<p>S will be going to Pittsburgh for grad school in the fall. I think we can furnish his entire apt. from Walmart (If Walmart doesn’t have it, he doesn’t need it) except Mattress. Any tips? Are the foam mattresses bought online from places like overstock.com any good?</p>
<p>Bought 5 toppers from Overstock (free delivery). Buy the higher density foam , Not the lower density.</p>
<p>5 topper ??? what is that? I guess you then need platform bed or something. Is it any good? How long ago was that?</p>
<p>A topper just tops an existing mattress off - sounds like you need a a mattress. The cheaper ones will be about 8 inches thick and they go up from there to probably about 17 inches thick.</p>
<p>2" memory foam to be placed on a platform or on a mattress. A couple purchased 3 yr. A couple 5 yr. Another about 8 yrs. Buy the higher density foams. Always. The cheaper foams are less dense because of less urethane.</p>
<p>We bought S a mattress from Big Lots for his apt at college senior year…it was a full size, mattress and box springs, for under $200. I put a foam topper on it. S tells me it’s as comfortable as any bed he’s ever slept in. Since this was a mattress/box spring that will likely get moved around alot, we didn’t want to spend too much on it, but did want one that was new.
It’s a low end Serta.</p>
<p>If I needed to get another mattress for a guest room, I’d consider doing it again.</p>
<p>My daughter slept on a queen-sized airbed (the nice kind with an auto-fill pump plus it was elevated). She LOVED it. Prefers it to her regular mattress at home. Just a thought.</p>
<p>I didn’t think of Big Lots for mattress, but its a great suggestion. We went to a few mattress stores and S found full size set he really liked, still under $500, and they delivered.
We bought several pieces of furniture that one puts together from Target, and I definitely don’t suggest you do that. Stick to Ikea, or look at used furniture stores.</p>
<p>Good topic, and I was wondering about mattresses too. Our son is moving into an unfurnished house next month and our daughter will be moving into an apartment in August. We definitely need cheap. Son is actively dumpster diving this weekend as the students are moving out. I told him to do less dorm dumpster diving and instead look around some of the rental houses - he needs couches and dressers - not lamps and small trashcans! I’ll have to see if they have a Big Lots near him.</p>
<p>My quandry is the size of the mattress. If he ends up moving back home next year, it’s much easier to store a twin mattress then a double or queen but OTOH, if he gets a job after graduation (please, please) then it would be better to just have the bigger one from the get-go. I do like the air-mattress option, and that’s the kind of cheap that son may go for.</p>
<p>We ordered our daughter a foam mattress from Overstock. She has a bad back. She loves it. I think it’s 11 or 14 inch foam.</p>
<p>Re Target, D actually had a fantastic experience with Target furniture, bookworm.</p>
<p>It was a table and 4 chairs. When one of her roommates left school suddenly, she and the other roommate lost several important furniture items. I ended up volunteering the table & chairs, but it can be tough to shop from 1000 miles away and D had NO time to look around–middle of a very tough semester.</p>
<p>Anyway, I ordered her a Target set for around $120. It came quickly and in excellent condition. Plus a free shipping deal at the time. When I finally saw it in person, I was struck by how solid it was. No wobbly chairs here. It’s been moved across the country twice and still looks as good as the day we bought it. </p>
<p>I did spend time reading the reviews on Target’s website and found them helpful. In fact, the customers posting were very specific about whether a piece was worth it, seemed too cheap, ease to asssemble, etc. It definitely guided me to the set I purchased. I felt it was one of the best purchases we’ve made for our kids of apt furnishings. With exception of the Big Lots mattress set :)</p>
<p>D’s friends have had a variety of experiences with Ikea stuff…most of their furniture purchases have not moved around well. However, D bought an Ikea coffee table for $35 which survived these long distance moves in stellar fashion. Her roommates Ikea sofa literally collapsed, boyfriend’s Ikea chair fell apart, desk that didn’t survive a move, etc.</p>
<p>Her friends have had better luck at Target! Seems like it depends on which piece you buy at Ikea/Walmart/Target.</p>
<p>I think you really need to try mattresses in person. names varty from location to location and chain to chain. I would go to a real mattress store (or to Sears, which actually has a pretty decent selection). Mattress sales seem to be perennial. Having a really comfortable bed is worth it. (Not to mention the appeal of a certifiably new mattress given the epidemic of bedbugs.)</p>
<p>[Mattress</a> World - Serving the Western PA](<a href=“http://www.mattressworld.com/]Mattress”>http://www.mattressworld.com/) is a good store (and will deliver)</p>
<p>Someone on this forum recommended bedinthebox.com for memory foam.</p>
<p>Find a place that delivers. It’s worth some extra money to have them bring the mattress and platform or box to the house and set up the frame and put it on…expecially if there are stairs involved. When DS moved to NC, we went to Mattress Firm where he could try a number of mattresses. He didn’t get the cheapest, and we also upgrade the frame (the cheapest one was very flimsy). The total was about $350 for the mattress, box spring and frame…AND delivery the same day. It was well worth it. He was able to try a number of mattresses out in the store.</p>
<p>jordansmom - do you know the brand on that air mattress? S is thinking of one for his first apt. And I have heard that there are real quality differences across brands.</p>
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<p>Caveat emptor for emptors with clawed cats. :(</p>
<p>Very timely post aibarr. DD slept on that darn air-bed (sorry don’t know the brand name) for a solid year and Tuesday night, she found her roommates cat on the bed, pawing at something. She woke up on the floor Wednesday morning and was not a happy camper. :(</p>
<p>Oh no!!! :(</p>
<p>How about a futon? They’re cheap, and easy to move and even the frames are fairly inexpensive if he wants a convertible sofa to bed.</p>
<p>D has used an EZBED for 4 years and loves it. It folds up and is totally cool. Be sure and watch the video. We got ours at Beds Baths and Beyond but a friend just bought one for her D who is in grad school at BU through Frontgate at the same price. We both just had it delivered to them. I have slept on it (double) with her and it was very nice and we did not roll at all. I esp. liked the fact over a few summers it was so easy to store. We are now looking into having it shipped from NYC to OR. I is about 52 lbs and so I think the shipping will be worth hanging on to it.</p>