Beds: Queen vs. King

[mystang52]

Here is the contrarian view: Get two queen beds.

Sleeping in a bed with another grown human animal is way over-rated. Sleep is too precious.

Not contrarian, but how's this compromise that DW and I do: Platform bed with 2 twin mattresses. I prefer mattress that is as soft as a slab of concrete, and DW prefers the opposite. This has been perfect for us.

Friends of our have separate bedrooms. On separate floors. They been married for 30 years so it works for them.

We have a queen but every time we stay in a hotel and get a king we love it. Our next mattress will be a king.

Friends of ours also sleep in separate bedrooms because of his snoring.

 

[rwdflynavy]

I think it depends on you and your partners size. My wife and I shared a queen bed for 28 years. When we retired, we bought a King and now I kick myself that we waited this long!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Should be a Poll.

 

[Willers]

Can't recommend a king more. We had a queen for the first 20 years of marriage and never thought twice about it. When we bought a new home it came with a king bed frame as part of the deal, so we bought a new king mattress. We'd never go back. To have the room to move without concern of waking her up has improved my (and her) sleep immensely. More room for the more athletic moments in marriage as well...

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Whatever you get make sure you can get it in your house and in your room. I needed a sawzall on a door jam to get a Queen box spring up our stairs.

 

[Aerides]

Whatever you get make sure you can get it in your house and in your room. I needed a sawzall on a door jam to get a Queen box spring up our stairs.

A lot of new mattresses don't need a box spring, and arrive compacted in a box. Our new Helix King mattress was 200lbs but stuffed into a box no more than 4 foot on any side.

We don't have a box spring. We have a platform bed with the supportive slats instead, and that arrived in a long skinny box we put together ourselves.

 

[JoeWras]

Whatever you get make sure you can get it in your house and in your room. I needed a sawzall on a door jam to get a Queen box spring up our stairs.

This is a real problem.

We cannot fit a queen box upstairs. We ordered a split-queen box to solve this. I think the split-box of a king will be OK since a full box just barely fits.

We tried one mattress in a box and I'm not sure I'll do that again. It sucks.

 

[aja8888]

In our old house we had a split king box spring set since the stairway/door combo would not allow a one piece thru. In this house we went with a mattress in a box and wood slat platform.

 

[Sue J]

When we were young we had a full size bed. When we upgraded to a Queen it felt so wonderful and roomy! I usually get up first and often DH will say he didn't know I was already out of bed, so we don't feel movement from the other person's side.

I think a king would fit fine in our room even with our very needed nightstands. Maybe consider this when we next replace our mattress.

 

[geeky_grrl]

King for me. I never sleep well sharing a queen. I'm a light sleeper and I'll wake up if my partner touches me at all so I sleep much better with a king.

When we travel if I can't get a hotel with a king I'll actually book a room with two beds instead of sharing a queen.

 

[mountainsoft]

King Water Bed!

We actually started with a King water bed in our first apartment. We thought we were living the high life. But struggling to get out of bed and waking up face down in the crack between the water and frame was enough of that. The motion of the ocean was more of a hindrance than a help.

We had a California King for a while and I really liked the extra leg room, but the selection of sheets is limited. At least for the patterns we liked.

We love having a King bed. There's plenty of room for each of us to move around, and since it's almost square you can even sleep sideways on the bed if you want (My wife used to have a habit of turning diagonal on the bed over night, thankfully she overcame that.). The downside of a King is that it can sometimes be difficult to figure out which way the sheets go on (there's only 2" difference between width and length).

We tend to "meet in the middle" when we want to cuddle, but if she's sleeping over on her side it can be a long trip across the bed just to spoon.

We usually end up in a Queen bed on vacations. We certainly manage, but do find that we bump into each other a bit more in a Queen. A King is just nicer for each of us to do our own thing while sleeping.

 

[Koolau]

We have one of each (queen in the spare BR). I prefer a king. Our king was put together on a king frame - it is actually two twins side by side. The upside is that it takes up less room in our tiny BR. The downside is that there is a distinct dividing line down the middle. Wait, I meant the OTHER upside is that it has a distinct dividing line down the middle. We both flop around and the divider seems to keep us in our own space. For uses other than sleeping, you know, like sorting laundry, you get used to it. YMMV

 

[JoeWras]

We have one of each (queen in the spare BR). I prefer a king. Our king was put together on a king frame - it is actually two twins side by side. The upside is that it takes up less room in our tiny BR. The downside is that there is a distinct dividing line down the middle. Wait, I meant the OTHER upside is that it has a distinct dividing line down the middle. We both flop around and the divider seems to keep us in our own space. For uses other than sleeping, you know, like sorting laundry, you get used to it. YMMV

Sorting laundry.

Filing that one away.

