We have had a Kluft since early 2008 and are very happy with it. It's not this model, but I don't remember the exact name. The original retail price was about $6000 and we paid $3500 on sale. The bed is everything you described and all of our guests who have slept on it have raved. My husband is a very active sleeper and his movement never wakes me now. It's ultra-cushy and feels luxe. The only thing I will mention is that the memory foam topper doesn't seem to bounce back as fast now as it used to. It is incredibly deep so standard sheets do not fit on it.

I'm surprised by the price; at this price level, beds usually have no foam and are made exclusively with cotton, wool, cashmere and/or horsehair.

Maxwell, I am rather disappointed that you weren't able to fit in a VI-Spring; so many beds, and so little time, I realize!

Still, my point about the VI-Spring is that it is in the same league as Hastens and Savoir, but somewhat less expensive.

We finally went with VI-Spring's Classic Superb, and I have never slept better in my life. I feel like I am weightless but supported as I sleep; a truly delicious feeling. Really, check them out some time...

In a world where millions of children sleep on dirt floors and die for simple lack of antibiotics, a $10,000 mattress is sinful. Buy a $1,000 mattress and donate $9,000 to UNICEF... I guarantee you will sleep better...

@quiltmaster: excellent point. And, words to live by.

I'm with Quiltmaster - I can't get over the obscenity of a $10,000 bed. I don't care if it feels like sleeping on angel hair and unicorn fur, that is the definition of despicable consumption.

Maxwell, I'm in agreement with quiltmaster & Muffy St John in feeling that with all the suffering internationally and here at home this is ethically challenged despicable consumption. Your "Daily Finds" have been over the top too. I love designer things myself but I try to limit my consumption and do a lot of volunteer work. You seem out of touch and very insensitive.

I wonder if there's advice for top matresses - it'd be great if someone could evaluate them as well...

I would never pay 10k for a dayum bed. NEVER EVER.

I would rather own a 10,000 mattress that will last 10 years or more that is made in the USA that supports a family here, than 1,000 mattress made in china by child labor that will be kicked to the curb in 5 years or less.

As it happens, I work with UNICEF. Oh, and my husband works on getting children antibiotics, vaccinations, retrovirals, improving health systems, getting them bed nets and so forth. Today, he has been meeting with the head of the WHO about these very issues.

So get off your high horse and stop judging people you don't have a clue about on the Internet.

Thanks everyone for your comments and I'm totally familiar with and understand the feelings surrounding expensive beds like this.

My job, however, is to simply to give you good advice on a whole range of products at both high and low prices. I don't want to tell you WHAT to buy, only WHY if you choose to.

It is for you to decide what you can afford or what your values are around spending money in certain places.

Obviously, there are a lot of people in the world with very many circumstances. Let's not cast judgement on someone really wanting and being able to buy a $10k bed - just because they choose the bed. Cast judgement on them for OTHER reasons for goodness sake, like how they actually treat people or how much love they carry in their heart.

What is interesting to me, however, is that we don't beat people up for buying expensive cars or expensive meals quite so quickly. There's something about beds that brings out the disbelief in us - since we're just not used to them costing so much and feel that they SHOULDN'T. Well, here's the thing: in the same way an expensive sports car really DOES handle a lot differently and conveys a different experience (I won't say better or worse), so too do a number of the really expensive beds I've tried. They are different, and all the workmanship, natural materials and thinking that goes into them becomes evident when you try them.

Of course, you can get a good nights sleep on a $1k bed in just the same way you can drive to work really nicely in a $25k car. Getting there or sleeping through the night is not the issue. The issue is how do you want to get there, what value do you place on this experience in your life and what do you want to pay for it.

We give car buffs a big pass if they save up and spend their money on a fancy car. Why don't we feel the same way about someone who is obsessive about how they sleep each night?

I would argue that if you have some discretionary cash, throwing more money at a good bed for your home - which you sleep on every night - is better investment than throwing even more money at a car.

But you can decide! Just let's not cast any stones until we've walked a mile in the other person's shoes.

Best, Maxwell

ps. sorry for the mixed metaphor in that final sentence. I know it will annoy someone. :-)

Oh how "Princess and the Pea"! Do you need a ladder to get in bed? ;^)

So, Maxwell, I haven't been following since this whole project is astronomically our of my price range -- what bed would you buy for yourself, now that you have tried so many? Inquiring minds and all that...

wonder if you would ever consider doing this with low end beds? it's all really past what I would spend, but I don't have a clue how to approach such a purchase. what are the basic elements on mattresses? how do they work?

Hasn't it been over a year? Feels like this "year in bed" project has been going on forever.

I'm with "quiltmaster" ...The biggest problem with our society is the complete disregard of the wealthy for the horrific poverty that surrounds them. Buying a $10K bed when people in sub-Saharan Africa are dying by the tens of thousands of starvation, Haitian refugees are still living in tent cities with no sanitation or clean water, and thousands of children all over Asia die each year from malaria and dysentery-both completely preventable and treatable diseases, is self-indulgence at its most extreme. I'm almost 60 years old and I've slept my whole life on beds that cost WELL under $1000 and lived to tell about it.

um, we sleep on a king futon that was made in the states *and* cost under a grand. it's pretty comfy and we sleep like logs.

my favourite thing about AT is how you guys show us how to do more and live better with less. this is way over the top for me too. (wow, what could i do with 10k?)

@KathieC--

why don't you give that "well under $1000" to the sub-Saharans and sleep on the floor?

I really don't think I could live with myself if I paid 10k for a bed. If I had that $ to blow I'd rather travel.

Muffy- I would, however, totally pay 10k for unicorn fur.
Totally.

Can people people stop using AT as a place to go on a socialist rant? If you have worked hard and have $10,000 to spend on a mattress, there is nothing wrong with having a forum to find the best mattress. I like that the forum in question is AT, we get to learn about DIY projects, mixing high/low design and, yes, $10,000 mattresses.

If you want to discuss the poor children in Africa, go on a poor-african-children blog. jeez.

I appreciate the critiques here as well as Maxwell's response. I find Apartment Therapy (the blog and the book) to be uplifting, beautiful and inspiring but also accessible. I don't judge people who have the money or inclination to buy a $10k mattress, just as I don't want people to judge my ridiculous cappuccino habit, but I have to admit that I found this post alienating. I'm not at all shocked that such a product exists, but the presentation of this was slightly tone deaf. Still love you, AT!

I believe that some of the people commenting here are missing the point of the ill-conceived message of this post. Is Apartment Therapy's goal not to appeal to the ordinary folk? This post does everything but achieve that goal.

We are in a time of dire straits. It feels as though this $10,000 mattress is being dangled in front of us in a most torturous fashion. An overwhelming majority of Apartment Therapy readers don't have and probably never will have the means to purchase a $10,000 mattress.

I call for the removal of this post at once. Presenting a $10,000 mattress to us was, at best, done in most dreadful taste.

If you had back problems, then spending $10,000 on a good bed would be a worthwhile investment if it meant you saved on expensive medical bills and time off work. We splashed out on a high-end (though not 10k) frame and latex mattress 16 years ago, and it is still extremely comfortable, well worth the initial investment.

I will refrain from commenting on a $10,000 mattress (for that price, I do hope if provides a very luxurious sleep).

But, I find that the real problem is how to choose a bed. Unless you happen to have the luxury of really sleeping on the bed for several nights, how do you determine what is best for you (in whatever price range you are)?
Spending 10 minutes on a bed in a store does not tell me much. I know people are encouraged to actually nap on a bed in a store, but to me it is like being asked to prove Einstein's theory of relativity. I am not the type of person who could ever doze off in a store with other people walking by, etc. Just not gonna happen.

