Adulting: Buying a bed

[k3am]

I've never bought a bed for myself. I've never had a headboard, but I think I want one. Our current bedframe was a $50 metal platform that we bought off Amazon and it's meh. But the options are.. overwhelming. 

Is there a preference for boxspring vs. platform? Why are beds so dang low to the ground? Is a footboard necessary? Is a bed with built in storage worth it? (Right now, our platform bed is tall enough to fit a full size storage bin under it, we have several and that's where we store our luggage also, but doesn't seem like an option. 

I think we want something upholstered, since we won't be replacing the rest of our furniture, and it's hard to match wood tones. This is what we've got going on right now furniture wise... Our current house has gray walls (that will stay until I work up the motivation to paint, and then will likely be a warmer color, TBD) and green carpet (it's better than it sounds, but will be replaced... eventually). No need to coordinate with any existing bedding (we will replace) or decor (because we have none). 





(I'm looking back at how sloppy this photo is, but it worked for listing, so whatever. This is about the same level of accents and decorations that we have in the current room too. It's kind of sad)

[loira]

If you get a box spring your bed will likely be higher off the ground than if you have slats or similar. I prefer my bed low to the ground because I'm short and do not enjoy having to leap on and off a bed. I bought mine from IKEA, but I'm not sure how adulty that is.

[laterz]

i prefer frames that don't require boxes - one less thing to worry about. Footboard isn't necessary.

You could look at metal frames/headboard. We have something similar to this: www.roomandboard.com/catalog/bedroom/beds/jennings-bed

I probably wouldn't get one with storage unless i absolutely needed it.

[melmel48]

I have a deep mattress and a box spring. I am short, but enjoy being up high. I also have my bed on risers to make storage underneath. I have a headboard but have never had a footboard. I do not think they are neccessary.

[k3am]

loira, don't knock Ikea! The only reason I don't shop there much is because the closest one is a long drive away and shopping is too expensive. I started my search at Costco, so I'm clearly in the junior leagues.

[isabel]

We have a platform frame (I.e. low to the ground) that is a dark stain. I think I got it from Wayfair long before I stopped shopping with them.

Our headboard is an upholstered one from West Elm. Initially, it literally just sat on the floor against the wall with the frame shoved up against it. I eventually rigged something up with stuff from Home Depot to secure it to the frame. It worked fine on the floor though. I’m telling you this because you can go this route and get an inexpensive (but nice looking) frame with a separate headboard.

I like having a low bed, but I’m only 5’ tall. The lack of storage underneath is a bit of a bummer as we’re now losing some of our basement storage and I thought we would put our luggage under there, but it really doesn’t fit. Our kids have platform frames from IKEA, so it doesn’t work under their beds either.

[sdlaura]

Our bed is IKEA, and has a headboard and storage. No box spring, no footboard (we have a bench at the foot of the bed). I like the height - not too high or low. It is a prior version of this bed:

www.ikea.com/us/en/p/brimnes-bed-frame-with-storage-headboard-black-luroey-s79129608/

[bittybomb]

We need a footboard but only because our very old house has a slight slope to the middle and our mattress has slid noticeably before. I prefer as low a footboard as possible, however, because our room is quite 'cozy' and it's in the attic space with slanted ceilings so our room is not big to begin with. We also bought a new bed but I wasn't wanting to change out my whole wood bedroom set so I went with a metal headboard and footboard. Looks like wrought iron. I have a window to deal with too, so upholstered wouldn't work for me. I needed something low profile really all around. We have a box spring, but my husband is tall and didn't like when we had slats. I'd love to utilize the storage under our bed, but we don't.

[dove]

There are also low-profile box springs if you prefer not to be too high off the ground. They are about 4-5” less than a regular box spring.

[mich1]

My bedroom used to have all antique dressers that I inherited from my grandmother. Matching woods wasn’t going to happen, so I went with a metal bed.

I bought directly from Wesley Allen, choosing the style and finish. I with the frame, mattress and box springs it is not low to the ground and I used to keep storage chests under i5 for things like crafts and wrapping papers.

www.westernpassion.com/p_WA-1081MP.html

[TBM]

Matching sets are not really necessary, or in style currently, and footboards seem to be out of favor as well. You can mix wood types/tones if you want.

I am no help on bed frame purchases...we have an iron bed from the late 1800s that we got for free from my grandmother over 40 yrs ago. It has a footboard, but my H would like it more if it didn't.

[waverly]

I vote king size. We just switched to a king. Our new mattress is from Saatva.

I vote no on footboard- you’ll just run into it 1000 times.

