These are the world’s best selling type of beds as their sprung or platform bases offer maximum support to the mattress and thus the sleeper, i.e. the flatter the base, the better the spring operates. Plus with drawer options can give ever needed storage solutions to the smallest of rooms. Many manufactures now produce more “pretty” divan bases that can be left without valances or bed skirts, with the new contemporary lines and trends to use much more modern fabrics and textiles, gone are the days when divans looked like the flowery curtain covered box your grandparents used to have! Also, divans tend to give more sizing options that of junior, junior single, single, large single, three quarter, double, king and super king.

Okay, here’s where it gets good, as these are the things you actually rest on, not the frame, not the headboard or how many draws it’s got and how it goes with the rest of your bedroom furniture, but how much comfort the mattress offers you. We’re not going to pipe on with the ‘third of your life in bed’ and ‘good shoes and a good bed etc’ sales pitches and proverbs, we know you’re not daft, that’s why you’re here, we will just continue to offer products that are proven quality at discount prices. Some big stores will try and herd you into buying the mattress they want you to buy with a ‘number rating system’ the difficulty here is one stores 2 is another stores 8! The stores have far better mark ups on certain types and brands, and guess what? That’ll be the 4 or a 7 etc, that you like! Now, we’re bed anoraks so we know these techniques, go and see for yourself, those ones that are not to your liking won’t be the same price as the ones that are!

When was the last time you changed your mattress? If you can’t remember then its time for a new one!

This is the most common type of mattress containing approximately 300-hour glass shape rings in an average kingsize all encased together in a metal frame. These are good all rounders and come in many different types, but read on for the better stuff!

Generous layers of materials stitched together then wrapped around the springs giving a deeper thicker mattress with a smooth firm surface. To surmise the more fillings and layers between you and the springs, the better.

Natural Latex is tapped from rubber trees and converted by super heating then blast freezing to form blocks of latex, being natural it has the edge on man-made memory foam as it is naturally aerated allowing heat to flow through and out. It also has greater moisture control and inhibits mites and other allergens known to irritate asthma sufferers whilst offering excellent pressure relief.

Made of wood, leather, metal or a combination of any of these, bedsteads are designed to hold a mattress and feature as part of your room decor, there are so many different designs and styles it’s a good idea to have in mind what you want because you can get tired just looking! Different versions come with varying qualities of build, looks apart, technically speaking the better ones are those which have stronger bases and offer sprung slats as opposed to just straight wooden slats or mesh wire bases. Always make sure that they have the right mattress type with them as not all bedsteads lend themselves to all mattress types.

Firm to Extra Firm mattress, if you remember World War 2 you will always ask for a hard orthopaedic mattress because these were the only decent ones around back then, what you could really do with is a much more forgiving mattress, it can still be firm, but not ‘hard’. Note for people with back problems, no mattress is a magic wand of pain relief, but getting one that is supportive and comfortable is a life changing moment!

This is where you get the ‘buttons’ in the mattress, tension tapes is what they are (kind of strong cotton ropes) punched through the centre of the mattress and then secured by the button. The effect of this, is to compact the springs and fillings giving a slightly firmer feel and keeping things in place, the better types of these mattresses use soft wool knots as buttons, called soft tufts, so as you don’t catch your nightie on them! Some can create a ridge effect in the bed which some find very accommodating for knees, shoulders, elbows, etc.

A smoother non-ridge type of surface, instead of the tufts are stitched patterns to hold the various layers of filling, some types called ‘tack and jump’ in the industry.

These are the higher end of quality mattresses, ranging from 800 to 4000+ individual springs slightly compressed and then stitched into a sealed covering of material and placed throughout each part of the mattress in rows, the unique benefit being that each spring works on its own, constantly reacting to any shift in weight occurring when you or a partner moves resulting in no rolling together in a dip also a better less disturbed sleep.

Viscoelastic also known as memory foam mattresses contain foam like material with millions of tiny window like cells. These cells react to body heat and pressure then mould to your body contours. Now we’re not here to knock these mattresses, we sell them, lots of them, as they are popular, but as a word to the wise remember these things were designed for sleep in space, and as you and I don’t sleep in a zero gravity, sub-zero environment, some will find them restrictive and a little hot as there ins’t much place for body heat to dissipate…but fear not! As there are ways around this…read on.

These in our opinion are some of the best, the ultimate in comfort in that you get the best of both worlds, you can have conventional pocket springs with a generous layer of memory foam or latex topped mattresses giving all the benefits and none of the drawbacks. The most luxurious of these will feature lambswool, silk, mohair, cashmere, cotton, horsehair, to name a few of the natural fillings.