With 31 days dedicated to highlighting improved sleep, National Bed Month in March is the ideal time to get it right between the sheets.
And, obvious though it might be, the best place to start when working towards a better night’s sleep is your bed.
Said Lisa Artis of The Sleep Council: “It’s about reassessing your sleep quality and comfort levels and our simple bed MOT (Mattress Obsolescence Test) can help to determine if your bed has had its day – and night! It’s a two-minute-test that should be done every year after the first three to five years; and every six months after that.
“If you answer ‘Yes’ to three questions, you’re not getting the best possible night’s sleep. Five or more ‘Yes’ answers and it’s time to buy a new bed.”
Said Lisa: “Research shows buying a new bed can lead to a real improvement in sleep – up to an hour extra – and if you sleep better you feel much better. Remember to buy as big as you can, spend as much as you can afford and look out for the National Bed Federation’s Approved big tick logo to ensure you’re buying a product that is safe, clean and honest.
“The right bed is extremely important to health and wellbeing because our sleeping environment will affect the quality of our sleep – which in turn has a big effect on how well we feel, both physically and psychologically. A bed with the correct support, comfort and space will ensure you wake less, move about less, are less disturbed by your partner and are less likely to wake up feeling tired or aching.”
Ideally try before you buy, as comfort and support are very individual assessments. Take your time, spending at least 10 minutes lying down in your natural sleeping position – together if the bed’s for two – it needs to be right for both of you.
Said Lisa: “Too often, people rush the bed buying experience – some spend less than two minutes trying them out! It’s a huge investment and time needs to be taken to choose the right bed.”
Nimbus is a range of modern oak furniture made in Britain from European oak and selected oak veneers, with all the cabinet pieces handmade in the UK. Nimbus oak furniture offers simple contemporary styling for the living room, dining room and the bedroom.
Practicality
With over 180 pieces to choose from Nimbus provides a practical solution to all your furniture needs. Designed and proportioned for UK living by Corndell, Nimbus is styled to complement your home beautifully.
Choice and Appearance
You can personalise Nimbus to suit your lifestyle, available in a choice of four finishes and with two handle options Nimbus offers you depth of choice and variety.
Durability
Nimbus is handmade from Oak, which has always been the favourite wood of UK furniture manufacturers because of its strength, durability and beauty.
If you’re planning a home makeover this year and in need of a little inspiration, then look no further than these four very different, but equally stylish looks that will refresh your home for 2016.
PARED BACK
Less is more with this interior style. Lighten your room and create the illusion of a larger space with pale wood, plain walls and mellow fabrics. Keep this style fuss-free and incorporate soft curves with your choice of furniture. An understated colour palette including pale blues, soft greys and muted tones of earth and stone will create a relaxing mood. The Mistral fabric sofa in Naples Cream would set the stage for this look, and we love the grey colour palette from Fired Earth.
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This year interior design themes will be full of exotic flavour and vibrant patterns and Brazilian themes will be big.
Brazilian brings out vibrant greens that celebrates the more exotic flora and fauna of jungle and the Forest. The bright colours help to accessorise a space and do so with a bit of wild abandon.
A saturated colour palette dominates with oranges, purples and greens mixing with materials such as bamboo and wood to create interesting outdoor furniture ranges and accessories.
The oriental theme is one of the most fashionable trends for the coming year. This year is about adding oriental influences to your home in a bid to enhance style, interest and colour.
This look has recently become a request within the luxury end of the market as well as in more average households either by creating a whole room dedicated to this theme or by using elements of it in the home.
The style is sophisticated, still glamorous with an oriental twist, which is definitely the trend for 2016.
The well proportioned Nimbus living room furniture collection offers a wide choice of oak furniture pieces with excellent storage and display space.
There are bookcases with adjustable drawer sections, stylish glazed display pieces with internal lighting, lockable doors and toughened glass shelves and doors, functional TV and hi-fi cabinets.
All this combined with a great variety of coffee and occasional tables means that Nimbus oak furniture has something for every size of living space.
The Nimbus oak living room furniture collection has been thoughtfully designed to provide stylish, practical solutions to living room storage and presentation needs. Nimbus living room furniture is made in Britain from European oak and selected oak veneers.
Nimbus furniture is also available in a Dark Oak Finish which has a dark stain applied to the wood to give the rich dark colour.
Rattan is making its comeback.
Expect to see rattan across furniture, lighting and accessories with a range of interesting 3D shapes from fantastical curves to modern angular forms.
Rattan is making its comeback this summer as a material for the home, both indoor and outdoor.
It has strong retro associations with the Seventies – a trend that has filtered into interiors from the fashion world.
Designers are now looking at how to work this eco-material into more modern designs that take advantage of the materials versatility.
Expect bold and brash colour clashes, vibrant patterns and a lot of mixed materials as fashion makes its mark on interiors.
Botanicals will continue to be a strong seasonal look but translated into psychedelic colours and clashing palettes for statement effect in place of a more natural, organic vibe.
‘This also feeds into a jungle trend for spring with animal prints and exotic palms alongside retro rattans and natural bamboos which will be taking centre stage as materials.
‘This year is going to be the year of the fashion collaboration and will see ideas from the catwalk bring translated into interiors with a range of different fashion designers making the jump into designing for the home.
‘It’s an exciting trend for both fashion and home markets resulting in unexpected products between brands that push boundaries and explore a different way of looking at interior design.’
Nimbus oak dining room furniture is perfect for everyday use or formal dining occasions.
The simple styling of the Nimbus dining tables, combined with the comfort of the slatted or fully upholstered chairs covered in soft leather, or silky-smooth microfibre, ensures that Nimbus dining room furniture is perfect for any occasion.
