How to choose a good bed

• Decide your priorities and concerns in advance. For example, are you most concerned with: price, storage, access to your bedroom, turning the mattress, getting in and out of bed, overall size or shape, or a health issue such as back support?
• Buy according to the correct support and comfort for your weight and build - not just firmness.
• Don't forget a bed is a mattress and a base working together - don't consider them in isolation.
• Think big - larger beds are more comfortable.
• You get what you pay for - both in product and service - so spend as much as you can afford.

Ten reasons why you need a bigger bed

1. Because a 4ft 6in standard double bed gives each person just 2ft 3in of space - less than a baby in a cot. Now how squeezed is that?
2. Because ergonomic studies show that couples sleep better in a bigger bed - and yet before trials only 15% said they would buy a larger than standard bed. After the trial 50% said they would.
3. Because you spend a third of your life in bed - by the time we are 50 we'll each have spent some 16 years in bed. So, if you are going to spend all that time there, why take the trip to dreamland in tourist class when you can go first class?
4. Because 16 other countries can't be wrong! That's how many boast bigger average bed sizes than the UK & Ireland. Top of the league are Belgium, Greece, Holland, Iceland, Finland and Switzerland - where most people sleep in a roomy 160 by 200cm bed.
5. Because it doesn't cost a whole lot more to move up a size. Over 10 years, for every €100 spent on a new bed, it costs just 2.7c per night.
6. Because you spend as much as you can afford on the best possible house, holiday, car, kitchen, DVD, TV and sound system. So why cheat yourself when it comes to buying a bigger bed?
7. Because there is even more of us when we are asleep! The average adult grows in the night by as much as two centimetres. During the day the spine is compressed; at night it is given the chance to straighten and recover.
8. Because the average person tosses and turns some 60 to 70 times a night - a bigger bed will reduce the disturbance factor between you and your partner.
9. Because you may not be as young as you were - or as slim! Latest official figures say one in five of us is overweight, in which case the 'two in a 4 ft 6in' scenario could be putting a severe strain on your relationship.
10. Because once you've slept in a King Size, you'll never want to be a second class sleeper again!

Some General Tips

• Are you buying for comfort or for style?
• Buy as big as can fit.
• Talk to others and get advice on what they think.
• Remember that the higher the number of coils and the thicker the padding, the better the mattress quality.
• Determine what you want, then focus on the models that fit that description when you shop for your mattress.
• If you suffer from back pain, you should go with better quality for optimum support.
• Whether you sleep on your back or side can determine how firm the mattress feels. Many of our customers have said their mattresses feel firmer when they sleep on their side.
• Consider your price range.