Friday, June 14, 2013

Bed Woes

Remember way back when and I was mattress shopping?  Well, we finally solved that problem and for a brief moment life was wonderful.  Then I moved to a 3rd floor apartment, the beautiful new box spring wouldn't fit up the stairs, and we had to leave it sitting out on the curb.  Thankfully, someone picked it up before it started raining, and I hope it's serving them well while I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

It looks very Asian and minimalist, but it's also really hard to get up (low to the ground--lots of leg muscles required), my bedspread is on the floor and I'm a grownup, damnit!  It shouldn't be like this for me.  Also, in my place it doesn't look zen, it just looks trashy, so as much as I hate spending money on furniture, I started shopping for a bedframe that will get me off the floor.

Naturally, my first thought was IKEA because their stuff is cheap, nice to look at and I have plenty of friends with IKEA beds who seem to like them.  I selected the Malm
Which was (seemingly) a good price, and was recommended by a friend.  We made a trip out to IKEA (about 40 minute drive), got the bed and some other stuff, then came home to do the big IKEA assemble.

Except.

Since I've never bought a bed frame--from IKEA or anywhere else, I didn't realize that it doesn't come with the slats you need to actually put your mattress on.

So then I had to make a second trip the following day to buy the stupid slats.  Thankfully, I had looked them up online before going, so I knew exactly where to go in the store, and was out in fifteen minutes.

So, people who may buy a bed from IKEA in the future--pay attention to this lesson.  It is also worth noting that these bed slats are notoriously crappy, they move around and can slip, and that in order to actually have a bed that's useable, you may need to do some MacGyvering.  I was at a friend's house once, sitting on her IKEA bed, when the top corner of slats slipped.  Unfortunately for me, she had also recently purchased satin sheets which were so slippery I went flying across the room.

Thankfully, there are loads of IKEA hacks out on the web, and I found this one, which I will be trying.  Also thankfully (and because of the above satin sheet incident), I went for the low Malm rather than the high one.

4 comments:

  1. I love IKEA although I haven't tried their beds, mainly because they're a different size and therefore you have to purchase their sheets too. Thanks for sharing. From just above you on the Wordcount list today.

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  2. My daughter and I built the Malm bed for her room. I put some rubbery rug padding under the slates when the matress started moving around. They don't slip anymore.

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  3. Hah I forgot about that! Whatever did happen to my hot pink satin sheets? Sheesh man, I am glad to not have that bed anymore. Being flung off in the middle of the night while sleeping because, say, the cat jumped on the bed and unbalanced it was traumatizing.

    My current bed frame is Ikea, but much sturdier. It's a Lillesand: http://bedzine.com/blog/bed-designs/bed-home/bedroom/ikea-lillesand-bed/

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  4. At least now you know how to buy a bed in IKEA, and have something to share to others. ;) Good thing you found a frame the same size as your mattress. Anyway, was that an IKEA item too? Dante@The Healthy Bed Store

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