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What's not to like? How about the $6,500 and up price tag?

It only makes sense if you actually want to keep sleeping on a bed that's been collecting dust mites for 20 years.
Personally I'd much rather pay a lot less and have a new mattress every 5 years.

ew, dust mites.

plus, you can't flip it!

please start reducing the number of posts promoting Expensive (with a capital E) products! this is AT, not AD (Architectural Digest).

I may not be able to afford a $6K mattress, but I do believe you should buy the most expensive one you can afford - ours was just under $4K - because quality materials and craftsmanship equal an incredible night's sleep and good posture. To me, a mattress is an investment and should be cared for as such. With proper rotation and regular vaccuum cleaning for dust mites, a high quality mattress should last 15 years. Also, since you subtract 5 years from the manufacturer's warranty to get the actual use life of a mattress, if you're buying a mattress with a 1 or 2 years year warranty, you are wasting your money and killing your back.

I have a mattress I'll sell you for 6k, if you want! 6k is totally unnecessary. There's another brand that's 12-20k for a mattress . . . but really both dux and that other brand are just proof that you can always find something more expensive, if you want. There's nothing that makes it worth that price - just that someone wants to pay it.

European Sleepworks in Berkeley has great mattresses that are made here in the U.S. and are green. They custom make each mattress to your specific needs and they'll adjust it for you after you receive it till you're sure you love it. We have one and love it. It wasn't that expensive - like $1800 for a queen.

http://www.sleepworks.com/philosophy.htm

We also love their pillows. I have the oxygen pillow. I don't know if it really helps with breathing but it definitely helps with sleeping comfortably.

Also, we have their wool duvets - which come in sets of two that snap together so you can have them warmer for the winter and cooler for the summer.

I swear, they're not paying me to say this. I just love a store that does what they do well.

Now I agree 6K is a bit much, but over 20 years, that's less than a dollar a day. How much do you spend on coffee? Chocolate? Movies? If you have a back that can sleep on anything, that is a blessing indeed!

Price aside, what I want to know is how you get a fitted sheet on that thing...

You can't...they don't have fitted sheets in Sweden. Instead you take your flat sheet and put it on top of the bed and tuck it under the top layer. Then you sleep under a year-round duvet which you 'don't' tuck in. Take it from me...my husband is Swedish and I've spent many a night sleeping on a Swedish bed with a flat sheet under me just tucked under the top layer. It sucks! You move and the flat sheet comes right out from under you and the duvet gets pulled up around your neck. So you wake up, drooling on a bare mattress with cold feet and a really hot neck and head. Again, it sucks! :)

What's the likelihood that someone is actually going to sleep on the same bed for 20 years? Who wants to? That's 20 years of sweat and oils and grossness . . . even if you use a mattress pad that's still yucky. The max anyone is going to keep any mattress is 10 years and most mattresses are warrantied for that long.

fingrrrl, LOL!

My understanding is that expensive mattresses are mostly gimmickry, such as explained in http://www.slate.com/id/93956/ . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22728644/ claims that the number of coils is really unimportant. Both articles recommend against no-flip and pillow-top mattresses.

Also, people around the world sleep on dirt or thin hard pads and do fine. Personally, I do prefer a mattress, but it's not too hard to get used to something harder if necessary.

Erica, thankyou. I really didn't want to go the "what's wrong with us silly indulgent Americans?" route, but I'm glad you. I just bought a 500 dollar mattress that is perfect and, after six months on an air mattress, I am giddy with thanks every night as I go to bed. I say, if you've got six grand to spend on a mattress, spend one or two and then write a check to a good charity.

I'll stick with my Tempurpedic, thanks! That was enough of an expenditure.

With a viscoelastic layer, springs seem unnecessary.

bbsf, that company looks good, which set did you get? They range in price up to $3000. What's the difference between bed only and complete set - what do you have? thanks!

Actually, with the Dux beds you can use a fitted sheet, it goes on the top layer of mattress and stays there just fine.

As for the flipping - I think the issue is that with a higher quality mattress you don't have to worry about flipping. If the mattress is built better it doesn't wear down in certain spots.

I have back problems, have tried the tempurpedic and after sleeping on it (or shall I say tossing and turning on it) for 4 months, it has now been relegated to the guest bedroom. We have since bought a $3,000 simmons beautyrest which I can sleep comfortably in for about 7 hours a night, after that my lower back starts killing me! I'll try anything, have never heard of these Dux beds but am willing to give it a shot.

I have slept on a Dux, and I can honestly say that no other bed I have ever slept on even comes close to it in terms of comfort. They're amazing.

I'm not referring to anyone here (really), but someone that dropped $6,500 on a mattress is unlikely to give it bad reviews. The will either sleep well, sleep well by placebo effect, or they will not like it but keep their mouth shut as to not sound like they wasted money.