Designed with flexibility in mind, the Nimbus dining range has tables to suit small and large spaces. All the dining table are extendable, with the largest comfortably seating up to 10 people.
Nimbus dining room furniture is made in Britain from European oak and selected oak veneers.
When purchasing a mattress, it’s important to keep in mind your body’s unique comfort and support needs, in addition to price. While comfort is essential for a good night’s sleep, many choose to disregard this aspect and focus primarily on the cost of the mattress.
If you are choosing to buy a cheap mattress, are you really getting the best quality? Will a cheap mattress set last as long as a mid-priced mattress set that’s a better fit for your comfort preferences? Remember, you will spend 1/3 of your life in bed, so it makes sense to look at your new mattress as an investment in the quality of your life!
When it comes time to buy a new mattress, don’t set out to find a cheap mattress first. Rather, start the shopping process by setting price aside and figuring out what type of mattress is right for you because you will be sleeping on it for many years to come. So, instead of searching for a cheap mattress, change your thinking and search for the right mattress at the best value.
Look at the comfort:
Make sure that the mattress you are interested in provides you and your sleep partner with the right level of comfort. We offers a variety of mattresses ranging from very firm to very soft, so there’s a comfort match for everyone. Test out various models and see which best fits your needs.
Look for you ideal features:
From a gel memory foam to a pillow top innerspring mattress, there are plenty of options to consider. Whether you prefer a firm mattress or a mattress that conforms to your body as you sleep, consider which mattress will give you a restful night’s sleep. Shop smarter by knowing the different mattress types and comparing prices on models with similar features.
Look for the right price:
Now that you know what type of mattress may be best for you, you can start thinking about price. Remember that you will sleep on this mattress every night for many years to come, and by now you should stop worrying about finding a cheap mattress and start thinking about investing in the right mattress.
Talk to our bed experts.
Bargain mad Britons could be wrecking their chance of a good night’s sleep because they would rather scrimp on the price of a new mattress – and save on the time needed to try it out.
According to the results of a major, European wide survey* into consumer bed buying habits, the UK tops the league when it comes to lack of sleep. 45% of us claim not to get enough compared to an average of 35% across the rest of Europe.
Yet despite close on half of us feeling we don’t get enough sleep, less than one in 10 Brits have yet to make the link between poor sleep and the quality of their bed or mattress. Only 9% thought the quality of their bed/mattress disturbed their sleep while twice as many (18%) of their more ‘rested’ counterparts in Europe have sussed the connection between good sleep and good beds.
One reason could be that Britons are much more likely than their continental cousins to buy mattresses online (where they can’t try them out first) rather than through traditional retail outlets (where they can). 16% of those questioned in the UK, compared to 12% in Europe said they had bought online.
According to the new study, part funded by the UK’s National Bed Federation, British bed buyers are also more price sensitive than their European counterparts with 52% saying price was important to their purchasing decision as opposed to 45% across the rest of Europe. Indeed 41% of those questioned in the UK agreed that they would only buy a mattress if it was on sale – only 16% of those questioned across Europe said special discount offers were important.
And 73% of bargain-hunting Brits won’t pay more than £750 (1,000 euros) for a double mattress.
Could it be this pre-occupation with price that drives so many Brits to buy online? Jessica Alexander, executive director of The National Bed Federation certainly believes there’s a link: “Online is quite definitely where a lot of budget mattresses are sold and if people don’t try before they buy, no wonder so many of them don’t feel they are getting a good night’s sleep.
“Buying online certainly has a role to play in today’s world and it’s not exclusively the domain of bargain beds – some very good mattresses can be bought on the internet too. But our advice to people would always be to try before you buy so that you can be sure the mattress you are buying is comfortable for you. It’s a very subjective purchase and what’s right for one person doesn’t suit another.”
This ‘race to the bottom’ could also explain the apparent dissatisfaction of many Brits with mattress purchases in the past few years. According to the research, 47% of the UK sample had replaced their mattress in less than five years compared to only 30% of Europeans. Said Jessica: “While we recommend that people should look to change a good mattress every seven years, the fact that so many people in this country are doing it in under five would indicate they were not altogether happy with the mattress they had. Perhaps that’s not surprising if it was a really cheap one which they didn’t even try out.”
The growing shift to online sales could also account for Britain’s love of brands as a buying reassurance. Buying a well-known brand was deemed important by 16% of those questioned in the UK but only by 11% of Europeans.
The main reasons for buying online were: delivered to my door (favoured by 72% of those questioned in the UK as opposed to 64% in Europe); lower prices (69% UK, 55% Europe); saves time (69% UK, 54% Europe).
Plus there’s the fact that shopping for a bed still isn’t considered much fun. Just over half of Brits (54%) and Europeans (58%) said it was.
Europe is also divided by very different preferences when it comes to the type of bed people buy. 40% of the UK sample felt memory foam was the best mattress technology while across the rest of Europe the figure was a much lower 25%.
Over there, latex, is the second most favoured foam, popular with16% of Europeans. In the UK it was only favoured by 2% of those questioned with their second favourite technology being pocket springs (23% of those questioned in the UK as opposed to 14% in Europe).
Said Jessica Alexander: “We have always known that, in terms of construction and design, the UK bed market is very different to that across the rest of Europe and this study further highlights that. It also throws up the rather worrying fact that UK consumers would rather bag a bargain than a good night’s sleep – and that fewer people here than in Europe have made the connection between good sleep and a good bed.”
Talk to our bed experts and find the right mattress for you.