Whether you’re deciding your hotel for your summer holiday, working out your child’s bedroom or sorting out your sleeping situation for the next few years, coming to a decision on the size of your bed is a major one. Double bed? King size bed? It’s a big call.
After all, we spend at least a third of our lives in bed. In fact, by the time we are 50 years old we will have spent approximately 16 years in bed, whether it a king size bed or a double bed. That’s an extraordinary amount of time.
However, the best bed size depends on your individual demands and tastes. When choosing a bed size, there are a few things to consider.
Is Bigger Better?
According to the Sleep Council, the size of a person’s bed can have a ‘significant’ effect on the quality of their sleep and their ability to go about their daily tasks.
That is the case when you share with a partner, especially if it is a king size bed. In fact, partner disturbance is one of the most common sleep concerns. If your partner moves around in the bed, poking their elbows out and kicking their feet, your sleep is much less likely to be affected if you have space between in each other.
Surprisingly, in a regular sized double bed – with a width of only 135cm (4 feet 6 inches) – each person will only have 62cm of space. To put that into context, that’s just over 2 rulers, or more specifically, it less space than a baby in their cot. Now, that’s small.
Combine that with the fact the average person wriggles during their sleep up to 70 times a night. A little more space wouldn’t hurt, right?
In 1995, the National Bed Federation conducted an ergonomic pilot study on how the size of a bed influenced how couples sleep. Before the study, only 15% of people stated they would purchase a bed that was larger than the norm. Afterwards, 50% indicated they would. That certainly suggests that king size beds are the way to go.
So a king size beds are the way to go, but…
It’s true. Changing beds is a big hassle, it can be expensive and you might not have enough space in your bedroom. But, sleep certainly is important.
So rather than spending money on the nicest holidays to relax, the best food to keep your healthy and the plushest sofas to keep you comfy, why not spend a little more on a bigger bed. Especially as sleep is incredibly important for your health. Ultimately, over seven years, every extra £100 spent on a new bed is less than 4 pence per night.
So, double bed or king size bed. All the evidence suggests the latter is the way to go. More space, less wriggling from your partner and over the long run, it seems pretty cheap! If you’re suffering from something like insomnia it seems an obvious choice. Better sleep equals a better you.