Purchasing a bed?

[Pursuivant]

And most british and USA beds are 190cm long, which is 10cm shorter than almost all beds in Germany and Finland. Is everyone in the USA a midget.

Oh yes, atm where I am renting is a "double" bed and its actually OK if you sleep in a 45 degree angle, as otherwise my feet are on the chair.

[Rosamunda]

I picked a pillow name at random (gosa pinje) and tried some ikea websites (this is for the same pillow):

France: 65cm x 65cm
UK: 50cm x 80cm
Finland: 50cm x 60cm
Canada: 51cm x 91cm
Germany: 80cm x 80cm

And they do not sell the other sizes, so if you moved to Finland from France then you will have trouble with 65x65 pillow cases or new pillows for your stock of french pillow cases.

Interesting. I'm way out of date then. When we lived in France there were not many Ikea stores in the country (only 2 in Paris, now there are 7) and we were in Hungary when they opened their first store there. So maybe the "internationalization" concept is more recent. It certainly makes sense. But it kind of dampens my strategy

[Joobear]

I am also looking for a bed, but would like some education on the different types of beds here. I am used to seeing western style beds, which is a box spring base (a wooden box covered in fabric, very hard and just used to support the mattress on top of it), and a mattress, which is made of springs, foam, a pillow top covering, offered in varying levels of softness and support as per your preference. Here in Finland, I have seen a variety of styles of beds which have:
1. A box spring base which is cushy (what is the point of this?), and a mattress on top that is cushy as well. There is also a thin pillow topper on top. We have one of these and it has offered little support, the pillow topper slides around on top of the bed so we have to constantly readjust it, and the mattress has sagged and lost its shape completely. We are looking to replace it, and I wonder how much we will have to spend for a decent bed.
2. Beds that have no box spring. It's just a mattress with legs attached to it and a thin pillow topper. Again, I wonder how this holds up in terms of support and sagging over time?
3. And lastly, I have seen just mattresses which are meant to be used on beds with slatted frames. I have no idea how well these work, but it seems they might be ok since they have a firm base for support.

Of these options, which is the best buy for a couple looking for a medium firmness bed which offers good back support and won't sag like my grandma's boobies after just a year? Do we have to spend more than 1000 to get a decent bed?

And on a related note, could I get some clarification on sheets? It seems flat sheets are the norm here, not fitted sheets. Do you just tuck the flat sheet around the pillow topper on your bed, leaving the mattress exposed? How does the flat sheet stay in place? I have to tuck mine back in every night because the sheet is barely big enough to tuck under the topper. And blankets....almost all of the duvets I have seen are single person sized. Larger duvets and duvet covers for 2 person beds are much harder to find, and a lot more expensive. Do a lot of Finnish couples sleep with 2 single person blankets even though they are sharing a queen sized bed together?

Thanks in advance for your help in shedding some light on my ignorance in these matters. Hopefully with some help we will be sleeping more comfortably and soundly in the future!

Yeah I wondered the same things as you did about fitted sheet. I dislike spending time every day tucking it back underneath the pillow topper. Same thing goes for a couple using two single blankets - what what and why

On a related note, I'd advise firm bed for posture support and preventing back problems. My mum in law always said: "Poor people shouldn't buy cheap things." In this case I guess it just applies. We are also saving for a new bed and I'm doing some research myself. So far I've got:

http://www.dux.fi/
http://www.lanterna.fi/en/Stores
Asko.fi
Jysk.fi
Sotka.fi (seems to be not recommended by some members here)
http://www.futonshop.fi
http://www.futon-1.fi

"Care to save some money?
Place boards or plywood underneath the mattress.
A thin mattress with boards underneath it will give you the relief that you seek."