Sunday, March 15, 2009

Mattress mistake need advice!

If you recall when we got our mattress and boxspring delivered we were a little, uh... surprised by how TALL it was. It was something that honestly I just couldn't deal with for the first week it was in the house. We've been sleeping on a full bed in the guest room while they finish our master bed/bath, so it was out of sight/out of mind. But everytime I went in there I had a bit of an anxiety attack about it.

.... so one night this week while husband was practicing piano downstairs, I decided to go in and actually investigate. These photos don't adequately show how GIANT this set on our bed is. I'm 5'2. Literally the height came to about mid-torso for me. I tried climbing up onto it and that was something, but then getting Off the bed was even more ridiculous. We had joked that I would need a trampoline or step stool to get on and off the thing, but turns out it wasn't so much of a joke. It's one thing now, but can you imagine when I'm pregnant or when I'm 65? I'd need an automatic lift to get into bed! Also, I was not happy with the way it took over the whole room.
Our bed (from the Valencia collection from Pottery Barn) doesn't need a boxspring. I had just assumed that since we had a boxspring before that we would want a set again, however it's clear that our old mattress which was a real cheapo kind had a MUCH smaller profile.. suddenly with a high quality mattress it was overwhelming. I decided the boxspring had to go.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... SO much better.


The whole room opened up again and I don't fear for my safety when I think about going to sleep in this room. In comparison it looks a bit low now, but add a fluffy duvet and some pillows and it will be perfect.
Now you can actually see the lovely settee from the other side of the room. Okay so problem solved.... except we now have another problem on our hands..... we have a queen size boxspring. I could really kick myself because had I just ordered the mattress alone in the first place we would have saved $$$. After weighing all options, we had decided to go with a high quality, Royal Pedic all organic mattress set.... so it's not your standard boxspring either.... On Monday they are going to call back and let me know for sure, but on speaking with the vendor, they basically said that the cost to ship it back is so great that we won't really get any refund at all. So here are our options-- please, please weigh in-- we've been going back and forth all weekend.
1. Try to sell it. We had a nibble on craigslist, but for literally pennies on the dollar for what we spent. The pro of this is it would be off our hands and we could put it out of our minds. M. said if this is the one expense mishap in our whole rebuild it's relatively minor.... still it's painful to take such a financial hit on-- jeeze-- a mattress mistake!
2. Donate it. Pro is I think we could claim a deduction for the full amount. But it seems somehow a bit strange somehow to donate such a high-end unopened... boxspring.
3. Keep it. Here's where things get tricky. We have a full size set for the guest bedroom, but we could buy a queen mattress for this boxspring and have another fully-functional guest bedroom. In future years, though, these guest bedrooms will hopefully have permanent residents. I know plenty of kids grow up sleeping on full size beds... but to have a queen size in a kids bedroom....? Especially being that these are not huge rooms and we don't have a basement or other playroom area.....

Argh. I've now flip-flopped once again on this.... opinions are welcome and I'll keep you posted...

5 comments:

  1. Don't you hate that ? When you have thought through everything so carefully and then have an "oops".

    My nephew went from a crib to a queen - and as a little guy - when friends slept over - they slept together in the "big bed".....if your room can handle it - keep it. Just get a low profile frame or even just put low legs right on the box spring. Do you have another space for the full set ?

    I'd have to go back and look at your post of the guest room - but my thought is if the room can handle a queen - keep it.

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  2. thanks mary. That's what we're leaning towards now (again). We're thinking we'll put the full set into the blue room and the boxspring + yet-to-be-purchased-queen into the yellow room. Both rooms can definitely handle a queen bed, but it just doesn't leave alot of "Play space"... the size works perfectly for a guest room but not ideal for a kid. Anyway we're now thinking we can cross that bridge when it comes to us.... but stay tuned we may flip flop again!

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  3. I say keep it! Your house is so fabulous that you will be having tons of guests and a queen is so nice for a guest bed. When you need a second baby room, then you can 'cross that bridge' as to what to do with it then!

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  4. Hello Julia
    found your blog serendipitously, Love your beautiful house. I had a exact same exprience.. I ended up return it. because I didn't have the room to keep it. Why don't you sit down quietly and think about the box spring whatever comes to your mind first, that might be the answer for you.(smile)
    Happy Decorating the home!

    Julie
    from Downunder.

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  5. Joan, I love what you said about having a ton of guests, you're absolutely right, that's exactly the kind of home we want to have.

    Julie, so happy that you found my blog and thanks for your comments too. Good advice to take a moment of pause and go with one's heart.

    Soooo, we decided we're keeping the boxpsring! We spent Sunday moving the boxspring down into the guest bedroom and laying the area rug in our master bedroom. I'll be ordering the queen mattress to go with it tomorrow- but it will fit the room perfectly and my goodness does our master bedroom look so much better. Sigh. Relief.

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