When we moved recently, I spent a sh*t-pot of money on a new mattress. (ok, not even close to 6k, but about twice as much as I had originally planned on spending). Our old box spring/coil combo was 10 yrs. old and completely shot.

We did our due diligence via friends, internet research, my orthopedist's recommendations-- granted, he wasn't very forthcoming-- and consumer reports. We went with a latex mattress because it seemed to be the middle ground between traditional coils and tempurpedic. Plus, no dust mites or allergens (hubby is asthmatic), and liquid-repellent (just in case there was ever a pet accident. And I'm a klutz).

It's been six months, but so far I haven't had a moment's regret about it. Sure, I wish it had been cheaper-- and I wish I hadn't told my mother how much I spent because she went apoplectic-- but it is SO COMFORTABLE I can hardly stand to leave it.

My point is, yeah, 6k is probably an absurd amount of money to drop on a bed, but considering how many hours of one's life is spent there, and how critical good sleep is for one's health and well-being, if it gives someone the best night's sleep they've ever had, it's probably worth it. If you are lucky enough to find your perfect night's sleep for $500, more power to ya.

Yes, $6500 is a ton of money, no doubt, and everybody should spend what is right for their financial situation, etc. If someone suffers from back pain and can only get a full night's sleep on a $6500 mattress, then it's a valuable purchase.
A friend once said, it's funny how much Americans spend on cars (getting a brandspanking new one every 4-5 years) that easily cost $20K , yet will blanch at spending much less money on a bed that you would spend more time with (unless you're one of those unlucky extreme commuters)... and cars plummet in value, as soon as you drive it from the dealer.
It's all about you value more. Maybe that $6500 bed will save you later from lots of back and neck pain that may set in during your middle age. Would it not be worth it then?

For my part, I actually sleep on a SleepNumber mattress my husband brought to the marriage, and it's pretty damn comfortable. Not that cheap either, $2-3K. Well worth it, compared to the hard-as-a-board Euro mattress I got from my parents before.

Another comment. If someone is grossed out by the thought of sleeping on an old mattress, then by all means, don't get it. However, it does seem much more environmentally beneficial to replace mattresses every 20 years than ever 5 years.
Our friends, living in Denmark and then Sweden, had Dux mattresses for themselves and their house guests for a couple decades at least, and they were very comfortable to sleep on.

At least, you're not spending $12K on a topline Hastens bed.
http://hastens.com/en-us/.

I can't believe that I'm (sorta) ignoring the price question, but I still can't get over the fitted sheet issue.

Even if you tuck it into the top layer, the lower section (at least in the big picture) still looks like a mattress. Is one supposed to create a DIY wrap around bed skirt? Only buy blankets that hang to the floor? As a non-Swede, this seems really impractical.

I'm all for paying for quality workmanship, but not being able to use standard bedding is ridiculous. To me this is a function v. form question...

I am surprised that people are new to Duxiana; the line used to be carried at ABC Carpet & Home (now they have the Hastens line).

I've been familiar with them for over a decade; since we are now on the market for a really good mattress to stand the test of time, I've been looking then over again. However, I've come across a number of bad reviews -- not sure of the quality of the reviews though, so was hoping to find some here.

http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Duxiana_Mattress?_redir_att_abrtd_=1

We are still leaning towards a VI-Spring or Savoy mattress; still not convinced about the technology behind the Dux. And the sheet on just the mattress topper (like the Hastens) is not appealing, although I have seen people with custom sheets (e.g., Giorgio De Luca of Dean & DeLuca in his Soho loft) that are sewn almost like a slipcover over both the topper and boxspring. Looked better than the bottom showing, no matter how nice the ticking.

Have to say though, I am getting really tired of the moralistic tone of comments about price of late; it is one thing to discuss whether there is quality workmanship and value for money, etc., but quite another to pass judgement on others' choices or act as an arbiter of how much it is okay (or not okay) to spend on an item.

*heather leaf*, if you don't like the posts about items you consider expensive, just don't click on them. There are those of us who appreciate them. AT is not a site about design on a shoestring, it is about good design in (usually) small spaces.

Still not as good as the Hastens - put all the springs you want, I will take the Hastens over the DUX series any day. I own the Hastens Superia, which I was actually able to have delivered the same day by Gallery Furniture of Houston, Texas (something I found shocking was that Gallery Furniture is apparently the only store in the United States that can deliver a Hastens bed the same day you buy it) and the DUX cannot come close.

Plus, the Hastens has a 25 year warranty - now what's not to love about THAT!

To follow up on the previous post, Gallery Furniture no longer carries Hastens beds. I carry Hastens at my shops in CT, but I am actually discontinuing the line as well in favor of Carpe Diem Beds of Sweden www.carpediembeds.com which is on par with Hastens quality, but in my opinion, with a few advantages.

