Your mattress is sagging, or springs are sticking through the top, or maybe you wake up with enough back pain to stun a hippo. Whatever the reason, you need to go out and find yourself a new place to lay yourself down to sleep every night. This purchase is a surprisingly large investment. A good mattress can easily go a decade, and if you make a bad decision you could be wasting a great deal of money. Buying a new mattress can put a great deal of pressure on your pocket book, but finding the right one can improve your day to day life by leaps and bounds.

Choose a Size

The place to begin when it comes to mattress selection is the size. Getting pushed off the bed by its other inhabitant will not lead to restful nights. But, there is fault in excess. Price rises proportionately with size, and you do not want to shell out the big bucks for a mammoth bed that you do not need. Think about who will be sleeping in the bed. Is it one person or two? How large are the bed's inhabitants? Will this be a bed that is slept in every night, or just when guests are in town? The answers to these questions should guide your quest for the perfect new mattress. If two larger people are sleeping in the bed, then go with a king. If one or both of these larger people are especially tall, then you may want to try out the California King sized mattress. Perhaps only one person is sleeping in the bed. There is no need to waste money on a larger mattress. The market for buying mattresses can be very interesting. While prices can go through the roof, there is so much variety in product that almost any consumer can find a way to make it work. Understanding what each size of mattress really means is an important first step towards making your decision.

The largest two mattresses are the King and California King sizes. They both are capable of handling all but the largest sleepers, but are slightly distinct from one another. The king size bed is seventy-six inches wide and eighty inches long. That amounts to six feet four inches in width, and six feet eight inches in length. Almost any couple can fit in that bad. However, there are many who are of such a build that they would feel cramped. The California King caters to the sleeper who finds him/herself on the tall end of things. This mattress takes four inches from the width of the regular King, but adds six inches to the length. The final dimensions for this behemoth of bed are seventy two by eighty four. For individuals looking for plenty of room to move around, the King or California King mattresses are ideal.

The Queen size bed measures in at sixty inches by eighty inches, giving you plenty of length and enough width for most couples. In many ways, the Queen serves as a budget version of the King. If you need the space, but cannot afford the King or California King; then the Queen mattress could be exactly what you are looking for.

From here the sizes drop down gradually, and are beds best suited for individual sleepers. At fifty-four inches by seventy-five inches the Full mattress is best suited for larger individuals, but can double for a duet in a pinch. The smallest regular size is the twin bed. This bed, the prime choice for children's rooms is thirty-nine inches wide and seventy-five inches long. A long version of the Twin mattress can also be easily found. This version will add five inches to the normal model.

Choose the Type

After you have figured out what size of mattress to get, you need to settle on the type. The classic mattress is the spring mattress. This technology uses coiled springs wrapped in upholstery to simultaneously provide comfort and support to the sleeper. The coil count is the primary way to tell how firm this mattress will be. The more coils, the firmer the bed. But be wary, many factors such as coil thickness can affect your bed. Newer technologies are solving some of the flaws of the spring mattress, but the design is solid enough that it is still prominently used.

One of those new mattress types that are gaining wide-spread popularity is the memory foam mattress. Using layers of foam made from a variety of materials, the bed is able to conform itself to your shape. The foam responds to heat. Therefore, when you lay down it reacts to your body's thermal energy and conforms itself to your shape. The main drawback of the foam system is that it does not ventilate well, and can leave users very hot. But newer versions of the mattress solve that problem by ventilating the foam. This bed is gaining a very popular reputation. If you cannot afford to splurge on this new technology, then try purchasing a memory foam mattress pad for a spring bed for improved comfort.

A final type of bed in the forefront of mattress technology is the air bed. Not the easy-to-puncture air mattress of the camping trips of your youth, but instead a model of bed originally designed for constant use in hospitals. Very simply, this bed takes the concept of the spring mattress, but uses coils filled with air to provide support and comfort. This allows the mattress to have a softer, more comfortable feel without sacrificing firmness and stability. These beds are relatively new to the consumer market, but are making quite the splash.

When shopping for a mattress you have to find the right mattress for yourself. Whichever style and size fits your body and sleep pattern the best is the right mattress for you. Before you commit yourself to one type though, make sure it fits your budget. If you are going to get the best out of your mattress you need to buy an appropriate box spring with it as well. Mattresses are frequently designed to work alongside a box spring, and the right combination can make all the difference.