Bed Frame Store

Recently, I discovered the Chilipad. I was so impressed with this product that I immediately ordered a display for my store and put it on our website. One of the most common questions I get as a mattress sales person is, “Will this mattress make me hot?” Memory foam mattresses in particular have gotten the reputation of “sleeping hot.” I have come to the conclusion after years of hearing this complaint about memory foam that many types of memory foam MUST be hotter than other types of mattresses, despite what TemperPedic, Simmons, and Sealy say about it. It cannot all be in peoples’ heads. Even so, I believe that some people sleep hotter than others by nature – no matter what type of mattress they sleep on. Heavier people usually sleep hotter than thinner people, men sleep hotter than women (until those women reach a certain age!), younger people sleep hotter than seniors (past menopause.) This is a generalization of course, and you may not fit this pattern. Sleeping too hot (or cold) can seriously affect your ability to get a good night’s sleep. My customers complain about tossing and turning trying to find a cool spot on their sheets. I have always wanted to provide my customers with a solution to this problem. And now I can . . . .

The Chilipad is a revolutionary new mattress pad that cools your bed or warms your bed, using water. The Chilipad mattress pad is placed on top of ANY mattress, including your hot memory foam mattress, and it can cool down to 46 degrees or warm up to 118 degrees. Women in menopause are falling in love with the Chilipad and with their beds again, because they can stay cool at night. Cancer patients suffering from frequent hot flashes also often find relief with the Chilipad. Couples who fight over the covers or can’t seem to find the right temperature for their bedrooms will love the dual Chilipad (available in queen and king sizes.)

Buy your Chilipad at TheSleepShop.com and get free shipping!

We just picked up a great new product: Replacement wooden side rails for your bed. They come in five beautiful colors, as well as unfinished if you want to finish them yourself. Not much more expensive than metal bed rails, our wood rails are made in the USA in Asheboro, NC. You’ll love the look of these and the price, too.

Learn more about wooden bed rails at TheSleepShop.com.

I went to the spring furniture market in High Point this week. I always enjoy meandering through the IHFC building with its limitless supply of vendors, catacomb-like hallways, and people dressed in business suits. There’s modern furniture, cottage furniture, modern-cottage furniture, acrylic lamps, chandeliers made of seashells, upscale bedding ($12,000 for a down duvet), and lots of teak outdoor furniture. It is a home shopper’s dream. I get so overwhelmed visually that I forget to watch where I am going. I always run into people as my eyes are drawn to an artist’s funky showroom or the artsy way a designer has showcased her wares.

This was the trance I was in when I spotted an upscale mattress line in one of the showrooms of the IHFC building. I had noticed this mattress line in one of our trade magazines, and I was drawn to the interesting ticking and design of the mattresses. I knew the bedding line was way out of the price range of beds we carry, but still I wondered what this luxury line was all about.

Anytime I’ve visited an upscale showroom in High Point, I get treated like I have leprosy. I mean, I’m cute in my Coldwater Creek clothes, but I don’t look really fancy for sure. I remember visiting Ann Gish at last market, and I asked the Sex-in-the-City sales lady there for a price list. She said smugly, “We don’t have a price list.” You don’t have a price list? What? How the heck do you plan to sell these things? I think she meant that she didn’t have a price list for me.

Anyway, at this incredibly upscale mattress showroom, a lovely sales woman approached me. She was gracious and took the time to show me her company’s beds. What surprised me is how respectfully she treated me, despite the fact that I was not in a business suit, and despite the fact that I told her before she spent any time with me that I would definitely not be able to but anything. She showed me her best-seller, a $27,000 beauty in the back of the showroom. (That’s $27,000 retail.) I tried the bed, and yes, it felt magnificent, amazing, even. This mattress company makes every bed by hand, every single stitch is sewn by a seamstress. Every bed is made of all natural materials, horsehair, being one of the most important components. When I asked about all those bald horses, the sales woman smiled and said, “The horsehair comes from the horses’ tails, so no there are no bald horses.” (Just horses with cold butts, I guess!)

My next probing question: What about the warranty? I’m thinking a bed that costs $27,000 should really last a lifetime and never get body impressions. Indeed, the warranty is a long one for the industry – 25 years. But if you buy this bed, expect to get body impressions. Their warranty, like most mattress manufacturers’ warranties, does not cover body impressions (unless they are excessive.) I never got a straight answer about what constitutes “excessive” for this luxury brand, nor could I find it on the company’s website. I did notice that the topper was flattened somewhat where I had laid on it. (I wish I could say that I’m super-skinny, but I’m about average size and weight.)

The bed was soft. It was as if you took a plush mattress and put a very nice quality featherbed or topper on top. Really, that’s what it felt like. It was cloudlike for sure, but lots of beds that we sell are cloudlike for a fraction of the cost.

What I took away from visiting the showroom was a favorable impression of this luxury brand, despite its being unaffordable, impractical, and definitely out of reach for most people. I also left with greater certainty that a comfortable bed cannot be made that totally resists body impressions. If you can’t do it for $27,000, then it can’t be done.

It is an exciting time at our house.  We just moved our little boy to his “big boy bed” this weekend.  We chose to go ahead and get a full size mattress set for him, instead of twin size.  He is a Thomas the Tank Engine fanatic so we were able to keep our primary color theme from his nursery and simply add a Thomas the Train border around his room.  Every night we like to snuggle in his bed to read stories, so I wanted to make his bed really cozy and comfortable.  I chose a comfy upholstered headboard with a denim slipcover from TheSleepShop.com.