I was the first in the US to carry Hastens as I brought them in nine years ago and they really are wonderful beds. But side by side with the Carpe Diem Beds, most of my customers have been selecting Carpe because they require less maintenance, don't get firmer with age, and have more popular style.

Hastens and Carpe Diem Beds use many of the same design elements. They are both hand made in Sweden using the best possible materials. They both have similar hard wood bases, individually pocketed coils and cotton and wool upholstery layers.

The biggest difference is where Hastens chooses to use horse hair, Carpe Diem chooses to use Natural Organic Latex. The Natural latex is just as breathable as the horse hair, maybe even more so, and it maintains it's plushness for decades while the horsehair starts to settle on day one. This causes Hastens beds to get slightly firmer every year while Carpe beds will maintain their original feel. Hastens mattresses need to be flipped and rotated constantly while Carpe Diem mattress do not.

Duxiana makes a very good bed, but both Hastens and Carpe Diem Beds will conform better to your body than Dux or any other beds in the world.

If sold correctly, the mattress should conform so well to the shape of your body that it keeps your spine in a more natural posture. This helps eliminate the pressure points that cause you to toss and turn so you will theoretically get a deeper, more restful sleep.

I also carry Tempur-Pedic in my stores and they are very popular as well. But the advantage of Hastens and Carpe Diem Beds over Tempur is that they conform even better, they are upholstered with many layers of natural materials so that the sleeper is not exposed to chemical off gassing, they are built with superior materials to last for decades, and although it's subjective, most people find them more comfortable.

Comfort is the bottom line. Regardless of the brand, if you are choosing between superior brands like Dux, Hastens, Carpe Diem, Kluft, Royal Pedic, Vi Spring, Tempur-Pedic or Hypnos, the bottom line is to select the bed that is the most comfortable to you.

I have been involved with most of the best bed brands in the world for many years and would be happy to offer advice to anyone, even if you are not in my area or considering the brands that I carry.

Maybe I'm slightly biased, but the bed is the most important piece of furniture in your home, so make sure that you select the correct one for you.

My email is jklein@svenskabeds.com

Good luck and sorry for rambling, but nothing gets my adrenaline going like a good mattress discussion.

Jeff

Just wanted to comment on my experience with Swedish beds in general and Carpe Diem in particular. We lived in Sweden for 5 years and soon after we moved there we bought a king size Carpe Diem bed, the Marstrand motion model. It is literally a life changer for me. I have had 5 back surgeries and never ever slept through the night even on a deluxe Beauty Rest we bought shortly before we moved. Our first week in Sweden I slept through the night on a Duxiana. We decided to purchase a Swedish bed before our furniture even arrived from the USA. I tried the Hastens, Duxiana and Carpe Diem and the Carpe Diem won. The combination of the motion feature and a lumbar support makes going to sleep a pure pleasure. As for the sheets, yes traditionally the Swedish use flat sheets but there are also fitted sheets available for the mattress topper. Another Swedish thing is the King beds are really two twins that clip together. This allows my husband to sleep flat and me to adjust my side. Also Swedish tradition is for individual comforters for each person which is covered with a king bed spread. Not fighting over the comforter at night is also a treat! As for dust mights etc I use a vacuum and have no trouble(I do suffer from dust might allergies). Finally the bottom portion of the bed on a Carpe Diem is finished with a lovely gray fabric that matches the headboard. Lovely Stainless legs as well. It does look modern but we bought a Swedish bedroom set from GAD and it all matches beautifully. Granted, it cost less to purchase in Sweden but I would purchase it here if I had to. Being able to sleep at night is more important than driving a luxury car any day!!!!!

For the record, although I was the first Hastens dealer in the United States, I am phasing out of the brand after nine years.

I had made a comment on this blog several months ago and several people have asked me why, so I'll explain.

Hastens beds are wonderful, they are among the best in the world. I am not dropping the line due to any Hastens problems. It's purely business.

For the past few years, I have been selling Carpe Diem Beds of Sweden along side of Hastens. Carpe Diem beds use many of the same components as Hastens, even from the same vendors, but they have a few advantages that most of my customers have preferred.

The bottom line is that I am running a business and I have to give the people what they want. When comparing the two brands side by side, the majority of my customers have been preferring and buying Carpe Diem, so it was a natural choice to phase out Hastens.

Although I have never had any major problems with Hastens beds over the nine years that I have been dealing with them, there are a lot of maintenance issues that are a turn off to a lot of customers. Carpe Diem beds substitute a plush layer of Natural Latex instead of the Horse Hair that is found in Hastens, so the beds don't settle, they don't get firmer with use and they don't require the constant flipping that Hastens mandates.