I do have a bed with which I am reasonably happy but I used to like really hard beds and as I am getting older, my body seems to prefer softer ones. I should soon start thinking about a replacement. I am not sure how long I have had the current bed - 7 years for sure, if not 8.
How often people usually replace the mattress? (I mean the mattress AND the box spring - I assume most people buy a set).

The numbering is still incorrect. You cannot have 2 beds tie for first and then 2 beds tie for second. The second pair is tied for third, while your #3 is actually #5 for a total of 11 beds, not 9.

Taking a Vicodin before beddy-bye usually does the trick for a luxurious sleep. ;)

thats half of what I make in a year. I haven't been a reading very regularly here anymore because I feel as though almost everything posted is out of my reach. :/

I understand doing the very expensive mattresses, but I also wish there were more lower ones, too (we had to buy a king mattress this summer and was able to "splurge" on one that was just over $1,000 on a good sale, but that was the very top of the budget). As for purchasing a $10,000 mattress... that's a personal thing, but I wish there was more talk about lower options since it's way out of the ballpark for many of us readers.

But then, I feel like that's true of a lot of the posts, and I know I just have to weed through those that are reasonable for me vs those that are merely out of my budget vs those are are insanely out of my budget.

Guys, it's a REVIEW. Calm down. There are expensive things out there and people will buy them. It's kind of our economy.

I so don't get the "well I personally don't have/wouldn't spend $x on item y, so I'm clearly morally superior to someone who would" attitude.

It's all relative as a % of individual budget. But of course, I'm sure that everyone who's posted about their disgust towards those who would buy a $10k mattress has absolutely 0 luxuries in their lives and donates every spare cent to charity - no vacations, TV, magazine subscriptions, cell phones, ipods, dinners out, clothes/shoes that cost over $10, unnecessary pieces of furniture...

If everyone spent less time worrying about how other people spent their money and spent more time setting and achieving their own goals, we'd all be a lot better off.

Craigslist, how did we ever live without it. ALL retail prices are too high.

This series began with reviews of less expensive beds. I'd have saved big if I'd bought just my current well-under-10K bed, rather than after a series of increasingly expensive ones to find the cheapest one that worked. I'd never imagined spending as much as I did just on my current bed, but back injuries and aging change perspective and priorities.

If you can sleep on a futon, then good for you, but it's false to attribute guilty consciences and disinterest in social justice to others because they can't. It's hardly cruel to resist premature disability and death by seeking medical necessities like sleep. Hope you won't find that sleeping pills, pain pills, and other drugs are no panacea regardless of your war on poverty.

I have a question. What does one do with a ten thousand bed after the kid or dog pees in it?

@Village, It wasn't 10 K but, under its standard linens, my mattress has been kept protected by two padded, waterproof, dust mite covers. The high-end ones are comfortable, silent, and well worth the price considering the price of the mattress they're protecting. My dogs have had little accidents on the bed, and probably will have more as they age. The bed looks and smells as good as new after the linens and mattress pads-covers are removed and laundered. The mattress (no box spring required on the platform frame) remains spotless. Considering its age and use, that's an accomplishment. The extra care is taken with an eye to using it for the duration.

This price sounds steep. But I look at it this way. How many years will a $10,000 bed last vs a $1000 bed? How many hours a night to I spend in it. If this bed lasted for 25 years it would cost me about $1 a day.

I don't need a car in my current life, so I don't have one. A $10,000 bed for me would be a more practical investment than a $10,000 car (money pit)

and yet the first ranked bed isn't over 10k. even eliminating the ones with luxury price tags, there's other content to be had. I'm going over to rant on the page for the IKEA or Room + Board mattresses....

Here's some other ideas on what 10k can get you:

A few nights of a wing at an ultra posh resort that some celebrity you've supported (perfume, concert tickets, song downloads) will stay at

*or*

2 weeks of outpatient dialysis

try to learn the phrase 'huh. interesting, but not for me', it will serve you well (promise).

Thanks to the haters, for making me thankful you weren't at our table this week. I mean, we bought organic cranberries, I can only imagine the outrage...

