Furnishing a Bedroom? Start With the Bed
Setting up a bedroom, or outgrowing the bed you have? Here’s where I’d start.
The short answer
Start with the mattress, then find a frame or base that fits it. I’d get the Memory Foam Hybrid from Saatva, about $2,150 for a queen, because I barely feel my wife roll over on ours.
When my wife was pregnant, our full-size bed was getting too tight. To get ready for the baby, we upgraded to a Saatva queen mattress and Saatva’s adjustable base. Our old full was a Saatva Classic, bought in 2016, and it was still comfortable to sleep on close to ten years later.
If your bed is getting tight too, or you’re setting up a bedroom from scratch, know that a Thuma is a lot of money for a bed frame.
I spent years selling contract-grade furniture, and for a guest room or a tight budget I’d look at the Nectar bamboo frame. It has the Thuma’s low look and goes together without tools, for well under half the price. The Thuma alternatives page has it and the others.
For a first apartment, you can spend even less. The upholstered Mercury Row bed is affordable, and it makes a bedroom look finished. If you’d rather have something soft, Ebern Designs makes an affordable boucle platform bed.
The bed
Thuma Bed AlternativesThe beds that come closest to a Thuma, and who each one suits
Mercury RowThe bed to start a first apartment with
Ebern DesignsAn affordable boucle platform bed
The mattress
How Long a Saatva LastsClose to ten years on my Classic, and it never sagged
How Long a Mattress LastsHow many years to expect
How Long Memory Foam LastsWhy denser foam holds up longer
Signs You Need a New MattressFrom the dip to the morning ache, and what else could be behind them
Sagging MattressWhether your dip is a warranty claim or a job for a topper
Rotating a MattressHead to foot once or twice a year, and no flipping
If you want an air purifier in the bedroom too, here’s how it went for us. We had a Levoit Core 300-P in our bedroom. On paper it was the right size for the room, but it never felt like enough, so we moved it to our home office, which is smaller.
For a bedroom about the size of ours, 9 by 20 feet, get the Coway Airmega Mighty2. It’s strong enough for a room twice as big, so it has plenty to spare. The Air Care page has the rest.
A purifier, if you want one
Levoit Vital 200SThe quiet purifier for a bigger bedroom
Air careWhat size air purifier your room needs
Sources (2)
- Saatva’s Memory Foam Hybrid page, for the queen price, read Oct 15, 2026
- Thuma’s Classic Bed page, for the queen prices, read Oct 15, 2026