Beds Are Our Most Important Piece Of Furniture—Top Them With Luxury Mattresses

Experts say we spend a third of our lives in bed sleeping. But new research says this cliché is wrong! Actually, it’s almost half our lives when you add in hours spent reading, watching TV and relaxing, says a recent study from high-tech bedding maker Sleep Cloud. And predictably, given the confusion that surround the mattresses-buying process, their research shows 75% of Americans think their beds aren’t comfortable enough. Considering the importance of sleep to our wellbeing, why would anyone put up with an uncomfortable bed?

We ask that question all the time. As luxury interior designers, we have clients who spend large sums of money on furniture. Sofas often cost $15,000 or more, and most homes need more than one. But when it comes to buying beds, people get economical. Way too economical. Most mattresses have 10-year warranties, because that’s how long they last. Luxury mattresses come with warranties that are 25 years or longer, so even if you splurge on a $13,000 mattress, which is where Mashable says the luxury market starts, that works out to about $1.42 a day over 25 years—far less than a fancy coffee and a small price to pay when you consider the importance of a good bed. But in truth, most luxury mattresses last far longer than 25 years, making them even more reasonable on a price-per-use scale.

And make no mistake: Excellent mattresses are critical to our physical and mental health. Comfortable, supportive mattresses foster a good night’s sleep, which helps you repair and rebuild your mind and body to function better by day. It also helps you avoid aches and pain. Neck, back and spine problems are common issues related to mattresses with insufficient support, Spine-Health notes. We’re advocates for putting money where it counts in your homes, which means when you’re buying important pieces it’s imperative to buy the highest quality you can afford. By our reckoning—and given the importance of sleep to wellbeing on every level—beds are the most important piece of furniture in a home.

That’s why we’re big believers in luxury mattresses—specifically the kind made from the finest materials possible. Unlike memory foam, latex, innerspring and hybrid mattresses, which are made of manmade materials, luxury mattresses are completely organic. The cotton, wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, mulberry silk, horsehair and flax used in them breathe and are naturally resistant to dust mites, unlike the wool and cotton blend battens found in conventional mattresses. These materials are sustainably sourced and biodegradable. Luxury mattresses are also fabricated the old-fashioned way: cut, stitched, stuffed and tacked mostly by hand.

Thanks to their superior craftsmanship and materials, not only are luxury mattresses much more comfortable and supportive than mass market options, they’re far more durable. And remember those long warranties. Take Hästens and Vispring, found at Chicago Luxury Beds in River North, which offer 25-year and lifetime guarantees respectively. While those timeframes seem generous, they’re really conservative estimates of the lifespans of these extraordinary products. For instance, Hästens mattresses last an average of 45 years, while a recently recovered 75-year-old Vispring mattress was found to have 95% of its structure and height intact.

Mary Pat Wallace, a veteran of the home furnishings industry who had held top spots at Holly Hunt and more, founded Chicago Luxury Beds in 2005 when she had the same insight we did at JLI: “I was selling $8,000 coffee tables that ultimately didn’t get a lot of use in people’s homes. So why wouldn’t people want the best quality beds, which they really do use more than any other piece of furniture?” she says. A friend of hers, a Swedish chiropractor, had a Hästens bed, and when she tried it she was hooked: “it was a magical feeling,” she remembers. Today she represents Hästens and Vispring, which she believes make the highest quality offerings on the market. Both are among the world’s most expensive mattresses, Money Inc. notes, but also well worth the cost. Though Hästens, founded in Sweden in 1852, is renowned for making the world’s most expensive mattress (at $195,000), it has styles that start at $5,800, while Vispring, a British company founded in 1901, has beds that range from $3,800 to $40,000.

We hope our informed opinion and info on luxury mattresses inspire you to aim high when your current mattress wears out. We practice what we preach; I just bought a Vispring Sublime Superb—something I should have done years ago. I don’t think of it as a splurge but rather an investment in health and wellbeing. And lest you doubt our word, even the reporter for Mashable, the arbiter of all things hip and cool, concluded these babies (she tried a Kluft, Vispring, Duxiana and Hästens) are supremely comfortable. Her favorite? The Hästens: “It was a sinfully accurate combination of firm and soft.” But its competitors were nearly as comfortable, she admitted.

But here’s one more compelling reason why it pays to pop for a luxury mattress: the Sleep Cloud survey asked respondents, “if you had an extra hour in every day, how would you prefer to spend it?” The top answer was “sleeping.” The company’s conclusion speaks volumes about sleep, wellbeing and health. “We’d all love an extra hour of sleep, but usually that’s not always possible—what is possible is a higher quality sleep.”