The headboard with slipcover cost just over $200 (including shipping.) I compared other sites selling upholstered headboards and I was shocked at the prices. Two sites sell very similar products for $399 – $499 and this price does not include shipping.

I also put his mattress and box spring on a full size low profile bed frame so he is easily able to climb into bed himself.

Alex loves his new bed!

If you think everything in this country is imported from China, think again. Most of the items we sell at The Sleep Shop are manufactured in the USA. All of our mattress sets are manufactured here in the USA – most of them within 100 miles of Hickory, NC. Just about all of our metal bed frames, bed frame parts, and bed frame accessories are made in the USA – most of them in Linwood, NC. We even sell bed sheets and bed pillows made in the USA. So when you’re looking for good quality products made right here in the USA, think of The Sleep Shop and TheSleepShop.com.

If you want a fashionable good looking bed frame for supporting your mattress and box spring, you’ll love the Edge Silver Bed Frame. It has an attractive silver coating, unlike most of our bed frames which are either “bed frame brown” or black. Not only is this bed frame attractive, but it is also offers great support for your mattress and box spring compared with standard bed frames. And the best news: Previously, this bed frame was imported, but now it is is MADE IN THE USA!!!

If you’re having trouble sleeping, make sure to notice the little details that can disturb your sleep. For example, recently our neighbors brought home a new barking dog. His barking was really distubring us, so much that it frequently woke my husband and me up. As soon as I would fall back asleep, that dog would bark again. We invested in a white noise machine. We love our Marpac 980 Sleepmate. It has two settings, and we use it on the higher setting. It completely masks the noise from our neighbor’s dog. Our other neighbor was complaining about the same thing, and I think I might get her one for Christmas. They make great Christmas or birthday gifts.

I laughed when I read the instructions for our new Duraplus Foldable Bed Frame. The instructions say, “For twin size: Unfold bed frame and snap legs into place. Place bed in desired location.” Until I received my sample bed frame, I really did not believe that this bed frame would be that easy to assemble. But it really is.

Other really great things about this frame:

1. It’s strong and can support up to 1200 lbs.
2. It’s tall! You can store all kinds of stuff under this 14 inch tall bed frame!
3. This bed frame folds up nicely, so if you don’t need it, you can stow it away in a closet. This is unlike angle iron bed frames that don’t fold.

Take a look at our silly assembly video:

A customer of mine contacted me recently to say that she loved the bed frame she ordered from us, but that she was afraid the wheels would scratch up her new hardwood floors. Normally, I recommend using polyurethane feet (also called glides) on a frame if it will be used on tile, parquet, or wood flooring. When I took this customer’s order, I did not realize she had recently pulled up the carpet in her bedroom and replaced it with wood. She asked what she could do to prevent damage to her floor. The key to protecting your floor from unsightly scratches is to keep your furniture firmly in place. 

I recommended a set of Large Caster Cups by Slipstick.   These are designed especially for use with bed frames that have wheels, rollers, or castors instead of feet. They have a patented rubber “O-Ring” on the bottom of each cup and the top is hollowed to accommodate up to a 2 1/4″ roller. When installed, this smart design prevents your bed frame from moving on any flat surface. No movement means no damage to your floor!

I shipped the product to my customer. Two weeks later, she called back to tell me that the caster cups worked perfectly, held her bed in place, and did not move even when she tried pushing the bed. She also said that she had just found the perfect antique rug to use under her bed. She asked the rug dealer how to care for her rug. He led her to his rack of Slipstick castor cups. The great thing about this product is that they not only protect hardwood flooring, but they also prevent the ugly dents left in carpets by bed rollers. 
 
In this business, we talk a lot about protecting your mattress investment by using a mattress cover, center supports, etc..  Sometimes we fail to mention other little gadgets and gizmos that we sell that help you create the perfect environment in your bedroom.  Not only will castor cups help maintain your floors, but you might even find that simply keeping your bed frame firmly in place may lead to improved sleep quality if your bed is not shifting when you or your partner roll over during the night.  

Frequently, a customer’s night in a hotel will trigger a visit to our store. “I slept so well on the bed at the Westin, the Sheraton, the Marriott, etc,” my customer will exclaim. “I loved it so much that I pulled the covers off the mattress and looked at the label! I want a bed JUST like that one!”

Consider the following:

• Unlike your mattress at home, the hotel mattress was probably NOT worn out. It was probably relatively new, so it offered nice support for your body.
• You may think that nice hotels have the most expensive mattresses for their guests, this is not usually the case. Most hotels order mattresses in bulk directly from mattress manufacturers, and though the specifications for these mattresses are certainly adequate, the mattresses in hotels are rarely top-of-the-line in quality.
• Don’t discount the effect of high quality bed sheets on your overall impression of the bed. The luxury of the mattress pad, layered with crisp white bed sheets, nestled neatly under a fresh down comforter with a clean cotton duvet cover could seriously hamper your ability to properly judge your night’s sleep.

What can we learn from this??
If your mattress is worn out, and you are not sleeping well, you need a new one. But don’t order it directly from the hotel. If you order the mattress set directly from the hotel, you will pay double what you would pay for a mattress with the same specs in a typical sleep shop. Also, “Good Sleep” is the product of many factors. Of course, having a supportive, comfortable mattress is one of the most important factors. But other factors may be just as important: a darkened room, a comfortable room in terms of temperature, a lack of noise or the addition of white noise, and soft bed sheets that fit properly. So at the hotel, was it really just the mattress, or was it the atmosphere that helped you sleep better than you normally do?