One of the first orders of business for our high tech guest room remodel was to select a mattress. Even though the room is small, I decided that I wanted to upgrade our queen-sized mattress to a king, so my guests were as comfy as possible when coming to visit.
Choosing a mattress is tough. I had been to a couple mattress stores, but with all the choices, I left more confused than when I walked in. Should I go with traditional coils, which felt familiar, or memory foam, which felt heavenly? I was unsure if memory foam would have the support that would make guests happy, but was definitely intrigued. I mean, it feels like you’re sleeping on a poofy cloud. How bad could that be?
And then, there’s the matter of pillows. I have been a die-hard memory foam pillow user for years (I go nowhere without my special side-sleep neck pillow in tow) but I wasn’t sure if everyone who came to stay would feel the same way. Whether you like memory foam pillows seemed to depend on whether you sleep on your side, back or tummy (can someone please explain to me how you breathe if you tummy sleep?), so again, I was undecided.
Imagine my joy when offered to partner with me on this project: They helped me select a high tech mattress and pillows, as well as topping it all off with an adjustable bed base that does some serious tricks. It has its own remote, people. More on that later.
First, the mattress. I was thrilled to learn that Tempur-Pedic’s new had the best of both worlds: The TEMPUR® material layer gives you that cushy, moves-with-your-body responsiveness, and a deeper supportive layer (comprised of precision coils) supports you like a traditional mattress. That was all I needed to hear to take the plunge on my first memory foam mattress, and I am so happy I did. Each of us have tried it out and decided that it’s the best bed in the house. For me, a side sleeper, it was striking how much pressure the mattress took off of my hip and shoulder. I found I didn’t toss around as much, and felt much cooler through the night.
Other cool features included a zip-off cover that I could wash with ease, which meant I wouldn’t have to buy a mattress cover to put on top of it, which my budget appreciated. The mattress in my bedroom (from another company) has a zip-off cover too, but it’s thick and padded and a pain to zip and unzip— and it doesn’t fit in my washing machine so I need to clean it in a laundromat. This one makes cleaning it a dream— I hope I don’t need to do it too often, but I like knowing that my investment is protected and easily cleanable if there’s a spill (or worse).
With the mattress squared away, we were on to pillows. Tempur-Pedic put me in touch with a most-enthusiastic team member named Kristen, A.K.A. “The Pillow Whisperer,” and we had a lengthy conversation about neck pain, sleep habits, and their new pillow shapes. After a thorough quiz on my preferences, we settled on a pair each of and the .
If you have memory foam pillows right now, you know that they stick out like a sore thumb on your bed. They’re dinkier than a standard-sized pillow, so they look funny in the pile. Tempur-Pedic’s new pillows are much larger, so they don’t look out of place on your bed. The large size makes them heavier too: You won’t want to flip them over in the middle of the night, but you won’t have to, because they stay nice and cool. And squishy. They’re so very, very squishy. And the contouring supports your neck so your head and shoulders can rest in a neutral position all night. I was already hooked on how these contours help my neck wake up happier, but this pillow was an improvement on the original.
The TEMPUR-Cloud pillows look like regular pillows (no contour bumps). They’re filled with foam which returns to its shape each time you lift your head, and the quilted cover makes it breathable (and washable, which, again, is a nice touch. The pillows are heavy and solid, but soft and comfortable at the same time. And this pair works whether you sleep on your side, back or stomach, so they’re the perfect all-purpose pair for a guest room.
Full Disclosure: My guests will never see these pillows. My husband and I stole the side-to-side pair and upgraded our old memory foam pillows, and my daughter stole the cloud pair (my son missed out, but I think he could sleep on a piece of cardboard and be well-rested so, all good).
Lastly, the base, which is the icing on the cake. The is just so much fun. The remote control makes it easy to lift your head (perfect for a morning tea, laptopping in bed, or binge-watching House of Cards), lift your feet (perfect for releasing stress from your lower back) or get a massage. The mattress gives you a massage. Four different programs feel more therapeutic than seedy-motel-mattress, and you can adjust the programs with a remote or with an app you can install on your smartphone. You know, in case the wireless remote isn’t handy. We have all become sloths.
I saw similar models at the HGTV Smart Home in Austin when I worked there last year, but having one in our guest bedroom is just the coolest.
Thanks so much to Tempur-Pedic, not just for all the fancy products that make the sleep experience in my High-Tech Guest Bedroom state-of-the-art, but for walking me through choosing a mattress, which can be an intimidating process. They’ll do the same for you, with their before-and-after purchase “Sleep Expert” support team, the live chat on the website, and (my favorite) . If I was buying this mattress, this would have made me a whole lot more comfortable taking the risk. If you don’t like it, and they can’t address your concerns, they’ll take it back, less shipping costs.
Intimidated by buying a memory foam mattress or pillows? Ask your questions in the comments and Tempur-Pedic and I will get you the answers!
Thanks to Tempur-Pedic for providing all products and sponsoring this post. Thank YOU for reading and supporting my sponsors: They allow me to create great content at CarleyK!
