I’m a long time lurker and a first time poster. My fiancé and I have been looking for a mattress for quite some time to replace our old 8.5 year old mattresses (one is soft & sagging and one is hard & hurting both our backs to the point that we can’t get comfortable. A topper did nothing.)
We went mattress looking a month ago, and found that we both like the feel of a softer mattress, although I am concerned about my spinal alignment since my lower back has been hurting me so badly & it looks like my spin has developed a curve. I also suffer from bouts of serious insomnia.
We now want to invest in a nice, comfy yet supportive King mattress that we can finally both enjoy sleeping in together. I am 5’2" 95 lbs and my fiance is 5’9" & fluctuates between 170-185 lbs. We both move around and sleep in all three positions, but I start off as a back sleeper and he is mostly a side sleeper & sleeps hot.
When we went mattress shopping in Los Angeles, our favorites were:
Natura Organics EcoRadience - $7,299 for King mattress & box (WAY out of our price range)
Ivy Organics with Cert. Euro Top - $3,679 for King mattress & box plus $699 for King 3" Ivy organic wool topper (still out of our price range)
Airloom Hybrid Carribean Cushion Firm - $3,079 for King Mattress & box (too $$)
Stearns & Foster Judith Lux Plush - $1749 for King Mattress & box (Top of our range)
We also loved the Tempur-pedic Cloud Luxe, but it was way out of our price range at $4,699
I need a new bed asap! I cannot stand it any longer. And with Black Friday deals coming up now is the best time. Our MAX budget for Mattress & box is $1,800, but that is pushing it since we will need to buy a bed frame as well and we do not have a lot of money to spare. We live in a small apartment and I need to also find a frame that allows storage underneath.
I saw your list of mattress places in Los Angeles, and it looks like most of them are not very close to my location, but maybe it’s worth a trip so that I can check out some more options. I am open to all & any helpful suggestions you can give me on cheaper alternatives to the type of bed we seem to like or what the type of bed you’d recommend based on our weight and sleeping patterns.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet I would start with the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices … and exclude the worst ones. I suspected you may not have read it yet because the guidelines there would have eliminated the #3 and #4 options on your list and of course your budget would have eliminated the others.
I wouldn’t pay much attention to Black Friday sales (or any other “special sales” that have major discounts) because better manufacturers and retailers have good quality and value options available every day of the year and don’t need to use the “fake sales” that are so common in the mainstream industry (see post #5 here) to create a false sense of urgency or sense of loss that can often lead to poor purchase decisions.
Your budget is certainly enough to buy a good quality mattress and I would just follow the steps in the tutorial post one by one. The foundation thread here also has some good options that are low cost and combine a bedframe and foundation and have storage space underneath them.
I’m not sure how far away you are from the closest options on the Los Angeles list but I would suggest calling the ones that interest you the most and that are in reasonable driving distance to talk with them about your budget, the materials you prefer, and what they have on their floor that is worth testing (and to make sure that they can provide you with the information you will need about the quality of the materials inside the mattress). The more you do ahead of time on the phone the less time you will end up spending driving from store to store and testing mattresses only to find that you like a mattress where the information you need to make an informed choice isn’t even available or the mattresses that you like are outside of your budget range.
I would also check the retail store finders on the websites of the wholesale manufacturers listed on the list because some of them may have some stores that are closer to you that would also be worth considering.