Mattress Buying Guide

You will spend about a third of your life on whatever mattress you pick, and most people keep one for a decade. That makes it one of the few furniture purchases worth slowing down for. This guide walks you through how to choose one the way our sales team would walk you through it in the showroom at 702 New Bridge St.

Start with how you sleep

Firmness is not about how much you spend or how fancy the mattress looks. It is about keeping your spine in a straight line while your pressure points stay comfortable. The position you fall asleep in tells us most of what we need to know.

Side sleepers

Go softer. Plush to medium. Your shoulder and hip carry your body weight when you are on your side, and a firm mattress pushes back against those two points until they ache. You want the mattress to let the shoulder and hip sink in a little while still holding up your waist. Memory foam, a pillow top, or a hybrid with a plush comfort layer usually wins here.

Back sleepers

Medium to medium-firm. You need enough give for your lower back to stay supported instead of arching into an open gap, but enough support that your hips do not drop. Most back sleepers land in the middle of the firmness range, and hybrids are a common favorite.

Stomach sleepers

Go firm. When you sleep face down, your hips are the heaviest point in the middle of the bed. A soft mattress lets them sink, which bends your lower back all night. A firm innerspring or firm hybrid keeps you flat. If you wake up with lower-back stiffness and you sleep on your stomach, firmness is almost always the culprit.

Combination sleepers

You move all night, so you want a mattress that lets you move. Look for medium firmness and a responsive feel, which usually means a hybrid or an innerspring. Deep, slow-recovery memory foam can feel like it is holding onto you when you try to roll over.

Two things people forget

• Body weight changes how firm a mattress feels. The same bed feels medium to a 130-pound sleeper and soft to a 250-pound sleeper. Heavier sleepers generally do better going one step firmer than the chart suggests, and they benefit most from a coil-based mattress with real support underneath.
• You are probably not shopping alone. If one of you is a side sleeper and the other sleeps on their stomach, do not split the difference and buy something neither of you likes. Come in together, lie on the same beds, and let us show you the options for two different bodies on one mattress.

The four kinds of mattresses, and who each one is for

Innerspring

Steel coils with a thin comfort layer on top. It is the traditional build: bouncy, easy to move around on, strong around the edges so you can sit on the side of the bed without sliding off, and it tends to sleep cooler because air moves through the coils.

Best for: stomach and back sleepers, combination sleepers, anyone who runs hot, and anyone who wants a solid bed without spending a fortune. Guest rooms and kids' rooms too.

Memory foam

Dense foam that softens with your body heat and molds to your shape. It is the best of the group at pressure relief and at motion isolation. If your partner gets up at 5 a.m. and you feel every step of it, memory foam fixes that.

Best for: side sleepers, couples with different schedules, and people with hip or shoulder pain. Older all-foam beds had a reputation for sleeping warm, and newer builds add gel and airflow layers to address it, so tell us if you sleep hot and we will point you toward the right ones.

Hybrid

A coil support system with substantial foam layers built on top. You get the support and airflow of springs with the contouring of foam. It is the safest choice when you are not sure what you like.

Best for: just about anyone, especially couples who cannot agree, and combination sleepers who want cushion without feeling stuck.

Pillow top and euro top

These are not a separate type of mattress so much as an extra padded layer on top of one. A pillow top is a soft cushion sewn on with a visible seam and a puffy look. A euro top is the same idea, but the padding sits flush inside the edge, so it is a little denser and firmer and tends to hold its shape longer.

Best for: side sleepers and anyone who wants a plush, sink-in surface on top of a supportive base.

The brands we carry

Our mattress lineup includes Serta, Sealy, Beautyrest and Tempur-Pedic. Serta and Sealy build across all of these categories, so you will see firm innersprings and plush hybrids under both names. Beautyrest is known for pocketed coil construction, where each spring moves on its own to cut down on motion transfer. Tempur-Pedic is the specialist in dense contouring foam and has the most distinct feel on the floor, which is exactly why you should lie on one before deciding whether you love it.

Sizes and what they actually measure

Measure your room before you shop, and measure the doorways, stairwells and hallways the mattress has to travel through. Here is what each size really is, in inches:

• Twin, 38 x 75. Kids, bunk beds, small guest rooms. Too short for most adults over six feet.
• Twin XL, 38 x 80. Same width as a twin, five inches longer. Good for teenagers and tall single sleepers, and it is the size used in pairs on split king setups.
• Full, 54 x 75. Sometimes called a double. Great for one adult who likes room to spread out. Two adults can share it, but each person only gets 27 inches, which is narrower than a crib mattress.
• Queen, 60 x 80. The right answer for most couples and most bedrooms.
• King, 76 x 80. Sixteen inches wider than a queen. The size to get if you share the bed with a partner plus kids or pets. Needs a good-sized room and a clear path to get it upstairs.
• California King, 72 x 84. Four inches narrower than a standard king and four inches longer. This is the tall-person size, not the biggest size. Note that California King sheets and frames are not interchangeable with standard King.

One more practical note: leave at least two feet of walking space on the sides of the bed you use, and remember that a taller mattress plus a foundation changes how high you sit when you get out of bed in the morning.

When it is time to replace your mattress

Most mattresses have somewhere between seven and ten good years in them, but the calendar is less useful than these signs:

• You wake up sore or stiff and it eases off after you have been up an hour or two.
• There is a visible dip, sag or body impression where you sleep.
• You sleep noticeably better in a hotel bed or at a relative's house.
• You feel every movement your partner makes.
• You can hear the springs, or you roll toward the middle without meaning to.
• Your allergies are worse in the bedroom than anywhere else in the house.

If two or three of these sound familiar, the mattress is done. Waiting it out costs you sleep every single night.

Adjustable bases

An adjustable base is a powered foundation that raises your head, your feet, or both. It is not just a hospital-bed thing anymore, and it pairs with most modern foam and hybrid mattresses.

People buy them for real reasons: elevating your head can ease snoring and acid reflux, elevating your legs takes pressure off the lower back and helps with swelling, and a lot of folks simply want to read or watch TV in bed without stacking pillows. If you and your partner want different positions, ask us about a split configuration using two Twin XL mattresses.

Two things to know before you commit. First, not every mattress is built to flex, so check with us on the specific model rather than assuming. Second, and we want to be straight with you here: adjustable bases and foundations are excluded from our three-day reselect policy. Once one goes home with you, it is yours. Try one in the showroom and take your time with it.

How to test a mattress the right way

Most people sit on the edge, press it with a hand, and move on. That tells you nothing. Here is how to actually shop a mattress floor:

1. Lie down for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Per mattress. That feels like a long time with a salesperson standing there, so take the time and we will step away and let you be. Your body needs several minutes to settle before a mattress tells you the truth about itself.
2. Get in your real sleeping position. Not flat on your back with your arms folded. If you sleep curled on your left side with a leg out, do that. If you sleep face down, roll over and do that.
3. Wear clothes you can move in, and take off your shoes and your coat.
4. Bring your own pillow if you can. Pillow height changes neck alignment more than people expect, and a showroom pillow can make the wrong mattress feel right.
5. Roll over a few times. Get in and out of the bed. Sit on the edge. That is how you find out about edge support and how easy the bed is to move around on.
6. Shop with your partner, on the same bed, at the same time. Motion transfer is only obvious when two people are on it.
7. Do not shop when you are exhausted. Every mattress in the building feels wonderful at the end of a 12-hour shift. Come in rested and you will notice real differences.
8. Narrow it to two or three, then go back and forth. Comparison is where the winner shows up.

Protect it from day one

Buy a mattress protector at the same time as the mattress and put it on before the first night. A good protector keeps out spills, sweat, body oils, dust mites and everything a kid or a pet can do to a bed. It costs a small fraction of what the mattress cost and it is the single easiest way to keep the bed clean for its whole life.

Beyond that: use a proper foundation or a frame with center support under a queen or larger, and rotate the mattress head to foot a couple of times a year unless the maker says not to. Most mattresses today are one-sided and should not be flipped.

Our mattress return policy, stated plainly

We would rather you know this before you buy than after, because mattresses do not work like the rest of the store.

The 120-day return applies to three mattress lines only: Nectar, Serta iComfort and Serta Arctic. On those, you have to actually sleep on the mattress for a minimum of 30 days first, because your body needs that long to adjust. After the 30 days, you may return it one time up to 120 days. There is a $40 restocking fee, and applicable delivery fees apply and are not refundable.

Every other mattress brand we sell is a final sale. There is no comfort return on them. That is why we push so hard on testing the bed properly in the showroom. Fifteen minutes on the floor is worth more than any policy.

A few related points:

• Mattress pads, adjustable bases, foundations, pillows and bedspreads are excluded from our three-day reselect policy, along with door buster items, special orders, floor samples, stock liquidation and clearance.
• Special orders are paid in full up front and cannot be cancelled or returned unless they arrive damaged.
• If anything shows up damaged, inspect it at delivery and refuse it with our crew, or call us right away at (910) 455-1331.
• Refunds are processed within 10 business days. Credit card purchases go back to the original card, and cash or check purchases are refunded by corporate check mailed to you. We do not issue cash refunds.

Getting it home

Delivery is a flat $199 anywhere within 50 miles of our Jacksonville store. That is white-glove service by our own employees, not a third-party crew. We ship the next business day, our team calls you to schedule the window, and in-stock items generally arrive within three business days. We place the mattress where you want it, handle the setup, and we haul away your old mattress. We take old mattresses and appliances, but we do not remove old furniture. If you live outside the 50-mile radius, you are welcome to pick up in store or call us about special arrangements.

Pickup is free at the Jacksonville showroom and is usually ready within 24 hours.

Financing is in-house through 56 South Financing. We are the lender, so there is no bank in the middle. Good credit, tough credit, brand-new credit, everyone is welcome here. It takes about 10 minutes, and checking what you qualify for will not affect your credit. Apply at 56southfinancing.com or in the store.

Come lie down on a few

You cannot buy a mattress off a screen with any confidence, and we would not ask you to. Come see us at 702 New Bridge St in Jacksonville, tell whoever greets you how you sleep and what hurts in the morning, and take your time on the floor. We are family owned and we have been doing this in Jacksonville and Onslow County for over 70 years.

We are open 9am to 6pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Closed Wednesday and Sunday. Call us at (910) 455-1331 with any question at all, or send a note through our contact page.

Want to see what is in stock first? Shop our mattress selection.