A Brief "How To" Guide On Choosing A High Quality Bed Frame
We’ve all bought and tested a number of bed frames when shopping for furniture, so it’s clear that time, cost and money are the primary causes of our poor purchasing decisions. Unfortunately, we end up spending more money in the long run as a result of these impulsive and inexpensive furniture purchases, as we either sell them on Facebook Marketplace or pretend they are manageable until we can afford nicer ones. So if you’ve ever been in this circumstance and are wondering where to get a sturdy bed frame that will not break within a year, this article is for you.
Bed Frames and Foundations Explained
Choosing the correct bed frame is an important step in buying furniture, but terms such as box spring, foundation, and bed frame can be confusing when used interchangeably in the bed furniture industry. Below, we’ll break it all down, outlining the differences and provide key information to help you make an informed decision when shopping for a bed frame.
Bed Frame — A bed frame is a structural support system that raises and support your mattress. It acts as a foundation and often have legs and a platform for the mattress to rest on. It is typically made of wood or metal and may be ajustable, have slats or a solid platform.
An example of this is seen with a company like Modway. They sell a platform bed frame with slats like the Clara Performance Velvet Platform Bed, and a solid platform bed frame like the Tracy Bed.
Who should use a bed frame? If you have an innerspring mattress, it works best with a slatted bed frame for proper ventilation.
Foundation — A foundation is a component that provides additional support for your mattress. It’s placed directly on top of the bed frame and increases the mattress’s longevity, prevents sagging, and provides a more stable surface for the mattress to rest on. Compared to bed frames, foundations are typically made of wood or metal with a fabric cover, include a grid of wooden planks or a solid surface, and shorter in height. They are also referred to as box springs because bed manufacturers used to place actual springs within them, and the term “box springs” continues to be used today regardless of whether springs are present.
An example of this is seen with Tempurpedic Tempur-Flat Foundation and Stearns and Foster Foundation both use the term “foundation” and describes it as a solid flat surface but Stearns and Foster does not have a flat top surface, it is an ordinary box spring like the Zinus Edgar Wood Box Spring, only difference it that Stearns and Foster uses wood and steel wires. While Tempurpedic Flat Foundation is a foundation due to it having a solid flat surface top.
Who should use a foundation? If you have a memory foam mattress, its best to use a solid foundation because memory foam mattresses tends to sink between the slats over time, but a foundation will support a mattress and keep it firm.
Other companies will sometimes use the term “base.” It is essential to note that “bases” integrate both the characteristics of a bed frame and a foundation, providing a complete support system for your mattress. They can have a range of heights, and be adjustable, depending on the design and whether they include a bed frame or foundation component.
An example of bed bases can be seen with Modway’s Transform Split Adjustable Wireless Remote Bed Base and Sleep Number Integrated Base.
Now that we’ve covered the industry definition of bed frames and foundations, let’s look at how to choose a quality bed frame.
How To Shop for A Bed Frame
First thing you want to do is determine what type of bed frame material you would like. The types of material used in bed frames are wood, metal, plant, cardboard, and combination such as wood/metal, wood/plastic, and etc.
Wood
Wood frame seekers should buy solid wood foundations or bed frames. Solid wood works best because wood-like materials like particle board, MDF, composite and engineered wood are manufactured by binding wood fibers or layers together with adhesives, which means its weaker and can break easier but solid wood is strong and last longer.
