I'm not sure I understand about the baseball bat thing: Are you saying you just can't get a good night's sleep or that you keep hitting your head on the ceiling?

You could always go with the W Hotels bed....
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/559829/

>>C. some other genius solution that escapes me?

Feng Shui, that's the answer... I'm convinced of it. :)

Seriously... it might sound like an odd solution but those chinese are a smart bunch and there is a lot more to Feng Shui than you might think.

You've got nothing to lose, and a couple hundred $$$ worth of new mattress to save!

it is a cottage, it is a short season, I just dragged two spring mattresses to the dump because the mice had moved in over the winter. I agree with maxwell; get a cheap firm foam mattress and lose the pea.

I bought a mattress/boxspring from 1800MATTRESS for like $300. they set it up, let me try it out, and were really helpful. i got one that was super firm and then got a memory foam mattress pad on Overstock.com for $70 (came with two memory foam pillows too!). this is the most comfortable bed i've ever had in my entire life...

good luck!

Darn, this is the answer I was afraid of: D. buy a really expensive mattress! Are there any decent foam beds that don't cost a mint? (I will check the archives, obviously.)

I agree with Maxwell and would recommend that you try a latex one. I have slept on them for over 30 years and wouldn't change. Good luck in your search.

Just a word of caution if you DO go with a new mattress--make sure to choose one which doesn't use PBDE flame retardants. They've recently been outlawed in Washington State because of their toxicity and the fact that they bioaccumulate in our bodies and we pass them on to our kids through breastmilk. Yuck. IKEA has some of the cheaper PBDE-free mattresses.

Okay, off my soapbox.

More importantly, and also off topic, I want to know about the layout of your itty bitty summer cottage since we're in the midst of designing one! Do you have more photos? Floor plan?

Thanks!

Genevieve

Pete, my people also eat soup made from twigs and bird spit.

Adding a vote for firm foam mattresses!

We bought a foam mattress from IKEA (SULTAN FURUDAL) last year, and it is wonderful. I have joint problems in my lower back, and since we bought this mattress the pain has almost entirely subsided. (Granted our old mattress was was a total POS and a stack of paper towels would have been an improvement, but still.)

Some of their mattress do indeed suck, but the more expensive ones are actually quite good. The foam mattresses are roll-packed, too, which makes them easy to get home.

And, as pumpkindoodle pointed out, ALL of IKEA's mattresses (and their furniture, too) are PBDE-free.

>>Pete, my people also eat soup made from twigs and bird spit.

Nobody's perfect. :)

Just kidding, but I'm sure there's a good reason for the twig/bird spit combo... ;)

I recently bought a featherbed and put it on top of my old mattress and am getting the best sleep I've had in years! I got it on ebay and was lucky to get a great price ($18 $17 s&h). I chose one with square baffles so that the feathers don't shift around so much, so it keeps it's loft better. You may want to try that before you shell out big bucks for another mattress.

At first I tried putting it under my fitted sheet, but that mooshed it down and it didn't feel so great after a night or two. Then I put it on top of the fitted sheet with a sort of a duvet cover that I made from two inexpensive flat sheets and that was perfect. When I change the linens I just give it a good shake to make it poofy again and am all set.

I love my foam mattress from somewhere on 25th St. Between 7th and 8th I think. Forget the name but reasonable prices and great service....

I vote for Dixie Foam mattresses. The best mattresses I have ever slept on. This is the shop ARobin is referring to.

BTW, their foam is not the memory foam kind like DWR, but is just wonderful. And decently priced. You can go to the showroom and try them out on 25th st.

http://www.dixiefoam.com

Try swimming. Especially backstroke. Seriously - if you have tried various beds, and none of them work right for you, perhaps the problem lies (very punny) elsewhere. Perhaps the long drive to your cottage.
Shopping does not solve all of life's problems.

Nani, It's true, muscle tone really does help for sleeping comfort. I used to be able to sleep on the floor comfortably, now I'm like the princess in the pea, with mattress layers piled high, and would no longer choose to even lounge on the floor (let alone sleep on it).

Thanks for the Dixie Foam recc--I will definitely check out the showroom when I'm back in NYC.

In the meantime, I think tonight I'm going to ditch the boxspring and see how mattress #4 does when directly on the floor. (I already tried toppers/featherbeds, and I haven't had any problems in NYC, where I have a regular bedframe and regular mattress. Maybe the cottage has a bat-wielding ghost...)

P.S. Hey Genevieve, post your email address and I'll send you more pix!

Just a thought:
I wonder if you are unconsciously tensing your muscles to keep from rolling out of the loft.

If the same mattress is okay on the floor below, maybe a secure-feeling railing would solve this.

Thanks Sarah! My email is genevieveraymond at yahoo dot com

I'm not sure what you mean exactly....BUT i have a thermoplush select. I have a bad back, and have never slept better. You don't need a boxspring with memory foam, so it's ideal for a loft - will give you more head room!
I do agree with the rail idea- it could be stress...
Lastly- thermoplush may be a little pricy for what ure looking for. one of my good friends was going to get a thermoplush, but they were too pricy for him (even thoguht hey're a LOT less than TempurPedic) Anyway, he got his from valuememoryfoam.com I think (i just saw another post about them that looked good - though I'm not 100% certain that's the place) long story short- a lot less money than thermoplush, but it's still memory foam and he was very happy with it.