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!”
Comfortable Mattress
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?
You can say what you want to about how money can’t buy you happiness. I believe there are two material things that truly add to a person’s quality of life: luxury high quality bed sheets and really nice bath towels. When used on a daily basis, I believe that both of these contribute to your overall well-being. It is always funny when a customer who purchases a $1600 mattress set tells me that bed sheets don’t matter. Customers have scoffed at my bed sheet prices (none of which are over $130!) “There is no way that I will spend $100 on a set of bed sheets. I’ll go to Wal-Mart and buy whatever is on sale.” Using cheap bed sheets on a luxury mattress is like buying a Lexis with cloth seats. You just don’t do that kind of thing. Even a cheap mattress set can feel better if you have good quality sheets.
Look, I know about good bed sheets. And I know about crappy ones. Last year, I ordered a sample set of bed sheets that were supposed to be 600 thread count. My cost as a dealer for those was around $35 for a king set. I thought that it would be great to be able to sell a high thread count bed sheet set that was really affordable (cheap.) I took my sample set of bed sheets home and washed them. I knew right away that these bed sheets were not good quality (the cost should have tipped me off, but I ordered the sample based on the advice of a trusted sales rep.) The so-called luxury bed sheets were very course and developed pills after the first night. Of course, I never purchased those sheets for my store. I would be ashamed to sell sheets like that to my customers. We have tested every set of bed sheets that we sell. The best bed sheets we carry are our 400 Thread Count Egyptian Cotton Sheets from Dreamfit.
The Create-a-King is a neat little bedroom problem solver that you can use to turn two twin beds into a king size bed. The Create-a-King straps around your two twin mattresses, holding them together tightly, so they can’t scoot apart. But what about the crack between the two mattresses? The Create-a-King has a sheep skin center piece that covers and masks the crack between the two mattresses. We have tried this in our store and it is also helpful to get a high quality mattress pad to go on top of the Create-a-King and mattresses to further cover up the crack between the two mattresses. You can use the Create-a-king to connect two twin beds or two twin extra long beds.
No, you cannot convert a queen size bed to a king. Think of the difference in size between the two: 16 inches. That means that 8 inches of the mattress would overhang on each side. If you want to get a king size mattress, but you don’t want to purchase an entire bed set, consider ordering a metal bed frame. Often called “Hollywood” bed frames, these bed frames are easy to assemble, relatively inexpensive, and very sturdy.
Three-quarter beds are beds that measure approximately 48 inches wide by 75 inches long. Many antique beds are this size. Since we sell full to queen converter rails customers call us to ask if we sell anything that will convert a three quarter bed to a full size bed. There is no “converter rail” set that can be used to easily convert a three quarter bed to a full size bed. There may be a bed frame solution, however, that might work for you:
Next, you’ll need to bridge the distance in width between three-quarter and full size by ordering mod-adapt headboard plates. Mod-adapt plates are a useful tool for attaching oversized or undersized headboards to standard metal bed frames.
If your three quarter bed attaches using bolts, you don’t need the next bed frame accessory. If your three quarter bed attaches using hooks, you’ll need two bed hook adapter kits - one for the headboard and one for the footboard.
If you have a great antique bed or full size bed but you don’t want to sleep on a full size mattress, you can use full to queen converter rails to convert your bed. Full to queen converter rails are easy to use. You just hook them in or bolt them on to your full size headboard and footboard. They are long enough to accommodate a queen size mattress set and the rails come with special “L” brackets that accommodate the width of a queen size mattress set.
Full to Queen Converter Rails
There is only six inches difference in width between a full size mattress set and a queen size mattress set, so that means only three inches hang over on each side. Most of the time, once your bed is assembled with an attractive bed skirt, you won’t even be able to tell that the bed has been converted. You will love being able to sleep on a queen size mattress set instead of a full size.
When I was pregnant a couple of years ago, I had terrible acid reflux. Not only was the heartburn painful and uncomfortable, every night I woke up choking because of the reflux. It was the most miserable part of my pregnancy. One of the best baby shower gifts I received was an Acid Reflux Wedge Pillow from The Sleep Shop.
Acid Reflux Wedge Pillow
This pillow had a gentle sloping wedge design that raised my head slightly, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. I would recommend this product to anyone with acid reflux. I should say that in the latter part of my pregnancy, even the acid reflux sleep wedge pillow did not help enough. I had to resort to going on Prevacid. I would also recommend Prevacid to any pregnant woman who suffers with severe acid reflux like I did. It worked unbelievably well, and my doctor said it is considered to be safest for pregnant women. As soon as my son was born, the reflux vanished, but we still use our Acid Reflux Wedge Pillow quite often. My husband stole it from me, actually. He uses it now if he has a cold or sinus infection to relieve sinus pressure.
If you’ve ever wanted to attach a full size bed frame to a queen size headboard or vice versa, or if you’ve ever come across a headboard that won’t line up with your bed frame because it is oversized, you can try using mod-adapt headboard plates to attach your bed frame. The mod-adapt plate kit is very versatile bed frame hardware kit that can be used with your existing metal bed frame. See our instructional video below to see how to install the plates on to your bed frame.
You can buy replacement bed rails for your headboard and footboard. Some people choose to buy replacement bed rails if their old bed rails are squeaky or seem unstable. Sometimes replacing your bed rails is the best option. You can buy metal bed rails in all sizes. You can choose from bed rails that hook-on or bed rails that bolt-on. Below is a picture of a typical bolt-on bed rail set.
