Our bedroom update was awhile ago, but we didn’t get the chance to talk about our new bed! Since then, we’ve been hemming and hawing over whether we should. It’s not the most budget-friendly bed, but it’s an important purchase, and not one that should be considered based solely on price. At the mjölk shop we are adamant about investing in quality pieces of furniture, and a bed should be no different!

Apartment Therapy just started a series called “A Year in Bed“, whereby one of their writers is going to try a different mattress per month, for the whole year. As Maxwell suggests, we never really get to test drive mattresses when shopping. We’re usually sold on brochures and marketing schemes. If you’re thinking about buying a new bed, this is definitely a series to watch!

We unfortunately didn’t have much to go on when shopping for our new mattress. All we knew was that our days with Sleep Country Canada and Serta/Sealy were over (poor or pushy service, seemingly repetitive product, interrupted sleep, sore shoulder, stiff legs). Like Maxwell, we started the hunt with Hästens, more out of sheer curiosity than intent to follow through.

But before being wooed in their showroom, it was the comments on this AT post that lead us to another Swedish company called Carpe Diem. As luck would have it, a showroom up in Newmarket had just started carrying this brand. So off we headed to Goodnight & Sweet Dreamzzz. Best time to mattress shop? First week of January in the evening! We had Debi’s undivided attention and she accommodated all of our whims and fancies for a couple of hours. Unlike the monotony at Sleep Country, at Goodnight, they carry various brands that you can compare – yes, there is a touch of Serta/Sealy, but in between that and the higher end Carpe Diem, is Natura Organic, Kingsdown and at the time, Tempurpedic. Also apparently they are getting a new brand in under the Villsam brand, which will fall in the mid-price range.

We bounced from bed to bed, feigned sleepy time (with pillows and duvet to complete the experience), laughed at the crazy height of the more luxurious Carpe beds (you need to jump, high!), all the while knowing that the basic Koster model was what we would buy. Although I have to admit price was a factor–their beds literally double in price, each step up you take–we also liked how much lower it sits.

Since the beds are made-to-order, we dutifully waited the three months (has to be imported from Sweden as well). When our bed went missing at the border, Debi quickly fixed the problem by offering us a (luxuriously incredible) loaner bed until the one we ordered was remade and shipped again.

Never. Slept. Better. Like sleeping on a cloud. We are actually shocked at how different this bed is from all previous experiences. Now the only thing waking me up in the night is Isha alarm clock. Bad side effect, REALLY not wanting to get up in the morning.

We have many reasons as to why we bought this bed.

We love it’s simplicity (no need to buy a frame and headboard).

We love that they use natural materials, with no threat of off gassing (it has the Eco Label Swan Certification – did you know that most North American brands are sprayed with fire-retardant chemicals? Yuck!). It is completely handcrafted by one artisan from start to finish.  The pine used in the base is from the northern most part of Sweden from sustainable forests. Tongue and groove corner construction means no glue or nails.

We love that it’s customizable. You can pick from 5 fabric choices (we picked light grey) and 11 types of legs (we picked birch). In an act of rebellion against firm mattresses everywhere, we went with the soft mattress – apparently the level of firmness has nothing to do with support, but personal preference. If a bed is good quality, it should inherently be supportive! But since we were going for the basic model, we upgraded the top mattress to the Exclusive, which has a cotton-filled summer side, and a wool-filled winter side, just be safe..

We love that it has a 25 year warranty, with an expectation of it lasting 40 years. (I have already thrown out 5 mattresses in the last 10 years. Sick.)

We love that we finally get a great sleep every night.