First, see the end for my questions if you want to skip all the other details…
Second, thanks for the info I’ve consumed prior to this post.
We’re ordered a King Brooklyn Bedding BME in medium firmness. We decided on this based on recommendations on this site (and other recommendations) and after testing some latex/other foam beds in a local store to ensure we like the feel of latex vs. memory foam and innerspring beds. We thought the soft might be too soft, not just for feel, but causing our 6 year old daughter who climbs in with us to roll into me (I’m 200lbs.).
Background: We’ve typically purchased very soft/plush beds and have enjoyed them. We’ve also spent many times more than the cost of this mattress. The Heavenly Bed and W Beds are okay (saved by the toppers/pads they use), but are too firm for our taste, for example. Our current bed is 11 years old and the indentations are too large/deep. At this time, however, we’re not looking to spend $3500 for a Dunlopillo or $6500 for the other brand I tried. One of the opinions I’ve developed is that nearly any bed will develop indentations overtime (unless we buy an expensive flippable such as a Vispring and really flip it) or buy a foam bedd with no topper. My strategy is to buy a less expensive mattress with the idea that I can replace a $900 bed three times in 10 yrs for the cost of a $2700 bed.
Anyway, so we like soft beds and need a foundation (we’re going from Cal King to King). The plan was to buy an Ikea storage bed (Malm) and buy the more expensive flexible slats (Lonset) which have a close spacing and have some flex for added comfort. The thought was that with a medium, a flexible base and the addition of a decent mattress pad/cover ($100ish cotton/poly/bamboo or some such, not a topper), we’d get a fairly plush feel, some good bounce with some underlying support.
We were about to buy the bed and then saw the foundations with legs. The Sultan Atloy is the most expensive. It is an upholstered foundation and you can add legs (so we can still slide storage drawers or bins underneath). It also looks more “grownup” than most other Ikea bed offerings (and it more expensive than most). The upholstery is padded underneath and is of a quality such that you can use exposed (it’s made to be used that way, without the need for a bed skirt).
From the top down, it is constructed as follows:
- Fairly substantial cloth cover, pulled taut.
- Bonnell Steel Coils. Can’t identify gauge or spacing. They seem to be about 2"-3" tall.
- Rigid wood slats at 2 1/4" spacing.
It has a wood from, of course, around the outside with padding and the upholstery over that. It has a 25 year warranty. For Ikea, it’s expensive. $450 for the king base, plus $80 for the legs we chose and $5 for a set of connectors (it’s a split base). It’ used as a base for their own most expensive, latex based, mattress.
So, to the questions:
- Is this an appropriate base for the mattress?
- Will it shorten the life o the mattress significantly? We don’t expect to get 10 years. If we get 3-5 years from the mattress, I’m fine.
- Will the coils give us a little more cushion, help with a coil mattress like bounce, without causing things like "roll-in’ up top?
Thoughts and advice appreciated.