We’ve had platform or a bed with a smaller box- they call them baby box spring. We don’t store anything under the bed so no help with storage.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I feel you as we're getting all new furniture for our master bedroom, and I wanted to start with the bed (we're upgrading from queen to king) and it's been so hard. I originally wanted a sleigh bed, but dh vetoed that, so we're either going with a metal frame with box spring and mattress and then an upholstered headboard, or a full bed frame that is the same size all the way around and has storage drawers, like this one:
www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/lark-manor-chadwick-tufted-upholstered-low-profile-storage-platform-bed-w003142835.html?piid=1707322978

Since we're also getting a new mattress, I think we're going to decide on that first, and we were going to go in person to try them today but everything is closed due to flooding. I *think* we're going to try to find a bed frame that still uses a box spring because they provide more support (but less air flow), but so many people use platform beds that I'm not going to completely rule it out.

[Aloe Vera]

Avoid footboards! I run into mine every day and I have huge bruises on the side of my thighs.
Avoid Ikea beds, they don't age well.
Macy's has a ton of beds for a great price. Plus if you use Rakuten, it's 6% cashback.

[Gato]

I've had three beds, and I've never used a box spring.  I really love my Room and Board bed.  It wasn't even that expensive, and it still looks great and feels sturdy after almost two decades and, gosh I had to count, eight moves.

As for decor, personally I have a light blue and green color scheme, botanic prints, a landscape print, and a stuffed sloth pillow, lol.  It's all restful and calm; that's what I love in a bedroom.

[k3am]

... DH has "no opinion" on beds. I should pick one out that I like.

BUUUUUUUUT... he also doesn't think a metal headboard would be comfortable, doesn't want something too low to the ground, doesn't want anything light-colored or cream because he thinks it will look dirty/need cleaning, and isn't sure he wants to give up our underbed storage.

Dude, just admit you have strong bed opinions.

[DefenseAgainstTheDarkArts22]

We built our frame because I had very specific ideas. The headboard is about 5 inches deep which allowed us to put plugs in there on each side for phone chargers. It also has a shelf so remotes and such can go back there. I have the frame sitting on the floor so that dog hair/dirt can't get under it and I have to fight to clean it. I have 3 drawers on each side for shoes and sheets.

I also got my mattress from Amazon twice (we upsized with the new house) instead of the expensive memory foam ones in the store.

[achi]

We have a bed frame with a headboard attached but no footboard. I am an active sleeper, and H gets really hot so he is constantly pushing the duvet off/on. Plus DS1 often a climbs into bed with us at some point. All of that often means the duvet gets really low on the bed and I have to pull hard to get it back up to cover me properly. A footboard of some sort would probably help keep it in place better. So if any of these situations apply to you it may be something to think about.

[fivechickens]

This our bed and I love it. It is platform and not low to the ground at all.

www.riverside-furniture.com/Products/Detail/S/247

I don’t really have feelings either way with regards to box springs. They are an added expense but it pales in comparison to the cost of the mattress most times.

The only con, you have to get a mattress thick enough or it might look weird/be too low: My kids beds are platform too. We had to get a third mattress and the one we got wasn’t thick enough for the bed so we had to use a boxspring which we luckily had and worked. We had no idea that it was something we had to consider.

ETA k3am my husband is the same way. ‘I don’t really care how you deal with this or that’ or ‘I don’t care what you choose’ precedes to give me his opinions on how I should deal with this or that or why I should choose this or that. SO YOU DO CARE!!!!! 🤬

[twinmomma]

I'm snooping on this thread because we need a bed. Our mattress and boxspring is literally just on the floor right now. I'm trying to be sensitive and let beau help me pick out a new bed since it'll be our first furniture "together." But also, I have almost ordered one that I like about a million times now because I care and he doesn't and I just want a real bed!

[bunnies]

I ordered this upholstered tufted bed last year (but it was much cheaper then) - it's been great!

www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Naples-Wingback-Button-Tufted-Tall-Headboard-Bed-by-iNSPIRE-Q-Artisan-8-x-10/19511636/product.html

[k3am]

I think I've narrowed it down to king size, upholstered, and blue. I've only been planning on replacing the bed for about 3 years.. might have one picked out before the next election.

[k3am]

www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/mercer41-boswell-tufted-upholstered-low-profile-platform-bed-w000064340.html?piid=1121627766%252C1121627773

We got this one in blue. Fingers crossed that it’s not craptacular.

[basilosaurus]

I like a headboard because I like sitting up and reading in bed. I've slept on both boxspring and platform beds. It doesn't really matter.

I tend to find American beds super high. I multiple countries where I've lived the top of the beds are about calf level. It makes falling out of bed less traumatic? I really don't know the reason. It's usually a platform with drawers underneath, not a metal bed frame.

[Susie]

We have a king with platform/no box spring, and we like it just fine.  We have a slatted headboard, and storage drawers in the foot.  I've never lived in a house with so much storage that I didn't like having a little more.

[Deleted]

We have a king sized bed and did a split box spring (I think that's the only option, but what do I know) and it's just on a regular metal frame. It is actually on the low side and even though I'm short, I kind of hate it. I do wish that it was up higher and our plan is eventually for H to build us a new bed frame that is higher up and has additional storage because our bedroom is not very large.