Image: Yes, we'd all love to purchase a new mattress to float away on at the drop of a hat, but they're so dang expensive it's not always possible. The good news is, if you have a semi-decent mattress and box spring, you can make some small investments and tweaks to boost your bed's level of fluffy comfort. A photo posted by Fruition Skin Therapy (@fruitionskintherapy) on Jan 7, 2017 at 8:48pm PST Even if you have a pillow-top, don't just throw a single foam pad on over the mattress and expect your bed to dish up the best sleeping experience ever. For a luxurious and super-comfortable bed, you need to layer on the extras and add a few other goodies to create the perfect combination for you. More: Things to consider when buying a new bed Check out a memory foam mattress pad, for instance. They come in various sizes, but we suggest going for one that's 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick. You get the benefit of amazing cushioning, but the pad isn't so big that you don't have room for other types of padding.
A photo posted by Beta Cat (@betabetacat) on Dec 31, 2016 at 8:01am PST Memory foam is a great start, but next you need to double down with an eggcrate mattress pad. Yeah, they look a little crazy, but they're also amazingly comfortable. Get one big enough to cover the entire top surface of your bed and position it near the top layers of extras (on top of your memory foam, for instance), just beneath a thinner topper that's directly under your fitted sheet. If you aren't allergic to feather products, down bedding can be a gorgeously fluffy addition to your bed. Look for down pillows, mattress toppers and comforters. But quality matters here, folks — if you buy a cheap down comforter or pillow, you're going to be constantly needled to death with the prickly ends of the feathers poking through the cloth barrier. A photo posted by Cristina Dumitrache (@qrstin) on Jan 8, 2017 at 3:28am PST Whether you are allergic, don't like to buy animal products or just don't feel like dishing out the dough for down, there are synthetic substitutes/down alternatives for feather bedding.
More: DIY wooden headboard makes your bedroom instantly farmer-chic If you're looking for a good bang for your buck, the Chezmoi Collection goose down alternative comforter is a steal at $55 at Sears, and you can't beat the Natural Comfort super-warm and cozy down alternative comforter at $42 on Amazon. A photo posted by @sleep.whale.pillows on Jan 8, 2017 at 7:58am PST Speaking of comforters, it's important to pay attention to seasons and the climate you live in while shopping for one. The Natural Comfort down alternative mentioned above is great for winter, but for summer you'll want to seek out something a little lighter. There's also a whole category of all-season comforters to keep on hand to get your body temperature just right. Comforters also come in a variety of weights — so if you are claustrophobic or are soothed by a substantial heavy covering while sleeping, weight is definitely something you'll want to take into consideration. Originally published August 2009.
Next up: Get great sheetsIf you’re like me, your mattress is fine. You bought something smack dab in the middle of your price range, and now that you’re a few years into your life together, you’re thinking, “Damn, maybe I could have gotten something more luxe for myself.” Or at least spent a little more time Googling ‘good mattresses that last a long time’ and ‘average mattresses good reviews.’ You’re by no means dealing with something so shitty you need to replace it, but you know your bed’s not as comfortable as it could be. This past Summer, I discovered a product on Amazon called the Ultra Premium Visco Elastic Memory Foam Mattress Pad Bed Topper (lol), and a company called Red Nomad is selling them for a reasonable $79.99. I have a Queen sized bed and have been sleeping on the 2-inch pad for four months now, and guys, it’s pretty nice.Here is the link to the pad. It’s going to look like an ad when I drop it, but that’s just how Medium’s formatting works.
It is actually a link that I have chosen to put into this post. Here it comes:Queen Size 2 Inch Thick, Ultra Premium Visco Elastic Memory Foam Mattress Pad Bed Topper. Didn’t it look like an ad? Me talking about it this much sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but I’m not. The pad comes compactly wrapped in a small, travel-friendly form, but quickly unfurls and puffs up once you get it out of the packaging. You know how jeans smell wild when you first buy them, and then after a wear or two they smell like your laundry detergent and gross body just like everything else you own? That is the journey you’ll go on with your mattress pad. I’d say mine smelled like “house air” within an hour or two, but your timing will depend on how powerful your own house air is.Now that we’ve gotten the number one Weird Deterring Element from the Reviews* out of the way, I can focus on the good things: this pad makes your bed super cushiony, but doesn’t rob you of the firmness you crave. This assessment is obviously anchored in my own personal preferences, but 2 inches seems like the perfect amount of foam padding.
If you disagree, the company also offers 3-inch and 4-inch options—live your truth—but with the 2-inch, my gently-aging mattress suddenly feels luxurious again. I do not sink into my bed, I would not call it a deep bed, but I would call it a noticeably comfortable bed. You know how sometimes you go to a hotel and it’s nice to just peel back fresh sheets and interact with puffy bedding? Your bed can feel like that if you want! Even if you don’t make it in the morning!Let me describe my rig: I already had a fitted sheet-style mattress topper (like this one), so I opted to position my foam pad under that and then use the fitted elastics to hold it in place. Then, I put my sheets and blankets on the bed as usual. The fitted sheet definitely goes on a little more snugly than it used to with all this new crap underneath, but the extra inches don’t cause long-term sheet problems. All the corners stay where I want ’em. I go to sleep every night like someone with a nicer mattress than she has.