Few months ago, me an my wife started discussing about our life and the things we need to make it little cozier and comfortable after our day to day hard work. One of the items that popped in to our discussion is our bed. We always had good bed, but we bought them not based on extensive test or research done, or even if we did a bit, rather than comfort the price played a major role.
Even though we spend money on so many things that we use seldom in our life, we normally won’t think or spend on a bed that we use almost half of our lives and could play a role in your day to day life and health. This thought triggered us to search for a quality bed that could give us comfort and joy without just focusing on the price.
With the agreements from both sides we started searching for beds and reviews of beds. Our criteria was
1. When you land on the bed after a long days work it should give that “Aha” feeling and should bring a smile on our face
2. It should accommodate both of us and should have a medium and soft side based on our preferences
3. It should be in use for at least next 10 -15 years
4. It should be a good quality product
5. I was always a fan of continental bed, so I convinced my wife to include that also in the list 🙂
With the new Sova shop opened in LuleÃ¥, we decided to pay a visit there. As read in some of the bed review sites, our aim was to really test most of the beds there and see which one feels best for us, Sova had beds from Hästens, Hilding, Jensens, Wonderlad and Carpe Diem Beds (There were many other brands also, but we got interested in these brands). The sales man was really good and he has given us details about each of these beds, and the decision making part he left to us based on testing each of these beds. I would say, more than anything else I went for the “Aha” feeling 🙂 I could immediately zero-in on Carpe Diem Beds’ Sando and felt it was the best in giving that feeling (plush, but firm, can’t exactly explain the feeling, you should just try that to get it , may be you should as someone to take your face expression when you land on the bed 😉 ). My wife was torn between Härmanö and Malö from Carpe Diem Beds( She had a little bit affinity towards one of the Jensen’s bed too, but that was minimal). At least one good thing was we have zeroed in one brand.
We decided not to take any immediate decision and thought we will look around for some more beds. Next two weekends we have visited, Mio and Ikea to check some of their top-end beds, but somehow none of them didn’t gave us (especially me) that “Aha” moment.
The Decision
After two weeks we decided to go back again to Sova for one more round of test, to make it short Carpe Diem Sando came as the winner, this was based on
1. The Aha feeling
2. The top mattress with one side filled with wool and the other with soft cotton. this helps to have a warmer side on winter and soft cotton side on summer, personally after using it we found that the soft cotton side could be used year long.
3. Natural latex – my wife did her research in natural latex and the place we comes from (Kerala, India) the main income is generated from the Rubber trees producing natural latex. Yeah, this had some soft influence on us 🙂
4. The three level spring system which I guess contributes towards that “Aha” feeling
5. The Solid Swedish fine wood frame which we felt really strong and sturdy
6. Made in Sweden and mostly done by hand
6. With some offer from Sova, we could get some additional material and my wife was thrilled to get their Champagne solid aluminum legs (Included in the free package)
The Delivery & setting up
After waiting for 6 long weeks finally we got our bed just before Christmas 2012. When we transferred the bed from the truck to the first floor of our house, I could really feel that this bed is really solid and heavy, not like the earlier beds that we had (I could easily drag them though the floor). Me and the two guys from the shipping company needed to really struggle to bring that up.
Next day evening, me and my wife assembled the bed together and it was nice to see the personal sign from the person who made this bed was tucked under the wooden frame:-), not that usual! You need some one with really good back to put these beds together as they are really solid and heavy. The champagne legs are really heavy too, not the usual hollow aluminum legs.
The experience
I would say it took 2-3 days to get used to this bed and felt like it become more softer and comfortable in few days. After that it is a pure bliss!!
The medium side works really well for me and the softer side works well for her based on our weights. When you sleep straight I could feel the support on my back and on sidewise the shoulder side gives a dip so that it feels confortable to sleep side ways too.
Earlier when we went for some trips, we used to enjoy the good beds in the hotels, but not any more, We are really happy with this purchase and every evening going to bed is a pleasant experience and we are looking forward to it. Now almost after 4 months, I could say this was a really good decision we have taken and we are just enjoying it every day. Even writing this blog sitting on the bed feels really comfortable:-)
Sandy, our welsh springer spaniel sitting proudly near our Carpe Diem Bed
Review Carpe diem bed