Nothing says welcome to 50 quite like becoming wildly enthusiastic about your mattress.
Forget the sports car or some extravagant midlife crisis. Honey and I bought a bed, and six months later we are still talking about how much we love it. I realize that does not sound particularly exciting, but at this stage of life, a really good night’s sleep apparently ranks right up there.
For a while, we had both noticed that sleeping wasn’t quite as effortless as it used to be. Backs were hurting, sides were hurting and there was a whole lot of rustling around trying to get comfortable. Every night seemed to involve rearranging pillows and strategically positioning them under various limbs. At some point in life, going to bed apparently becomes less about simply lying down and more about constructing an elaborate support system for your aging body.
So, back in February, we spent a Saturday at the Tempur-Pedic store. And when I say we spent a Saturday there, I mean we really settled in.
We had a wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable salesperson who gave us all the time we needed to figure out what worked best for us. We tried different mattresses, pillows and bases and played around with all of the various settings. We raised our heads and feet, adjusted the lumbar support and discussed firmness, sleeping positions and all sorts of other things I never imagined Honey and I would one day find so fascinating. Twenty-five years ago, our Saturday dates involved considerably different activities. :-)
After trying just about every combination in the store, we landed on a split king with adjustable smart bases and mid-range Tempur-Pedic mattresses. We did not choose the heated option, and after trying the various mattresses, we actually preferred one of the mid-range models and our wallet definitely agreed. That experience alone made me glad we went into the store rather than trying to make such a big purchase online. What we thought we might want wasn’t necessarily what we liked best once we actually tried everything.
I initially wasn’t sure about the split king. It’s essentially two Twin XL mattresses pushed together to make a king, which means Honey and I can each control our own side of the bed independently. I was, naturally, also concerned about how this would look. Sleeping better was important, but I was not interested in turning our bedroom into something resembling a hospital room.
While we were trying the different bases, our salesperson pointed out something we hadn’t considered. Honey and I have about a 12-inch difference in height, and there really wasn’t one adjustable position that worked equally well for both of us. The amount of head lift, foot lift and lumbar support that felt perfect to me didn’t necessarily work for him. Once we realized that, the full split king made so much sense. We each get to put our side exactly where we want it without affecting the other person, which, come to think of it, might also be the secret to a happy marriage.
Another thing that made us feel better about such a significant purchase was Tempur-Pedic’s generous trial period. A mattress can feel fabulous for 15 minutes in a store and be an entirely different story after sleeping on it night after night, so knowing we had plenty of time to make a change or return it if it didn’t work for us took a lot of the pressure out of the decision.
Six months later, there is absolutely no chance we are giving it back.
Six Months Later
I wanted to wait a good long while before writing about the bed because I don’t think you can properly review a mattress after sleeping on it for a week. Now that we’re six months in, I can confidently say this has been one of the best purchases we have ever made for our home. Calling a bed life-changing sounds a little dramatic, but we both sleep so much better that I really don’t know how else to describe it.
We especially love the Zero Gravity setting. We watch a lot of Netflix in bed, and being able to raise our individual sides into exactly the right position is wonderful. All of the pillow scaffolding we used to construct under knees, backs, shoulders and various other 50-year-old body parts has largely disappeared. When we’re ready to sleep, we can each adjust everything to whatever feels most comfortable.
And because I know someone else will care about this as much as I did, I am happy to report that when the bed is made, it looks exactly like a regular king bed. We use our same bedding and pillows, and you would never know there are two separate mattresses and adjustable bases underneath it. All of the midlife mechanical magic is completely hidden from view.
The One Problem We Created
The only downside is that we have completely ruined hotel beds for ourselves.
Honey and I used to talk about how well we slept when we traveled. We’d crawl into a fabulous hotel bed with crisp sheets and fluffy pillows and wonder why we couldn’t sleep that well at home. Considering how much we travel, I suppose that was a pretty good problem to have.
Now we’ve somehow reversed it. We can be staying in an absolutely beautiful hotel, in a perfectly lovely bed, and eventually one of us will admit that we miss our bed at home. As someone who spends a significant amount of her life in hotels, this is not particularly convenient, but it might be the best endorsement I can give the Tempur-Pedic.
There are plenty of things I’ve bought for our house because they’re pretty, and plenty more because they make our lives easier. This is one of those rare purchases that has genuinely improved something we do every single day. Or, more accurately, every single night.
So perhaps this is what a midlife crisis looks like when you’re 50, tired and practical. There was no sports car in the driveway and no dramatic reinvention. We just bought ourselves independently controlled lumbar support and started going to bed earlier.
I have no regrets. HA!
Dixie Delights
join me as I travel, decorate, create & celebrate
Instagram | Pinterest
Dixie Travels
perfectly planned trips & our travel adventures
Book Now | Learn More
Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest