Bed: Encased Coil Natural Mattress
Manufacturer: Room & Board
Retail Price: $1,799 for Queen mattress only
We're halfway through! This was our March bed, the sixth, in our Year in Bed. Room & Board makes really good home furnishings. They're solid, crafted with quality materials and long lasting value. Their mattress was no exception, but came up short in terms of comfort. Their Encased Coil Natural Mattress was a firm sleep without any of the squishy top layer comfort that we've come to expect from beds this year.
The Encased Coil in the showroom near our house. We missed photographing the bed at home when it was all set up.Sleep Experience
• Fair
The design of this mattress seems to want to please everyone. It has metal coils like a traditional mattress, but they're encased in natural foam, like the newfangled mattresses, and the foam is covered with cotton and wool so you don't get too close. You don't, however, get the best of all worlds in terms of sleep experience.
While the top layer of cotton and wool allowed for plenty of breathing and temperature control (i.e. it was never hot and sticky), we both found the sleep too firm and lacking in the any of the comforting "give" that we'd come to appreciate in other beds. While the bed advertises "pillow-top comfort," it was not noticeable. We even had our mattress on a box spring instead of a platform frame, which allowed it more depth of cushion than this mattress expects (it's advertised as not needing a box spring).
Unlike some beds that we'd had negative sleep experiences with, the Encased Coil wasn't a problem bed for us, it simply didn't make much of an impression.
Construction
• Excellent
This mattress is very well made in terms of the attention to quality and a majority of eco-friendly materials, so you can feel good about what you're buying here. There was absolutely no off-gassing odor when installed in our room, and I appreciated the exploded view of the insides both on the website and in the store. Here are the details:
Our natural encased coil mattress offers traditional, pillow-top comfort with layers of organic cotton, pure New Zealand wool and 100% natural latex foam. Individually encased coils contour to your body and reduce partner disturbance.
- 14 1/2-gauge high-tensile steel coils
- natural latex foam cushioning layer
Price
• Good
At $1,800 for only the well made mattress with a good deal of eco-ingredients, the Encased Coil runs a little on the high side compared to others of similar pedigree, though — to be fair — the sweet spot for these better beds runs from around $1,200 to $2,000. Other companies, however, will sell you the mattress and boxspring within this zone, allowing you to get up and running at minimal additional expense. If you already have a bed frame, then this is not a concern for you, but if not, you will need to factor in the price of the frame here as well ($599 is the starting price at R&B).
Do you sleep on a Room & Board bed? If yes, please let me know in the comments how it's going for you.
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Bed Rankings to Date - 9.26.11
(Best overall sleep experience according to both him and her - i.e. two thumbs up)
Tie For First
1. Danny Seo Natural Care Bed by Simmons
1. NaturaLatex Tranquil
Tie for Second
2. Hastens Excelsior II
2. Savoir No. 2 Bed - "The Savoy"
3. The Keetsa Pillow Plus
4. The Biltmore Bed by C.P. Rogers
5. Encased Coil Natural Mattress by Room & Board
6. TEMPUR-Cloud Supreme with Advanced Ergo Adjustable Base
7. Embody Memory Foam Stillness Plus Bed by Sealy
8. IKEA Erfjord
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Year In Bed Info
• Follow daily progress on Twitter at #yearinbed
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All Year In Bed Posts
• KEETSA PILLOW PLUS REVIEW
• THE BILTMORE BY C.P. ROGERS REVIEW
• SAVOIR No. 2 REVIEW
• TEMPUR-PEDIC TEMPUR-CLOUD REVIEW
• ROOM & BOARD ENCASED COIL NATURAL MATTRESS REVIEW
• Beyond the Ides of March - Bed #6 from Room & Board
• How To Get a Really Good Night's Sleep
• DANNY SEO NATURAL CARE REVIEW
• NATURA LATEX REVIEW
• Preview: NaturaLatex Tranquil
• More Things I've Learned So Far
• SEALY REVIEW
• Sealy Preview
• IKEA REVIEW
• Ikea Preview
• HASTENS REVIEW
• What is the Right Price for a Bed?
• Some Things I've Learned So Far
• Hastens Preview
• Year in Bed: A Modest Proposal
8 Secret Spots to Hide Valuables at Home
The Live/Work Studio of Robert Siegel Handmade Ceramics
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Howard Butcher Bloc...
10 Easy Vacation Meals to Feed a Crowd
Recipe: Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans
Wow. Completely different experience for us. Here's the review I posted at Room and Board for this mattress:
Finally, after saying I had to change our mattress for over a year, I found this pocket coil mattress that most reminded me of some of the boutique hotels in Europe!
I came into R&B with my husband expecting to buy the 100% latex mattress based on my research. The store only had single-size mattresses to try, but we both climbed in. The latex was comfortable, but I felt my husband tossing and turning. He left the store, and I decided to try the other mattresses. I hadn't even considered a pocket coil mattress.
Of primary importance to me:
*firm for chronic backaches, but still comfortable
*natural and/or organic for limited or no mattress off-gassing
*limited motion transfer from tossing and turning
I tried this pocket coil with latex topper and I knew this was the one. Extremely comfortable and yet firm[...]I was able to test the tossing and turning aspect [and it was the best of the bunch]. Plus, it's wrapped in organic cotton and (organic?) wool -- wool helps for a more restful sleep. And I still got latex in the construction with the 2" topper.
I already had an Asian platform bed with slats. I wish I had ordered R&B's bunky board with the same delivery; I may buy or fabricate one. A bunky board is a 2" platform to put on the slats of your bed so that the mattress doesn't dip down below the platform level -- it makes it easier to tuck the bedsheets in. It's not necessary for the mattress, however.
It's now been about a month. We couldn't be happier. It was pricier than I had planned to spend, but certainly not as expensive as other stores. Considering that my back has ceased hurting, it's worth every dime. Additionally, both of us sleep more restfully. I can even sleep just under seven hours and feel well rested! I highly recommend this mattress.
I'm not feeling this particular series. Mattress shopping is so subjective, not to mention a very occasional purchase. Why devote all the bytes to something so few of us are actively engaged in?
Now that we are in May, when can we expect the April bed review?
We had to replace our mattress, and upgraded to a Cal King at the same time. The prices of some mattresses are crazy, and we didn't have a ton of money, so we shopped around a lot looking for the best for what we were going to sink money into. We still ended up dropping a grand on it, but it seems like that's about the best deal for a good mattress. Combining sleep & allergy issues, we went with the envirotech memory foam and got it through sportsmans guide. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/envirotech-10-ecomemory-foam-mattress-twin.aspx?a=554292
we absolutely love it. It's been over 2 months now, and it is super comfortable, not hot or smelly like other foams have talked about, and perfect in the firm/soft range. Also, we are both amazed at how much one person's movements doesn't disturb the others. we can't even feel a 90lb lab jump on the bed!
We have the encased coil plush--and love it. After 3 1/2 years it is still amazing.
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19276&catalog=room&category=rm_bedrooms&subcategory=mattress
Whenever we are away, we miss our bed. I noticed the natural coil did not have an option of extra-plush, plush or firm the way the model we have does (the "natural" wasn't an option when we bought our bed in 2007).
This series of mattress reviews is really fascinating and helpful. Too few people really spend time thinking about this purchase, perhaps one of the most important anyone makes. Thanks for doing this, AT. I read all of them.
I've had this same mattress in a king for about a month and a half and I love it, although my husband so far is netural on it. The firmness is exactly why I like it, I don't have any achy joints when I wake up. Previously, we had an expensive pillow top memory foam mattress which I hated. I move a lot when sleeping and it always felt like I was sleeping in a rut. Most recently, we were on a cheapo spring mattress because I just had to get off of the memory foam. I also like this R&B natural mattress because it was one of the few I found that didn't contain soy products (at this price point), which I was trying to avoid. I should mention I have a platform bed frame so I didn't need a box spring.
I will be buying a new mattress later this year. I appreciate the reviews and comments from other AT posters. I realize that mattress preference is subjective, but these reviews will help me figure out which ones to investigate further. I would buy the same Verlo mattress I've had for many years - it's still in production - but I no longer live by a Verlo store and delivery is not an option.
love love love this series. interested to see the final tally.