I was struck by the no-nonsense web page that Closet Solutions had - it's the same kind of style that I'd imagine Greenspun (or anyone with big gaping holes in their closet) would be looking for at the time.
-- Craig Hansen, November 7, 1997
At a distance of 3000 miles (from my home in Cambridge MA, USA) it's not too conveniently located, but I highly recommend the McRoskey Airflex Mattress Company of San Francisco CA, USA, purveyors of fine bedding.At 6'6" tall, I yearned for a bed where I could stretch out and not have my feet hanging off the end. A McRoskey bed was the solution. They'll make a mattress and box spring of any size (or shape) desired. Mine is a standard queen size plus 10" of extra length over my height (60" X 88").
The quality of this mattress is fantastic. I bought mine after sleeping on one in a Bed and Breakfast while on vacation in California (1983). The mattress I slept on that night was 60+ years old and stuffed with horse hair! McRoskey guarantees their work for 20 years and with a little care the mattress and box spring should easily last twice that long. Unless my house burns down, I hope to have my bed for life. (The complete story of how I ended up in the McRoskey showroom and bought one of their beds 3000 miles from home is an interesting one, but a long one too. In the interest of time, I'll spare you the details for now ;-)
I found one reference to McRoskey on the web (http://www.elise.com/mcroskey.htm), but as a company they are not exactly on the cutting edge of information technology. Your best bet to contact them would be to call their toll free number: 800 760-9600. They ship beds world wide.
If you live near Massachusetts and you'd rather avoid a trip to California and still seek a custom made/sized bed, check out the Gardner Mattress Factory on Canal Street in Salem MA, USA. My parents have one of their beds and rave about it the same way I rave about my McRoskey!
-- Paul Wilson, December 3, 1997
We got a Duxiana mattress set three years ago.Expensive (near $3,000 for a queen size).
But our back pain is gone gone gone.
We love it.
See http://www.duxiana.com
-- Rob Hoffman, August 19, 1999
I have had 2 mattresses during the course of the last 10 years, both being Stearns and Foster. I bought them at Bloomingdale's in New York. My CaliforniaKing cost me $6049, add another $1000 for a pillow top, and my total cost of mattress was $7,049. Yes, the price WAS steep. However, I find that the quality of sleep I revieve from that mattress is un-parallelled. I encourage anyone in the market for a new sleep system to purchace a Stearns & Foster. Handcrafted since 1848!
-- alec alex, August 21, 1999
Stearns and FosterI bought a S&F mattress in 1982 and am still sleeping on it. I have tried two other solutions to sleeping...an air mattress and a $30 coleman camp bed with spring-loaded mat. They were surprisingly comfortable, but nothing beats the S&F. Like Philip, I could not get the box spring up the stairs in my 1930's house, so I just sleep on the innerspring on the floor, like an old hippie. My wife was taken aback when she saw the arrangement, but agrees it is a damn fine bed for all that. The only drawback is that the entire floor becomes a kind of utility shelf around the bed, so there are usually 30 bookmarked books, three week's worth of Sunday NY Times, and numerous notebooks and pamplets etc mixed with the bedding, shoes, etc. The Stearns and Foster is not to blame for that, of course.
-- jeff beddow, January 21, 2000
Shortly after our wedding, my wife announced that my no-name mattress--which a friend had given me--would have to be replaced with something we had "picked together". Not wanting her to be disturbed by the psychic remnants of past occupants, I grudgingly agreed.Driven by cheapness and a need to be different--mainly cheapness--I talked her into getting a top-of-the-line futon for $400+. Different and cheap translated to "hard and lumpy", which led us to one of those Swedish foam mattresses for $1200, it was perfect for me, but too hard for her, luckily we were able to return it for a full refund. Our next attempt was a $1,000 pillowtop Sealy Posturepedic, 18 months later we concluded that, (1) the bed was too soft, causing me to continuously toss and turn, and (2) the wire sub-structure transferred my restless energy directly to my wife--a light sleeper to begin with.
