What a good bed costs, and why

What drives the cost of a bed

Two beds can look almost identical and differ in price by thousands. The difference is almost always in things you cannot see from across a showroom.

• What it is filled with. Natural fillings such as horsehair, lambswool, cotton and silk cost far more than synthetic foam, and they breathe, last and recover better.
• How it is made. A bed built and hand-stitched by a skilled maker takes time. That craftsmanship is a large part of the price, and a large part of why it lasts.
• How long it will last. A cheap bed may need replacing in five to seven years. A well-made natural bed can last fifteen to twenty. Spread over its life, the dearer bed often costs less per night.
• The base, not just the mattress. The base does much of the work. A good mattress on a tired base will never feel right.

This is exactly why it pays to see and feel the difference in person rather than compare numbers on a page.

Pricing guides

We are putting together a set of plain-English guides to help you spend wisely, including what really separates a £1,000 bed from a £10,000 one. These will appear in our Sleep Journal shortly.