Excitement aside, buying a new bed comes with some anxiety. This is mainly from the realization that you can’t afford to make the wrong choice, and if you do, you will have to live with it for at least a few years to come.

So how do you make the best bed decision? Here are the basics to focus on.

1. CARE AND MAINTENANCE

While beds are generally not high-maintenance items, they do require a level of care.

The main place that you should focus on is the headboard and what it’s made of. There are some beautiful beds made with a leather or velvety headboard.

The velvet headboards are luxurious but tend to attract dust and dirt, which can give you respiratory problems.

Go for these headboards if you are sure you can commit to a good vacuuming at least once a week to maintain both its hygiene and your health.

For basic metallic or wood headboards, the care regimen is much easier as you only need to wipe it down every so often.

2. THE BED BASE

Your bed’s base is one of the components that you should give a lot of thought to.

You probably already know the benefits of a firm mattress and how it supports your overall health and quality of sleep.

However, a mattress is as good as the base it seats on. If the base is wobbly, uneven or slumps, then in time, the mattress will take the base’s form, much to your detriment.

When shopping, identify a company known for manufacturing high-quality bed bases. A good bed base offers excellent support and should be built to last.

3. WARRANTY

Most large ticket items come with a warranty and beds are not exempted. While most credible manufacturers will give a warranty, the devil is in the details.

Your warranty card will have all the information regarding what the warranty covers and exemptions as well as the time duration.

Read through this carefully and ensure that you are getting a good deal. If you can get a long term warranty covering you for about 3 to 5 years, the better.

4. SIZE

Everyone loves the idea of having enough space to roll around in bed.  It’s therefore tempting to buy the biggest bed at the store. Not so fast.

Take the dimensions of your bedroom before bed shopping and buy a bed that will allow some space all around.

Remember you need to maneuver around your room to dress, clean and probably have some storage space.

Getting a bed that fills up your room will make for some awkward living, and you might have to have it resized, which is an extra cost.

5. STORAGE

As populations increase, houses in urban cities are becoming smaller and smaller.

If this describes your living space, then you need to get creative storage ideas.

One way to get extra storage space is by getting a bed with in-built storage. This is useful because your bed renders the area it sits on as well as the space above it unusable.

A bed with storage gives you some space back.

6. REVIEWS ARE A TRUSTED COMPANION

The internet has made it much easier to research on items before purchase. When you have identified 2-3 solid choices, it’s time to scrutinize them deeper.

Get on the internet and look up the beds’ manufacturer to see what other people are saying about them.

You will find genuine reviews, community discussions, specifications, and so on. Keep in mind that no product is perfect, so expect both ends of the divide.

However, pick a company that is reviewed favorably.

GET SHOPPING

Once you know what to expect and what to look out for, then you can get on the fun bit; the actual shopping.

Take your time to compare prices in different stores and to test drive the beds.

If you are buying both bed and mattress at the same store, be sure to spend some time testing different pairings as well to get the best fit.