Sleep Like a King...

The Facts

They bought a bed fit for a king.

His Side

We have had a king sized bed now for at least 6 months… maybe more… I’m not entirely certain, to be honest. But really, it doesn’t matter how long we’ve had it; it just matters that we do have it because it is really the way to go. It’s not about wanting to stay away from my wife at bedtime, it’s about having sufficient space to not be cramped while I’m trying to sleep. I am fine with cuddling and such - that’s all fine and dandy - but when I’m trying to sleep, don’t touch me. Some people can probably fall asleep in their spouse’s arms or whatever but I’m not most people. I need my space.

I’m sure Kristi feels the same way because she has to have like 100 pillows when she sleeps. 100 might be a bit of an exaggeration, but she does like to be ensconced in the fluffy comfort of pillows. So, even if I wanted to cuddle as we slept, I couldn’t because I’m not as fluffy as a pillow (give me a few more years of eating sweets and working out very little and maybe I will be).

Here’s the problem, though, with a king bed… nothing else is enough. You begin to scoff at the prospect of sleeping in anything smaller. Someone has even told me that queen beds and double beds are for peasants. I’m not sure I agree with that, but they certainly are not as glorious as a king bed. So visiting people makes it a little hard to sleep because I’m not sure anyone in the entire world (that makes less than $250,000/year) has a king bed in their guest room. A double is especially tough. My parents have a double bed in their guest room… and Kristi takes over the whole thing. We make it work, but let’s just say that our guests should consider themselves lucky that our guest room has a queen bed in it. We used to sleep on a queen before we got the king and here’s an example of how spoiled the king bed has made us…

We were changing the sheets on the guest bed one time and we both looked at it and, at the same time, looked at each other and asked, “How did we ever sleep on this thing? It’s tiny!” 

When you get married and have to share a bed with someone, go big or go home. If you and your partner share something smaller than a king bed, you’re stronger people than us and congrats for that.

Her Side

If you’re looking for a piece of advice on a how to make your marriage successful, your first thought may not be to listen to a couple who has only been married for just shy of 9 months. But, let me tell you, I’ve got a winning piece of advice… invest in a king sized bed. This is the best thing that we have done thus far.

It became quite apparent that we wouldn’t be able to survive with the queen sized bed that we had set up in our master bedroom. Could we make it work? Probably. Would we be comfortable? Not always. We quickly decided that our comfort was worth way more than any amount this new king bed would cost. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband. What I don’t love is not being able to sprawl out and kick a leg across the bed if my heart desires to do so. To some that might seem a bit silly, but to me it’s a freedom that I need.

So, we began the search for the perfect bed. Even though we’re young, I’ve already got some back problems stirring up trouble, so finding the right bed was even more important for me… part of me hoped that it would help with my back. We did a little research and our biggest concern was whether or not a king bed would actually fit comfortably in our room. We came to the conclusion that, even if it took up more space than desirable, it didn’t matter because, after all, we didn’t need to have tons of open floor space (it’s not like we do cartwheels in there). We spent a day shopping for a new bed and went to 3 different locations. We found a bed we wanted at the first location, but they weren’t too great at negotiating on price. We had a number in mind we were willing to spend and they exceeded it, so we tried to be hard bargainers by walking out hoping that if we came back they’d lower the price to what we were comfortable. The joke’s on them though, because we didn’t come back.

The last place we went is where we found our bed. We walked into the store and it was barren except for the glorious beds it housed. The gentleman working kindly greeted us and asked what we were looking for… (duh, a bed). By this time, we knew what brand and style we wanted so we cut to the chase. He took us over to the ones we wanted and, after going back and forth between two different beds that honestly didn’t feel that different, we decided to take the plunge. The guy gave us a great deal! They were having a sale already, but he took an additional amount off because he needed to move inventory and because my family has purchased from them in the past. (I’d recommend looking at The Goodnight Sleep store for all of your mattress needs, they’re great!).

Once we made the decision, we didn’t want to wait one extra minute to get our glorious new bed into our home. So, the guy kindly offered to personally help deliver the bed the next day - a Sunday. We were surprised, but gladly accepted that offer. Well, since nothing happens exactly how we envision, problems arose on Sunday when our bed was supposed to be delivered. Apparently their only delivery guy called in sick, so the delivery truck wouldn’t be able to make its rounds. Our hearts were crushed by this news since we had already moved our old mattress out of our room. We asked if we could get it ourselves (we were that desperate). So, we borrowed my brother’s truck and drove 30 minutes away to pick up the new mattress. It was an interesting drive home with this massive mattress on the back of a truck. I kept looking out the back just hoping and praying that it wouldn’t end up on the side of the road. The good news is that we made it home with our new bed. Even though we had some hiccups with the installation process, our bed is finally in place and we are thrilled with it!

Now we are spoiled. When we go somewhere and have to sleep in a bed smaller than a king (which is most places), it feels so wrong. Imagine sardines in a can and that’s exactly how we feel… well that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. So, my advice? Invest in that big, luxurious, wonderful king bed. It’s a decision you certainly won’t regret.