seven to ten years and the really expensive ones to last twenty years at least.
So in short, stay away from the cheap mattresses, $400 or less and if you want a quality mattress but want one for less then look at what Ikea has to offer.