How We Made the Perfect Bed

I promised you in my last post that I would feature the bed we put together on another day. Well, that day is today!

Sleep is so important for staying healthy and feeling your best that it’s worthwhile to invest in a comfortable bed. OR, you could be married to Peter, who decides he wants to construct a bed without know how comfortable it will be. Just because he can.

Can you guess which option we went with?

I think it all started when Peter learned about a process called a “foam-ectomy“, which involves slicing open the top padded layer of a mattress and removing the cheap foam, then replacing it with newer, better memory foam. Apparently, most beds with built-in memory foam are way overpriced. When I heard that little factoid, I knew it was all over. There’s nothing Peter hates more than feeling like he’s overpaying for something. Especially when he can make it himself.

So! After a lot of research, he decided that, instead of performing a foam-ectomy, he would make his own super-plush bed for half the price by buying an inexpensive extra-firm mattress and covering with high-quality memory foam. (As a side note, he still wants to foam-ectomy the worn-out memory foam on our old mattress. Stay tuned.)

And so here’s how we made our own super-comfortable bed for half the price of a new pillow-top mattress.

Awesomely Comfortable Bed on the Cheap
Serves 2

The ingredients:
*Queen-sized firm mattress from Sam’s Club
*Box spring & frame, also from Sam’s Club
*Queen-sized cooling gel memory foam pad
*Queen-sized Cuddlebed mattress pad from Costco (2.5″ thick)
Note: I’ll add the rest of the links once I find them.

Directions:
Assemble bed frame. Lay box spring and mattress on top. Line up cooling gel memory pad with firm mattress. Cover with super-thick mattress pad. Sleep well.

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Layered closeup:

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Cooling gel memory foam. I went with this over a regular memory foam because staying slightly cooler at night can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Of course, I completely forgot about the fact that we would be putting a 2.5″ thick mattress pad over the cooling memory foam so there’s no way in Hades I’d be able to feel it. Silly me.

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All together now:

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This bed is so comfortable, both soft and supportive at the same time, that I haven’t slept so well in a while.

In comparison, our old, worn-out pillow-top mattress, which cost about twice as much as our current one when it was new:

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It’s now in the guest room. Just in case you think we’re torturing our guests, know that the bed is still pretty comfortable. And don’t forget – Peter fingers are itching to do a foam-ectomy and turn this into another perfect bed.

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Look at this gorgeous bedspread!

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Peter’s mom made this as a wedding present and I love looking at it every day.  I wish we could keep it on our current bed, but our dogs often hang out on the bed with their grubby little paws.

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Speaking of dogs, here’s a picture of Maddles in a suitcase:

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Just because.

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

Q: How old is your bed?  I’ve read that mattresses should be replaced every 7-10 years.  I think the mattress I use at my dad’s house is older than I am. That may be a problem.

14 Comments

  1. Hhahahhaha this post is so funny!!

    I’m glad you found a way to make your bed more comfy and that you’re sleeping better! My only concern is, how do you secure the different layers together? Doesn’t the memory foam slip sideways when you get up? Otherwise I think it’s a lovely idea!

    And your mother in law’s bedspread is gorgeous! Lucky Jess! 🙂

    And Madeline is a cutie!

    1. That’s a great questions, Christa! The mattress pad is pretty tight-fitting, so it keeps the memory foam from moving. The memory foam is also not completely smooth, so I think the static friction is rather high there 😉

      Have a great weekend!!

  2. Is there anything Peter cannot do?? I’m highly impressed!

    Pretty sure my bed’s ingredients are less healthy 😉

  3. We have a TempurPedic and I adore it. I’m not sure how long they last, but I think it’s a long time- like 20 years.
    I love your quilt- it’s gorgeous!

  4. This post makes me want to curl back into bed pronto! Nick and I just bought a new mattress a couple years ago, we went with a firm organic one (I insisted on buying organic after watching a segment on Today show…..looking back I don’t know if it was the best choice). The mattress we had before was older than me too. EWwww, I ‘m almost 30!

  5. Wow, super cool! My husband would surely do the same thing if given the chance. He’s always taking apart something or building something else 🙂 Looks great though. And yes, that bedspread is lovely 🙂
    Why do animals love to hang out in suitcases? Such a funny thing.

  6. This brought on a few unfortunate memories for me. It’s surprising how this foam can please so many people and yet my Hubby and I cursed it for a week. Back to Costco it went. Rolling it back into the box became a real thorn in my side. Oh well, different strokes for different folks ;o)

    BTW…Jessie, I grabbed your coconut flour mix noodle recipe…and will be trying it at my MIL the next time she’d want to sway a little away from her typical recipe ;o) Thanks.

    Ciao for now and have a great week,
    Claudia

    1. Oh no! I’m sorry to hear the memory foam didn’t work for you, Claudia 🙁 It was hard enough unrolling it – I can’t even imagine trying to roll it back up again!

      Let me know how the noodles go! Have a wonderful week! 🙂

  7. I just got a new mattress this year but I’m definitely keeping this in mind for the 7 years from now when I’ll need a new one! The.Boy. hates overpaying for things also so he’ll be SO into it.

  8. What a timely post! I was just laying in bed last night (pillow top), sinking in. I wand something to form TO me, not the other way around. It’s like sleeping in a sink hole which is comfortable for all of 10 minutes. I’ve heard that Sam’s has some great mattresses…I need to check it out. The gel memory foam sounds HEAVENLY!!!

  9. Ben Bowditch says:

    That is why the bed was so comfortable!!! Thanks again for having us. We made it safely to Hartford.

    1. Glad to hear it, and happy to have you stay with us! 🙂

  10. Hey Jess! Neat post. What was the final cost? With my old twin bed at home I bought a 4″ memory foam topper from Kohl’s (memory foam + pad), it was luxurious. I just moved last month. I hate haggle, Jess! I’m happy what I paid for my couch Cindy Crawford Metropolis. I’ve been wanting the Kings Down Gabrielle in a Queen and I happened to find just the mattress on ebay for about 1150$~!! When it lists for 3k+ with Sleepy’s.

  11. Hey Sandy,

    Did you get the Gabrielle? If so, how do you like it??

    thanks!

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