Monday, October 11, 2010

The End of an Era

Saturday was a monumental day for my mom.

For the past 9 years, she has been sleeping on a bed more fit for a house guest who visits twice a year than a woman working two jobs, going to school, raising teenagers, and training for a marathon. When she split from my dad, she took my brother and me and moved back with her parents. She didn't bring her bed, although that wasn't much to talk about anyway. For the next four years, she either slept on the floor or a couch. While my brother and I had our own rooms with our comfy beds, her bedroom was our living room.

In 2001, my mom purchased a daybed. It seemed like the best option, being affordable, and being able to sit in the living room and not look too out of place. Since then, it has been her bed. It's moved from apartment to apartment, finally getting it's place in a real bedroom in September 2005. It's been a place my mom and I watch TV and have late night or early morning conversations.


And for the past few years, my mom has quietly dreamed of having a real bed. Her dream? A sleigh bed. My brother and I have looked into buying one for her for Christmas. My brother works at a furniture store, so he could get a great deal on a bed. But it was the mattress and box spring that held us back. We could buy the frame, but not the whole bed set.

Last weekend, my mom and I went furniture shopping. First, we went into a mattress store advertising amazing sale prices (70% off!!). And it was a total wash, after my mom was test for a specific mattress. And they showed her a great mattress. The only problem was the price - over $2,300! That was a bit out of our price range so we went to a furniture store.

And there, we found my mom's dream bed - a sleigh bed. A beautiful, cherry oak sleigh bed priced at only $200. Two hundred dollars! For a sleigh bed! Folks, that is a really good deal, especially at the furniture store we were in. We then tested out their mattresses, which has to be the most fun thing to do regarding shopping ever. Ever. We found very reasonably priced mattresses, the highest price one being $1,200.

Of course, my mom being who she is, had to think it over. (Sleep on it?) We came back the next day, assured of our purchase. My mom bought the sleigh bed and a queen-sized mattress and box spring (and the price was reduced by $100 since that mattress was being discontinued and they would have to give us their floor model). And to make this deal even more sweet, this furniture store was offering a free frame for purchasing a mattress. My mom still wanted her sleigh bed, so I was given the frame! (Yay, me!) Unfortunately, now I need a queen-size mattress since my full one doesn't exactly fit. (And looks kinda weird.) The price? Under $1,200. (If you were paying attention, that means it's half the price we would have paid for just the mattress at the mattress store!)

And now, here you go. My mom's brand-new queen-sized sleigh bed. Her first bed in 15+ years. Something she undoubtedly deserves.


Tell me: what kind of bed do you sleep on? Do you love it, or are you saving up for something you really want?

19 comments:

  1. So happy she finally has a bed!!! :) Yay mom.

    I always did second hand for beds in college til I graduated. When I graduated, I started saving money and bought my bedroom set for 700 (dresser, one nightstand, and bed) and then the mattress I paid 1200 for. The mattress feels like a cloud. Luckily, they had a credit card I could put the furniture on w/ no interest for a year. So I took exactly a year to pay it off. Very much worth it! My friends who visit speak highly of my mattress.

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  2. Aww, congratulations to your mama! That's really exciting :)

    I'm sleeping on the same mattress I've slept on since I was 9 -- it serves its purpose, but barely. I don't even have a headboard, so it tends to roll around the room as I sleep. My dream mattress would be made of latex foam. I vowed to abandon coil-spring mattresses after I slept on my cousin's Tempur-pedic bed for a night!

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  3. How wonderful! The bed is beautiful, and well-deserved. I hope she enjoys many good nights of sleep in it.

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  4. HUZZAH for your mom! This bed looks beautiful, & she must be so relieved. I'm so glad you guys were able to make this happen.

    I left the perfect, firm, queen-sized bed in D.C., given away to a family who wanted to spoil their 13-year-old daughter. I couldn't schlep it home to Ohio with me, & it was too big to fit up our stairs at home, anyway. So I'm back on my childhood bed, which I thought was perfect BEFORE aforementioned perfect bed... so I guess it's fine, though sleeping on it makes me feel 16!

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  5. How nice for your mom.

    As for me...I'm a 21 year old college student--I sleep on a futon that I got at IKEA for $100. But in my defense, I think it's comfy!

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  6. WOW! That bed looks amazing!!!

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  7. Yay for your mum!! This IS so very well deserved, I'm so glad for her. I do enjoy my bed, but sadly when we moved in we couldn't move in my four poster frame with it because we'd got a bigger mattress, and I really miss the days of having sheer fabric hanging around my bed with twinkle lights wrapped around the posts. Now we just have a pretty standard bed frame, but it's comfy :)

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  8. Oh, this is just wonderful! What an amazing mother you have. This bed is definitely well deserved!

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  9. Yay for your mom! Moms are the most amazing people - they sacrifice everything (even a good night's sleep for 15+ years) for their children. Your mom sounds like such a strong woman, and she definitely deserves a beautiful, comfy bed like that! Enjoy!

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  10. Steal!!

    Mine is actually secondhand. At some point we'll get a nice new one...maybe after getting married?

    T has a bad back so if we ever found one that helped him out that would be golden.

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  11. aww, good for your mom :) Mark and I splurged on this amazing pillow top bed and it was worth every penny - best purchase ever. they say to spend your money on mattresses and shoes and I kind of agree! we had to leave it at his moms house when we moved to switzerland and here we have just a cheap ikea bed - i miss our real bed every night!
    Village

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  12. Yay! Congrats on your mom's new bed! That is very exciting!

    I sleep on the most comfortable bed! I have had it for as long as I could remember and I have no intention of getting a new one any time soon!!

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  13. Aw, yay for your mom getting a new, real bed! And congrats on finding such awesome deals - it feels so good to find bargains.

    I have a full-size mattress that I've slept on my whole life (aside from when I slept in a crib, of course). My family says that it's the most comfortable bed in the house, though I argue that my parents' bed is a little better (I take naps there whenever they're not home). I do appreciate that it's a full instead of a twin because I have a little extra room to spread out.

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  14. I never knew what a difference a bed could make, until my boyfriend bought us a seriously nice and very expensive bed. I love it. And I sleep so well.

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  15. So glad she finally has a restful place of her own! I LOVE sleigh beds - I think they're so classy! What a great deal!

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  16. Aww, that's so great for your Mom! She deserves it!

    We just bought a brand-new Simmons Beauty Rest bed, and plunked it onto our old frame. Eventually we'll buy a bedroom suite and be real grown-ups, lol

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  17. Mom's are so self-less in making sacrifices for us kids aren't they? So glad that your mom has the bed she's always wanted.

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  18. Aww, that's so great for your Mom! She deserves it!

    We just bought a brand-new Simmons Beauty Rest bed, and plunked it onto our old frame. Eventually we'll buy a bedroom suite and be real grown-ups, lol

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  19. How nice for your mom.

    As for me...I'm a 21 year old college student--I sleep on a futon that I got at IKEA for $100. But in my defense, I think it's comfy!

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