Tall, short, deep, wide

If you've visited any historical homes, you've probably seen the beds of past eras and replicas or the actual ones where famous people slept, presumably comfortably. although I remember seeing the bed where Lincoln died and reading how he had to be laid diagonally across it. Last spring I went shopping for a new mattress. I was clear on what I did want (firm) and did not want (pillow topper) and thought my knowledge of bedding was up-to-date. But I soon discovered I had missed something important. Mattresses and box springs have gotten bigger. Not just from full to queen to king, but higher or deeper, however you want to look at it. From my 5-foot perspective, it's taller. It was difficult for me to even try out some floor samples. Once I made my decision I choose the option of a 2 inch bunky board instead of a box spring so I wouldn't need to take a running leap to jump into bed every night.

On my recent vacation I discovered that the trend in tall beds goes beyond the showroom. I was barely able to fall onto the bed in our first two hotel rooms. When we got to the vacation home we were renting for four nights, I saw that I would need a step stool to get into the bed in the two main bedrooms. I settled for the bottom of a bunk bed. It was perfectly comfortable, and actually much easier to get in and out of than the previous hotel beds. When we moved to the next vacation home where it was my turn for the master suite, I had another surprise. There is something larger than a king, and this particular one was positioned in a huge wooden frame with an emorous sleigh headboard so big that the bed had to stand away from the wall.

Yes, I can chuckle and hope you did as well, but there a purpose here. A little research indicates that over the last 100 years we human beings have gotten taller, well, bigger overall, so I get that it makes sense that mattresses have to keep up with that growth. I also get the idea of luxury, but as I looked at pictures of sodden mattresses at the end of driveways, in trees, floating down the street, I wonder if they need to be so big that if they had a door, they could be a room. I may not be a great environmentalist, but there is an issue here that needs some collective consideration. 

Marilyn