Purchasing a bed?

[simplelife]

We currently have an IKEA bed and it is the most uncomfortable bed! We are now on the hunt for a new bed... I would love to find a bed here in the Helsinki area similar to one that we could find in the states (box spring mattress - nothing temperpedic or pillow top). Any ideas?

[Upphew]

I'd say Ikea. Or if you really want to invest: http://www.unikulma.com/

[ojosverdes]

We currently have an IKEA bed and it is the most uncomfortable bed! We are now on the hunt for a new bed... I would love to find a bed here in the Helsinki area similar to one that we could find in the states (box spring mattress - nothing temperpedic or pillow top). Any ideas?

Hey, those are called Yankee beds. I got mine at Suomi Soffa. I dont think Ikea has those. I found out that you need to buy a really thick pethauspotija to make it really comfy. It seems FInns dont really value soft beds like we do in the US. When I first started looking I was shocked at how hard it was to find a soft mattress with box springs that is SOO soft for a cheap price like the US!

Good luck

[Upphew]

Hey, those are called Yankee beds. I got mine at Suomi Soffa. I dont think Ikea has those. I found out that you need to buy a really thick pethauspotija to make it really comfy. It seems FInns dont really value soft beds like we do in the US. When I first started looking I was shocked at how hard it was to find a soft mattress with box springs that is SOO soft for a cheap price like the US!

Good luck

http://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/catalog/products/40160384/ + http://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/catalog/produ ... #/90156346 = yankee bed?
Really soft bed won't give support and might cause back problems.

[simplelife]

Thanks for the advice and yes I am looking for a "Yankee" bed... Looks like Suomi Soffa has gone out of business. If that is incorrect please let me know.

[ojosverdes]

Hey, those are called Yankee beds. I got mine at Suomi Soffa. I dont think Ikea has those. I found out that you need to buy a really thick pethauspotija to make it really comfy. It seems FInns dont really value soft beds like we do in the US. When I first started looking I was shocked at how hard it was to find a soft mattress with box springs that is SOO soft for a cheap price like the US!

Good luck

http://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/catalog/products/40160384/ + http://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/catalog/produ ... #/90156346 = yankee bed?
Really soft bed won't give support and might cause back problems.

(too soft) Didnt give me back problems..too hard does though!!

[Sial]

I dont know much but i can give you WHERE NOT TO GO,

Dont buy bed from Sotka, there stuff sucks. I spent 850 euros and hardly used it for about 4 months. It got cracked , very weak and cheap material. There things look nice and beautiful but quality sucks.
(Personal Experience)

[Meeowie]

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!

[Upphew]

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?

You get what you pay for, I'd guess that 1000 is a ballpark that you start to get something that last a bit longer than a year.

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!

Mattress gets one of these: https://www.google.fi/search?q=helmalak ... n&tbm=isch
Get bigger sheets, so you have something to tuck? 15-20cm seems to hold fine for me. Unless there is serious sexing done. But then the sheets are going to wash anyway.

I don't use blanket. Gets too hot with that. If I had to sleep under covers with someone else, the bed would become a bog. And if each have own blanket then the other can't hog it. I haven't seen nor heard anyone who sleeps in double bed with only one blanket.

[lusi]

Suomi Sohva has an outlet store on the old Lahti Road between Kerava and Järvenpää (just past the last Kerava exit, Yli-Kerava) as you are going towards Järvenpää).

[Pursuivant]

Well, I'm all in for those "traditional" beds with a slat base and a mattrass on top. I swear on IKEA's "sultan" series. The trick is though, not to buy a huge mattrass, but two separate ones as different people weight/back/preference will want a softer/harder mattrass.

Though then you get the "cheap" beds with the box and screw-on-legs. Will do for a while, i think I slept on one for 6 years almost, even it was "temporary" and the bottom slats were breaking off and the springs coming through. What I swear upon now is "memory foam" though. On a Futon bed. And the futon bed on top of chests of drawers so you don't waste space.

I can't use bedsheets, I "twirl" in bed. Sometimes I am inside the duvet case... don't ask where the pillowcases are... The only thing that stays on the mattrass is an army blanket. The other one as I use as a duvet usually has me mummy-wrapped in the mornings... so unless the sheets are stapled on, they're quite useless

[tizlit]

In Finland they use another thin (like mattress) on top of a normal mattress, where the sheet is laid out - do not know what is the purpose really, it took me also a long time to understand different bed types here. But ofcourse, it travels during the night. The best solution is, ofc, a bagsheet, which stays in place.

Perhaps you can purchase 2 bagsheets (or whatever they are called), one for the bottom, one for the top blanket.
Visit various shops, ask questions and you will find suitable one. I think you dont have to spend a fortune. The simplest thing would be a frame, sturdy mattress and thats it.

[riku2]

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?

The flat sheets are the norm. It sounds like yours are too small. there should be at least 20cm on each side to tuck under the top mattress. then they do not move. Fitted sheets - have not seen those. what is the problem with seeing the mattress? would you like those frilly mattress covers they have that go down to the floor?
With a top mattress (what is called a "pillow top mattress in the USA) you can unzip the cover and wash the cover (can't do that with the full size mattress). You can also easily put the top mattress outside when it's really cold (eg -30) and kill off those living inside it.

duvets - 2x single duvets on a double bed are quite common. but you can also get large double ones from ikea. mine is 220x230 and was certainly not expensive (the quilt or the covers).

personally I much prefer the finnish type beds and language to the UK or USA. What is the size of a "queen sized" bed for example? and "queen size" in the UK is different to "queen size" in the USA! Specifying the size is much more sensible. 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.

[Rosamunda]

The advantage of getting everything from Ikea (base, mattress, top mattress, pillows, sheets, quilts, covers etc etc) is that they are available all over the big global village. So whether you are in Finland, Holland, Middle East, Far East etc etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... KEA_stores you will find new bits to fit the stuff you have already got. Ikea bed linen in Australia is the same size as Ikea bed linen in Russia, Malaysia or the USA.

My kids have single beds from France (very short), we have a double bed from Hungary (very wide) and I have bed linen and duvets from the UK, France, Finland and even South Africa. We have allergy-free pillows (from France and the UK) and memory foam pillows (Ikea) and some with feathers. Nothing fits anything else, so every time I change the beds I have to remember which duvets fit inside which covers and which pillow cases fit each pillow. If I had time I would embroider bar codes on everything and then make an MS Access database... but I have other priorities.


As for throwing duvets outside in cold weather, has anyone else noticed that memory foam (Tempur or Ikea's own) go rock solid in freezing temperatures and appear to "lose their memory" definitively...?

[riku2]

Ikea bed linen in Australia is the same size as Ikea bed linen in Russia, Malaysia or the USA.

Perhaps you have chosen countries with the same sized bed linen, but Ikea match the sizes they sell to what is common in each county.
Pillows are a good example. I went to ikea in Paris since a flat I rented had awful square shaped huge pillows. what did I find - ikea had huge square pilows just like the ones I had already
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.

The only exception I found was Ikea dubai - where not surprising considering the number of guest workers - Ikea had a choice of UK and Nordic sized pillows.

The same for beds. Ikea in Finland do not sell beds 190cm long. They are all 200cm. In the UK ikea sell both 200cm long and 190cm long beds.
Considering the low cost nature of Ikea I doubt they would even special order products intended for Ikea in other countries, even though Ikea is notionally one global company. So if you want ikea french sized pillow cases, you probably have to go to France.