Some of the most important things we do in life are made more difficult by the fact that we rarely find them. Compare the purchase of a house to pick up food. Of course, buying food is so important that we die if we do not eat, but we also buy food almost daily. A shelter is another necessity in life, but when it comes to buying a house, most people only do it once or twice. Given that we have very few opportunities to acquire experience in the purchase of homes and to discover what we want and what we do not want in one, research and preparation are much more important. After all, it’s a bit more problematic to realize that you do not like your house after you’ve bought it, than with a can of sardines.

While they are extreme, food and houses illustrate the importance of informed decisions about large and rare purchases. That is why it is so strange that buying new mattresses can directly affect our energy, health and happiness are constantly overlooked. Despite their importance, people often buy beds with a minimum of research, buy what they think they want, without taking the time to find out what they do not know what they need. Before selecting a frame or sheets, the first important decision you should make is the size of your new mattress.

Realistically determining how much space you can have in your bedroom is the first step in choosing the size of the mattress. Maybe you always wanted a king size mattress but depending on the situation of your life, it may not be practical. In a smaller room of 10 by 12 feet, a king-size bed would occupy more than a third of the floor space. This is just the mattress imprint; It does not take into account the additional space occupied by a frame, a bedside table or the removal of the bed from the wall. With these factors, it is possible for a king to reduce floor space in this room by 40 per cent or more. On the contrary, if your room is cavernous, you may want the additional size of a king size bed, just to fill the space.

It is also necessary to take into account the corridors and doors that lead to the bedroom. This can make it difficult to manoeuvre a mattress in the room, even if the room itself has enough space. If you have plenty of space for a large mattress, but the corridors of the room are difficult to navigate, foam mattresses provide physical flexibility, and many companies facilitate handling by sending them in a compact, vacuum packed box.

The second thing to consider when looking at the size of the bed is a long-term perspective. A quality mattress generally has a useful life of seven years, more or less, depending on how much it is used. For that reason, buying a new bed for what you want now has no sense of the life you will have in the near future. One of the best examples of this is when a couple of separate residences are going to live together.

The jump from the size of a double bed to a full one may seem like the difference between an RC aeroplane and a combat aircraft. However, full mattresses are 54 inches wide, which produces only 27 inches of personal space when used together. A double mattress for perspective, which many people consider too small for a single person, is 39 inches wide. For people who plan to share a bed, a mattress smaller than a queen is generally not recommended. At the other end of the spectrum, large mattresses become a burden when it comes time to move for people who know they will not live in a long-term area, such as college students.

The last thing you should know about the correct size of the bed is your sleep style. When you move in bed, larger beds, like a queen or a king, can be more comfortable. Or if you’re still like a stone at night, full sizes or even doubles may be enough and you can save a few dollars.

As many things in life are, what you put into something is reflected in what you get from it. When you finally decide that it is time to buy a new bed, take some time to explore your mattress and you will feel much happier with your purchase.