The typical life expectancy for a mattress is five to 10 years. When it’s time to buy a new mattress, you might wonder about what size to get. If you now have a sleep partner or have a new health condition, you might need a bigger mattress. Moving into a new home or apartment is also a good time to consider purchasing a new mattress. Here are some tips on finding the right size of mattress for your bedroom.
Mattress Sizes
There are many sizes of mattresses, and manufacturers have standardized their offerings for the convenience of consumers. The typical mattress sizes include:
- Crib: 52 by 27 inches
- Twin: 75 by 38 inches
- Twin XL: 80 by 38 inches
- Full: 75 by 53 inches
- Full XL: 80 by 53 inches
- Queen: 80 by 60 inches
- King: 80 by 76 inches
- California king: 84 by 72 inches
Measuring Your Bedroom for a New Mattress
Measure the size of your bed frame. The bed frame usually adds several inches to the total length and width of the mattress. Next, measure the walls of the bedroom. You will need at least three feet of space around your bed in order to easily get into and out of it. When moving into a new space, a good way to compare the size of a mattress to the size of the room is with painters tape. Apply painter’s tape to the floor so that you can see how much space a specific size of mattress will require. If there’s barely any room after measuring out the space for a California king bed, you might have to buy a smaller mattress.
Practical Considerations for Mattress Sizes
The mattress size compared to the room size is not the only consideration when shopping. You’ll need to make sure that the bedroom door can open without hitting the bed. The same is true for closet or bathroom doors. Air vents also need clearance. If you will have other furniture, such as a bedside table or chest of drawers, make sure to account for how much space the drawers or cabinet doors need when opened. If you have a sleep partner, pushing the bed into a corner might not work well. One person would have to climb over the other in order to get into and out of bed every day.
Comfort Considerations for Choosing a Mattress
In addition to making sure that your bed doesn’t make your bedroom feel claustrophobic, there are some other considerations for choosing the best size of new mattress to buy. If you have a sleep partner, make sure you both have enough space to sleep comfortably. You don’t want to get an elbow in your back when adjusting your sleep position. If you have a big dog that sleeps with you, treat the dog as if it were a sleep partner needing an equal amount of space as you. Also consider your own sleep style. If you tend to spread out into a starfish type of position or move a lot in your sleep, you’ll need as much space as possible.