At this point I was more than a little frustrated, sleep deprivation was starting to have an effect on the quality of our marriage and I'd taken one too many early-morning elbow shots. Since going to brick and mortar stores hadn't worked, I went online, which is how I found sleepezy.com. Their site isn't one of the most confidence inspiring I’d seen, but I was so ready to find a solution that I was willing to overlook the kludgy shopping cart and the sparse--compared to sites developed my professional marketers--selling copy. After 3 or 4 e-mails with Larry Camp, the owner of Sleepezy, in which he provided refreshingly candid responses, including the following excerpt from his answer to my question about which bed I should get (the same kind of question that drives Phillip nuts) ........
"Ask me something simple, please? Derek, I would go on record as saying that it is impossible to answer your question. You describe your wife's problem, and I can understand what you are telling me, but I still don't know how sensitive she is. See what I mean? So, I went to the authority, MY WIFE, and asked her. We have one Sleepezy that is a full size (double - 54" wide) and she says that if she is awake, and I turn over she can feel me when I move. It has a single air mattress inside.
{Here Larry provided several paragraphs about bed design and technical specifications, in which he recommended one of his split mattress beds}
I'm sorry, but I am not able to make that judgement. I do know this. We (my wife and I) went and tried a Select Comfort. They are made different from mine. When she was lying still and I turned over the air would go from my side into her side, raising her up. I have eliminated that problem in my design but I still am unable to give you an answer. I can promise you this, If you had a Sleepezy you would sleep better than you have ever slept before. Thanks for the inquiry and sorry that I cannot be more specific, all I can be is honest. Larry........"
The long and short is: If you are married and need a bed that gives each of you the ability to adjust the firmness of your own side and/or you need a mattress that does not transmit your movements to your spouse, then get a sleepezy. We are sleeping great and now have energy to argue about more important things.
-- Derek McDonald, January 6, 2001
Being in the process of moving into a new home in Cambridge, I decided to redo the closets in my bedroom, including a step-in that was essentially empty. I called up Closet Solutions, which has now apparently moved to Newbury Street in the Back Bay, and left a message with the receptionist, who said someone would call me back later in the day or tomorrow. A week later someone finally called back, and scheduled an appointment with a designer for the following week. The well-dressed designer showed up more or less on-time, made it clear to me that her time was extremely valuable, took one look at my closet and said that "this isn't big enough for us, there isn't anything that we can do, and it would start at about a thousand dollars."I'd seen a similarly sized closet redone by California Closets at about that price, and in a very clever fashion. I pointed this out, she shrugged. I also mentioned that they had been suggested to me by someone who had had a small closet done. She asked when. I replied that it had been about four years. Her response: "yes, we were just getting started then."
Needless to say, I was not impressed.
-- William Crawford, June 11, 2001
I've used Closet Solutions based primarily on Philip's report of his experience and I have not been disappointed. They've done my pantry and now a built in entertainment center for the best prices around, also with timely service. I've never met or spoken to a snooty person from their company.
-- Wally Yassir, January 29, 2005
All of the comments regarding mattresses really are amusing. I have an Ikea mattress that works just fine. Guess what? I only paid $400.00 for it. By the way, check the following article out:http://www.slate.com/id/93956/
-- Alexander Peter, January 15, 2006
I have been sleeping on one of those sleep by number air beds with the air pumps since the turn of the century. My half is set at a different firmness than my wifes side, and instantly changeable. It is very comfortable and I would buy it again if it ever wore out, which is unlikely to happen any time soon.Spend the money and get a nice thick pillowtop whatever they call it and you will likely be very happy.Oh, and the cool thing is,you can get a king size up and around tight stairways because the bed is in manageable size pieces unlike a regular king size mattress and boxspring.Steve Nickse
-- steve nickse, November 13, 2007