The two brands are more similar than they are different. Carpe Diem was actually founded by a chiropractor in Sweden who purchased a Hastens and realized that he could make some changes to the bed that would make it even more conforming to the shape of the spine. He used many of the same ingredients including components from the same vendors. Both brands use a similar pocket spring system that is made by the same company. Both brands use a similar hard wood base with tongue and groove construction. Both use cotton and wool and both are hand made by artisans.

The primary difference is the use of a natural latex layer instead of a horse hair layer. This makes Carpe Diem impervious to the horse hair issues. No settling, even more breathable, longer comfort life, better edge support, better pressure relief, more conforming to the spine, etc. etc. But most people choose them because they feel incredible. They are truly amazing beds to sleep on.

Carpe has even been rated higher than Hastens in Sweden (number one for the past five years in a row) by the Swedish Furniture Industry Survey.

Of the hundreds of Carpe Diem beds that I have sold, we have only come across one bed that had not been manufactured properly. They have a zero percent return rate which is unheard of in this industry.

I am still a fan of Hastens and I still have some inventory in case anyone is looking for a deal, but going forward, I'm Mr. Carpe Diem. I have even inked a deal with Carpe Diem to be involved in their US distribution and several US stores are in the works. The beds are now available at my CT showrooms as well as two shops in CA.

I guess I am still Mr. Hastens too. So if anyone needs unbiased advice, feel free to email.

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff Klein
President
Sleep etc. and Svenska Beds
Norwalk, CT

I 've owned a Duxiana bed for perhaps 5 years, so thought I might add a few thoughts and comments. I purchased the Dux Queen-sized bed after disc-fusion surgery; I couldn't tolerate my prior mattress my back was so painful. I got a Tempur-Pedic mattress pad for a couple of weeks to place over my Sealy mattress: it conformed to my back, helped a little (really not much) and felt like clay under me so I returned it. My neighbors had raved about their Dux bed; so after the surgery I spent several afternoons at a Dux store lying about and trying it out; to the credit of the sales people, they seemed to tolerate me. After 3 or 4 such "try-outs" I purchased the Dux. Cost something over $5,000 at the time. I haven't regretted it since. Best, and by far most expensive, bed I've ever had. My only regret has been that I didn't spend another several thousand on a motorized Dux, the top end of which raised itself at the touch of a button, as this, upon the advent of my not-so-golden years, might help me get out of bed in the morning. At the time it seemed an unnecessary and excessive expense; but if I had it to do over again, I'd pay whatever it took to give myself (and my back) the greatest comfort possible over an extended period of time. Yes, it's expensive and not everyone can afford to buy one (I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for weeks afterward), but everyone has to decide what his or her sleep comfort is worth. As one with a bad back, sleep apnea and difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep under the best of circumstances, a good bed is invaluable to me (by the by, I'm an attorney not a bed salesman and have no vested interest in what anyone else chooses to sleep on). I have a standard bed skirt on the body of the bed, the mattress, no problem; this is topped by the thinner Dux mattress pad, presently made of latex, I believe (mine was cotton). I put a Queen fitted sheet on the mattress pad and just tuck the excess depth of the sheet under the pad; over this I place a flat sheet and likewise the excess under the mattress pad. There is more excess sheet with the flat sheet, but no real problem arranging it so that I have a sheet sandwich, as it were, a flat sheet over a fitted sheet (as I would with any other bed). I believe that Dux sells sheets specifically sized to fit its mattress pad; but I haven't tried these (although I'm in the market for sheets and may do so). You're not in physical contact with the main part of the Dux bed; rather, you're sleeping on the replaceable mattress pad (I purchased a back-up, using some of the approximately $600, if I recall correctly, that Dux credited me towards the purchase of Dux accessories: useful life of mattress pad is projected as about 7 years [though this may be greater with the latex pad]). Whatever you're thinking of buying, if what you sleep on is important to you go to the appropriate store and try the bed out, come back, try it again. I viewed it as an investment in my comfort; and I haven't regretted it since. (I still don't sleep well; however, this has nothing to do with the Dux, the bed's great, no more muscle discomfort or tightness when I wake up such as I routinely experienced before.) Hope this proves useful to someone, as AT has in the past proved useful to me when I've been evaluating purchase options for craftsmanship, utility and suitability in a New York apartment setting. As an aside, I agree with one of the above posters that the products reviewed should not be limited to inexpensive and/or green products; AT should present a full range of choices and opinions as to same, with individuals deciding what is best suited to their needs and price range; Consumer Reports, for instance, generally seems to limit its reviews to mostly low and mid-priced options, often not reviewing or presenting the "best of the best," letting the reader determine whether to spend the extra $ for the best paint, best outdoor grill, etc.