Hints and Tips

How to choose the right bed or mattress
The bed or mattress will probably last you for up to 10 years before at least the mattress needs replacing. During that period, you will spend up to a third of your life lying on it, so you want to be sure that you’ve chosen exactly the right bed or mattress for you! This section is here not just to show you how to buy a bed or mattress, but to ensure that you buy the right bed or mattress for you.
Of necessity, because this section includes detailed information on choosing a bed or mattress, it is fairly long.

Bed types
There are many different bed types and some are listed below:
• divans and storage beds – a big range of divan beds, with or without drawers.
• metal beds – an exquisite range of metal beds to die for, and 20% off your mattress.
• pine beds - including a magnificent four poster – and your mattress at 20% off.
• bunk beds – great space-savers for the children’s bedroom, and at such low prices.
• electric beds – our affordable electric beds are adjustable at the touch of a button.
• guest beds – our 3 in 1 guest beds are more versatile than a futon or a sofabed.
• contract beds – discounted contract beds that meet the strict safety standards.
• mattresses only – quality mattresses in standard and non-standard sizes.
divan beds explained
The most commonly bought bed type is the divan bed and, while most of the above bed types are pretty much self-explanatory, the divan bed is available in a number of different permutations which require some explanation:
sprung edge divan base - The sprung edge divan base provides extreme luxury. As the name implies the springs come right to the edge giving real edge to edge support
platform top divan base - The top of this divan base is solid and padded, to enhance mattress support and provide a firmer bed.
storage options/drawers - One of the distinct advantages of a divan bed is that its enclosed base allows the use of drawers to hold bed linen or other goods.

Storage options/drawers
Where extra storage space is required, a bed with drawers in the base unit offers a great solution. A choice of smooth running, side or end drawers are available on all our divan bases. The drawer fronts are upholstered with the same cloth used for the mattress and base and are flush fitted - a simple and easy way to turn wasted space into storage.
Please consider your room layout carefully when ordering divans with drawers. Where space is limited at the side of the bed an end drawer may be a better option.
option A option B option C option D

Bed and mattress sizes
Most of us are aware that beds and mattresses come in four standard sizes: single bed, double bed, king size bed and super king size. But you’d be surprised at how many people need non standard sized beds or mattresses, either for those odd shaped rooms or simply because they want to enjoy a bigger bed!
Fortunately, bedsdirect specialise in supplying special size beds and mattresses, so please feel free to email them at sales@bedsdirect.com with your non-standard sized bed requirements and we’ll happily sort it out for you.
If you want a standard size bed or mattress, you’ll need to measure up the room to see how well the desired size will fit. Bear in mind that, if you intend buying a bed with storage drawers, you’ll need to allow extra room for the drawers to be fully opened. Here are the standard size bed and mattress dimensions:
single 3ft x 6ft 3in 90 x 190cm
double 4ft 6in x 6ft 3in 135 x 190cm
king 5ft x 6ft 6in 150 x 200cm
super king 6ft x 6ft 6in 180 x 200cm
NB. Divans and mattresses also available in non-standard sizes
mattress types
There are four types of mattress: pocket sprung, open sprung, orthopaedic and foam. Each mattress type has its own merits and some types of mattress cannot be successfully used with some types of bed, so please ask for our advice if you’re not sure.
pocket sprung mattress
The most luxurious in feel, offering ideal body support and comfort. Individual pocketed springs are linked together in a honeycomb pattern. They move individually as they compress and expand enabling them to adjust separately to your body shape and weight
open sprung mattress
A less expensive alternative to the pocket spring. The open springs are all hinged together preventing spring noise and spreading the bodyweight evenly over the complete surface of the mattress. The Koziflex spring system is different to traditional Bonnell open coil springs as there are more than twice the number of springs providing a denser sleeping surface.
orthopaedic mattress
An orthopaedic mattress is a bit of a misnomer really. Essentially, it's an extra firm mattress - and that could be too firm for your needs!

Foam mattress
The old style cheap foam mattresses with which many of us are familiar are about as far removed from the modern hi-tech foam mattresses as the old horse hair mattresses are from our modern sprung mattresses.
The Reflex Multizone foam mattress system, with its innovative comfort cell design, provides comfort, performance, shape retention and long term durability. The comfort cells respond independently and exactly to sleepers’ weight and body movement. It is ideally suited to adjustable beds as the mattress freely follows the shape of the bed when adjusted. The sculptured construction of the Reflex Multizone mattress system aids ventilation too.

Mattress firmness
The firmness of the support provided by a bed base can be further adjusted by the firmness of the mattress used in combination with that base. Mattresses come in four grades of firmness: medium, medium firm, firm and extra firm (sometimes call ‘orthopaedic’).
A word of warning, though: Convinced by alleged back-care benefits, many people opt for a mattress that is too firm for them, so try to balance firmness and comfort.

Bed buying tips
The following five tips are the ones that we think are most useful when buying beds and mattresses, but there are several other web sites which give more detailed information – our favourite is the Sleep Council’s site. See also our tips on getting a good night’s sleep in our how to get a good night’s sleep section.
• Buy the biggest bed you can afford and comfortably fit in your bedroom – the bigger the bed, the better night’s sleep you’ll get.
• Balance firmness and comfort, bearing in mind your weight and build – too firm and it’ll be like sleeping on a board; too soft and you’ll have too little support.
• Buy the best quality mattress you can afford – it will repay you many times over in the quality of sleep you get.
• Buy the right type of mattress for your bed type – some mattresses are designed to work best with a particular type of base.


.