Children sleeping on the floor don't know what they are missing. I on the other hand do, so I need a nice expensive bed.... Just kidding. I'd never buy a 10k bed.

The indignation in this thread would make more sense to me if it were about, say, chandeliers, rather than beds. People need sleep to live. Sleep deprivation causes worsened heart disease, worsened diabetes, car collisions, chronic irritability, job loss, and much more. Sleep isn't laziness or an optional luxury. It's not sinful to buy a health-supporting mattress. I did, although it was well under 10 K, and will continue to buy useful things I can afford.

This supports my country's capitalist economy, which I see as a good thing. I've worked hard for many years, pay high taxes, and have a relatively modest home, although no interest in taking a vow of poverty. The only Americans I know who gloat over world hunger are a very few who think it's another sign that the end is near, which they want. They're badly misguided, in the opinion of the rest of the Americans I know.

Equating our home lives to deliberately starving children is simplistic and false. Lashing out at people because they're not starving hurts your cause by making you seem just cranks seeking any excuse to dump hostility. Can some one instead describe having slept as cheaply as possible so as to have a well built with the price difference? Suggest a legitimate world hunger charity? Offer constructive input on improving both home life and the world?

Quick question: I wonder how much Caryl Stern, President/CEO of UNICEF, paid for her mattress? I mean, gosh, she only makes about $480,000 a year? Poor lady, I wonder if she even sleeps on a bed? I could only imagine how hard her floors must feel in the wood shack she must surely live in.

http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/children-and-youth/united-states-fund-for-unicef-in-new-york-ny-1982

Holy cow, people! Don't buy a 10k bed if you don't want to or cannot afford it and leave others out of it! I wish we had 10k in our bed budget b/c my back is killing me from our sh*tty mattress. It's just old and needs to be replaced. Just bought a new house so we have too many things to buy to spend that much on a mattress but how we'd love to. I'm happy when Apartment Therapy branches out into different price points and dwellings b/c while a majority of people do live in urban areas / smaller homes, a lot of other readers aren't looking at how to decorate 500 sq feet. Same goes for the bed - it could be a priority for someone and they have the means to buy it. It's nice to get perspective on the things you want to include in your home from a website like AT that you are familiar with and can trust.

@village - don't let the dogs or kids in the bed if they pee themselves?

I'm tired of people ranting over what they perceive as antisocial behavior. Give us a rest from your sanctimonious and judgmental posts, please.

I generally want nice things for myself more than for others. That's natural, not shameful, although best kept counterbalanced by culture and context. Knee-jerk cheap shots bashing the desire for a good bed seem unsuited to AT comments, not that I imagine my counterpoint can sway haters.

I'm no sociologist or economist. However, there being people both richer and poorer than you, wherever you may be on the spectrum, seems a timeless part of the human condition. It doesn't seem the fault of those who do have adequate beds. 10 K is a lot for a bed, but political trash-talking adds nothing.

Again, can a commenter share how she herself made both the world and her home better places via her choice of bed? Not what others should do, but what she actually did do, as an example for other AT readers? I may start reading the AT green blog, too.

I purchased a KLUFT mattress last year from Bloomingdales, that cost approx $7,000 plus shipping, and then since I live outside the US, I had to pay additional high fees to import it into the country including the 16% IVA charges plus customs agent charges. The bed arrived and within several months it became terribly lumpy and uncomfortable. We had to move the mattress from the front to the back, but the lumpiness continued. It has become unbearable; I dread going to sleep at night. I called Bloomingdales but the only thing they do is discount a certain amount after one year and then you can exchange it for another mattress. I would do this but I would be out thousands of dollars in taxes, shipping etc because they do not cover this which frankly they should. This is the WORST mattress ever. My son said it is like a mountain, high in the middle and it slants down on both sides. I have never seen anything like this. DO NOT BUY this mattress. I am considering to just purchase a local brand that is significantly cheaper and tossing this one.