Where the Hearth Is: Snug as a Bug

It’s starting to move into what my family calls the “raw” season: temperatures dropping just enough that the occasional rain makes your skin feel icy. 

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, hot chocolate is the cure for cold at our house. But right on the heels of that is a good snuggle under the covers, preferably on an incredibly comfortable bed.

So how do you pick one that suits you? Jeff Eads over at Mattress Giant on Lee Smith Parkway in Hiram says: “Fling yourself on a mattress. That’s the only way you’re really going to find a mattress that’s comfortable for you.” 

A good mattress can be an expensive proposition. But, as Eads points out, “most mattresses have a 10- to 20-year warranty. They should definitely last you at least 10 years. 

"You have to make sure you keep them clean, though, with a good mattress pad, and you should rotate them every quarter of the year. You want them to wear evenly.”

Some mattresses have built-in pillow tops. “Sixty percent of our customers go for the pillow top mattresses,” Eads says.

You can always add a pillow top to your mattress yourself, which will add to the “keep it clean” philosophy, since they usually can go in the laundry.

Eads suggests going with the manufacturer’s recommendation for foundations or box springs, although he does explain that “box springs have springs, and foundations don’t.

"Whatever you decide, think of it as you would the shocks for your car. You need something that can carry you.”

You don’t have to go the traditional mattress route; there are “organic” mattresses with “all natural” materials, and Temper-Pedic mattresses with memory foam. 

Once you have them haul that mattress to your house, you’ll need to have a bed on which to place it. There are a wide range of selections to choose from, depending on your personal taste and budget.

My son’s bed frame is from my childhood bedroom suite, which my parents “inherited” from the woman who previously owned the house I grew up in.

It has a typical paneled head-and-footboard with a hand-carved inset that my mom left in a natural color when she refinished it. (The tendency to recycle and transform old pieces runs in the family.

My son plumps a few body pillows underneath the standard-sized ones I tossed at him, pulls his down comforter over them, and pronounces himself “cozy.” It’s solid and comforting for him.

Lots of folks in Powder Springs are going for sleigh beds these days, with a more pronounced yet sleek curved headboard and footboard. 

“They’re the big seller the past couple of years,” according to Al Khabib of Furniture Palace in Hiram. “You can feel tucked in, and the price is very affordable.”

The headboard of my bed is upholstered, and we bought it new when we first got married. There’s nothing like a padded headboard for reading stories to kids in bed, or settling in with a cherished novel.

You can clean them as you would upholstered furniture, and reupholster them yourself if you get tired of the fabric. (I really do love my staple gun for projects like that.) 

Our terriers used to love nodding off on our pillows when we were at work, which didn’t do much for the ivory damask fabric of our headboard. I used some leftover velvet I had from another project, and voila! A brand new bed—or so it felt.

What really makes a bed feel cozy, though, are the linens.

“Most people go for sateen sheets with 100 percent cotton,” says Shae Jones of Anna’s Linens on Cobb Parkway in Marietta. “Sateen is very soft and smooth, which can be very comforting.”

If you prefer crisp sheets, “go with percale,” Jones advises. “You can get them in all sorts of colors and thread counts.”

How important is thread count? “Extremely important,” Jones says. “The higher the thread count means the tighter the weave. You’re less likely to get pulls and pills and shrinkage with a high thread count. And they’ll last longer.”

Johanna Hawf of Johanna Hawf Interiors in Powder Springs recommends "lots and lots of pillows" for a truly comfortable bed, "with wonderfully soft sheets. I'm all about texture."

As for what to plunk over those sheets, “so many people come in asking for duvets,” she adds. “They’re easier to clean in the laundry than the comforter they cover. Although we do get requests for quilts, too, especially from older folks. You can toss a quilt or comforter over a bed and not worry about how tidy the sheets look. The bed will look made.”

Which is why every bed in the Monk house is covered with one. Sweet dreams.