Why have I never considered how people sleep?
Or more specifically what they sleep on.
I have never been any conventional (what I now know to label conventionally American) standards.
I slept in a hammock for all of 7th grade.
The hammock was not my oddest childhood idea of a good bed.
Later there were futon cushions to fit into a built-in loft.
Finally when I decided to 'grow up' a bit, I still chose some complicated vintage bed, that needed some sort of rigging to work- slats created and hammered into place to hold the box spring.
When the time came that I had money to buy any type of bed I wanted, I had a black smith make me a four-poster bed. One that could be draped with elaborate feet meant to look like rays of the sun. The metal sun rays were a hazard to all with bare feet walking near the bed.
But these sort of fancies, are I think now, an American luxury.
For shopping, Americans as the Australians would say are "spoiled for choice".
Here in "Scandinavia" I have been told, and told there is one type of bedding.
"We in Sweden, like to have this top bit...what if you spill coffee? or have cats?" they say.
or "How do you air out a large mattress?"
or "Here in Sweden we have small apartments." That last statement at least I think does not bear real historic scrutiny nor does it likely apply outside the cities. This is not so odd, the 'top layer', I have a feather bed in Tasmania which I love although as with any 'raised consciousness' I doubt I could bring myself to buy a second one.
So here- the common bed is a version of a box spring mattress that has legs and is covered in material of some kind, usually a sort of upholstery fabric. Then there is a lot of molded foam made to look like a mattress, but is as I wrote...foam. With a thin top layer of more foam. I don't find 'foam' very inviting. Often the bed is actually two smaller beds pushed together. Often the duvet covers are also sort of smaller individual covers.
There seems to be four choices, cheap foam, more expensive foam, foam make of latex, or on the higher end Hastens (that is the word for horse and yes horse hair is the fabric inside) http://www.hastens.com/sv/ or Tempur a "space age" NASA fabric. http://www.tm-sangar.se/
I am not kidding.
Our choice is the Tempur.
Which costs much more than foam but much less than horses...
And yes even in Sweden, if you ask "Where should I buy a bed frame?" the answer is IKEA. We are going there next.
Six days and counting until we get our keys.
Or more specifically what they sleep on.
I have never been any conventional (what I now know to label conventionally American) standards.
I slept in a hammock for all of 7th grade.
The hammock was not my oddest childhood idea of a good bed.
Later there were futon cushions to fit into a built-in loft.
Finally when I decided to 'grow up' a bit, I still chose some complicated vintage bed, that needed some sort of rigging to work- slats created and hammered into place to hold the box spring.
When the time came that I had money to buy any type of bed I wanted, I had a black smith make me a four-poster bed. One that could be draped with elaborate feet meant to look like rays of the sun. The metal sun rays were a hazard to all with bare feet walking near the bed.
But these sort of fancies, are I think now, an American luxury.
For shopping, Americans as the Australians would say are "spoiled for choice".
Here in "Scandinavia" I have been told, and told there is one type of bedding.
"We in Sweden, like to have this top bit...what if you spill coffee? or have cats?" they say.
or "How do you air out a large mattress?"
or "Here in Sweden we have small apartments." That last statement at least I think does not bear real historic scrutiny nor does it likely apply outside the cities. This is not so odd, the 'top layer', I have a feather bed in Tasmania which I love although as with any 'raised consciousness' I doubt I could bring myself to buy a second one.
So here- the common bed is a version of a box spring mattress that has legs and is covered in material of some kind, usually a sort of upholstery fabric. Then there is a lot of molded foam made to look like a mattress, but is as I wrote...foam. With a thin top layer of more foam. I don't find 'foam' very inviting. Often the bed is actually two smaller beds pushed together. Often the duvet covers are also sort of smaller individual covers.
There seems to be four choices, cheap foam, more expensive foam, foam make of latex, or on the higher end Hastens (that is the word for horse and yes horse hair is the fabric inside) http://www.hastens.com/sv/ or Tempur a "space age" NASA fabric. http://www.tm-sangar.se/
I am not kidding.
Our choice is the Tempur.
Which costs much more than foam but much less than horses...
And yes even in Sweden, if you ask "Where should I buy a bed frame?" the answer is IKEA. We are going there next.
Six days and counting until we get our keys.