 

[foxfirev5]

DW and I spent the first 30 years in Aunt Sadies 100 year old full size bed. +/
Now it's King since we're FI

 

[scrinch]

I'm with the California King crowd (6'3"). There's nothing keeping us from sleeping (or other) right next to each other if we want. But there's room to move away on those hot nights, or on the nights she can't sleep and wants to read for a few hours.

 

[Librarian]

Yes, there are size differences and these are well documented and findable via my handy search engine.

What I'm hoping to understand is whether it is worth the switch from queen to king? Does it help with the problem of disrupting your partner?

DW doesn't want to change because the bed is so big and would take up room in our modest home bedroom. I want to upgrade to King because I think we are disrupting each other a lot every night.

When we are vacation, we get king bed rooms. I sleep much better. Maybe it is just the mattress firmness. Or maybe the relaxation of vacation. But I think it is the larger size allowing more buffer zone.

DH & I have had a K for many years...and even a Q feels too small.

Does the bed still have room on the sides for nightstands? Plenty of room for clothing storage still? DO IT

 

[meleana]

We got a king many years ago! Would never go back to Queen. We had a huge bedroom in our former home with huge furniture pieces.

In our downsized cottage our bedroom is small, but the king fits just fine. We downsized our furniture instead. We are using our son’s childhood furniture- his end tables, chest of drawers and bureau and mirror- and everything fits perfectly!

 

[catii]

King-size waterbed. Even after 43 years of marriage, neither of us want anything else.

 

[gumshoe]

I sleep alone in my king sized bed and I love it! I am a very active sleeper and like to roll around and flop in my sleep (I guess to unwind?). With a king sized bed, there is plenty of room for that. Before this bed I had a queen sized bed, which was sort of OK, but this is much better for someone like me. I will never get another queen sized bed if I can get a king instead!

If one partner snores, just getting a king sized bed won't fix the problem IME. Seems to me that if one partner is disrupting the other, through snoring or flailing about as I do, the best solution is to have two beds in different rooms. So, I'd suggest leaving the queen where it is, for her, and putting a king bed in another room for you.

As you all know, Frank and I went a step beyond that and his bed is in the house next door.

Love this! Especially the last sentence . . .

 

[RNretired]

King bed

We splurged and bought a Tempur-pedic. We bought the king size one that keeps you cool at night and it is wonderful. I will never go back to a regular bed or one any less size than a king size. You can always buy from a store that will let you return your mattress within a certain time if you don’t like it.

 

[W2R]

Love this! Especially the last sentence . . .

We love it too!

 

[zippy2020]

Apart from size, one factor affecting your sleep may be the "stability", or "bounce" of the mattress. Innerspring and hybrids (foam/innerspring; the majority of spring mattresses these days) transmit vibrations.

There are a number of spring mattresses that have very good stability/bounce ratings, if you decide to go with the more traditional type mattresses.

Foam mattresses bounce less, but only memory foam has almost NO bounce. But not everyone likes the "sinking into" feeling of memory foam; it's a personal preference.

So restless sleepers, or simply getting up in the night to use the toilet, may 'shake the other awake', no matter how quiet they try to be.

I don't regret moving from a Queen to a CA King, but only the OP can decide if having narrow aisles is acceptable. Stubbing your toe in the middle of the night is not a happy experience!

Bedlinens for a King or CA King are very high priced. Also, even in foam a King can be HEAVY. Gone are the days one had to flip mattresses, but rotating your mattress is still recommended. Weight is especially a consideration if you prefer latex, as I do - latex is the heaviest of all.

If you decide to research a new mattress, there are many sites that do reviews. Be sure to note if they have tested for stability/bounce, in addition to the usual comfort/wear/price qualities.

Good luck!

 

[jimm100]

Depends on physical size and how much each of you move around during the night.

 

[Rambler]

We sleep on two queens, one in my room, and one in hers. I snore, and I’ve had prostate cancer treated with surgery, which has a tendency to shrink the bladder. She’s a very light sleeper. That said, I started using a cpap, and with that, we can at least sleep in the same room (we tested this on a recent vacation…she never heard me snore, and i didnt disturb her while getting up at night). Our new home that is expected to be complete in a few months has a 22’ wide master bedroom, so we will go back to sleeping in the same room, in our separate queen beds, at that time. If it wasn’t for these issues, and we were able to sleep in the same bed, I’d always go with the king. We will be trying that again on our next road trip in the RV, which has a pretty nice king bed for an RV.

 

[2017ish]

This is so personal. ....

Second this.

We've been sharing a bed for 40 years. First 35 on free-flow, California king water bed. Last five (when at home) on a king memory foam. When traveling, we sleep fine on queen mattresses, and are ok on a double bed--especially after a hard day of hiking or diving. But, for us, the more room the better. We still get all the nice contact we want, but can roll apart when we get too hot.

Again, though, this is a purely subjective question (akin to "how much should I have traveled in 2020 and 2021"!).