downsizing your bed

Buy a reasonably cheap single bed, but a good mattress.

That way if the bed turns out to be too narrow for your comfort, you won't feel so bad about changing it again.

Or simply swopping the guest bed and your bed round and buying another single bed for the guest room if you have couples visiting.

I am lucky enough to have purchased a three quarter bed for my husband when he was ill because he needed his own bed. It is great for a smaller room. I use double or king size quilts.
Not sure if you can still get this bed size.

King-sized beds in our house - I'd have super-kings if there was room! Never, never, never, do I want to sleep in a single bed again.....

Another vote for the 4ft small double but with standard double bedding here . It’s only a foot wider than a single but a nice compromise .

I changed to a single bed when I found it more and more difficult to change the duvet cover on a double. I now manage much better and find it perfectly comfortable and roomy, and I've never felt like I was about to fall out of bed!!

Why would you want to sleep in a single bed the bigger the better, with plenty of room to spread out I say

20+ years on my own and still in a double bed. Had a single bed on holiday once, got cramp so threw myself onto the cold side of the bed and ended up on the floor ?

I went from a superking, which I loved, to an ordinary double, because I moved house and it was the biggest size they could get up the stairs! However - I did keep up the practice of having two single duvets on the bed - one is the summer one and one is the winter one. I always struggled with the big duvet covers, so only having to change a single is so easy!

I have one of those odd Queen size beds ...nothing fits it ! SO, as I recently moved from a 3 bed bungalow after my husband died, I took it with me, BUT in my new bedroom there is an over bed fitted unit which I love, but now have a gap either side which is really annoying ...so thinking of buying a new King Size that will fit ..only trouble is having a space at the sides for tucking in the sheets ...and, as I moved to a smaller place I have nowhere near enough storage, so am looking at an ottoman bed with storage underneath BUT they require fitting up and although I have TRIED to part with my money to buy one, no one wants to remove the old one, deliver and fit up the new one which requires the fitting of the lifting mechanism for the mattress ....this is really annoying me as I NEED it .............

I moved from queen to small double. Perfect. Never had any difficulty getting fitted sheets. Dunelm springs to mind immediately but there are others. Also I especially opted for divan style as I find it so much easier to change the sheet. Very happy with my decision as it's a major and important purchase.

After my husband left, my 2 girls and I had to move to a smaller house. We had 2 bedrooms and the 2 girls needed the larger one. There was only room for a single bed in the other room so I had to use a single bed. I've never bothered to change it when my girls went to university and got married.

My mum told me to get a single bed when I divorced in my mid 40s. Needless to say I didn’t. I now sleep in a king sized bed and so does my husband in the next room. We are both terrible sleepers and he snores like a train so that’s my preferred arrangement. Very happy too.

Having slept in a double bed all my adult life, with and without partners, downsizing to a single bed would feel like reverting to childhood!

I share a king-sized bed with my DH at home and I certainly don't have room to stretch out. He always migrates to the middle, leaving me clinging to the edge. We have a timeshare week in a lodge with twin beds and I find having 3 feet of bed space all to myself a real luxury and sleep so much better. If I were on my own a single bed would suit me fine.

When my ex left me in 1977 I was distraught and couldn't sleep. I took to watching TV each night until I nodded off and so slept on the settee for many years.

When my girls were older they encouraged me to go upstairs to bed. But it didn't work. Being in a double with an empty half just reminded me I was alone, and so did a single bed!

I still sleep on the settee.

I've been on my own now for 2 years. I have 2 adjustable singles locked together and normally sleep in each of them on alternate weeks. On cold nights I move to the warmer spare bedroom which has a double and must admit I love it!

Kim19 I looked at Dunelm for small double sheets, they did them but only in the shallow depth, which didn’t fit my mattress, I could only find ones that fitted at Next. There probably are other places, but they were the only ones I could find.

After my husband died I stayed with the double bed having got used to sleeping in it alone whilst he was in hospital. The first time I slept in a single bed a year or so after this, I fell out ! Wouldn’t swop, (or share) my double for a single. Ever!

I would never ever buy a 3' single. The 4' is a perfect compromise.

I am in the middle of moving and am getting a 4ft small double bed. I have back problems and other things and the most important thing was to be practical when choosing the bed. I wore trousers and sox with easy slip off shoes when I went to a specialist bed shop and spent quite a time walking round and lying down on the beds. You are going to be using it for a long time so you really do need to lie on the bed as you do at home. Do you always lie on your side or back etc. I tried a variety of beds. Went back to the two beds that seemed to be the most comfortable and tried them again. Then I went away and had a coffee , and then came back to check once more. Am very happy with my choice and the staff in the shop were very helpful. You are going to spend a long time in bed overall so for me that was the one thing that is worth the best I could afford to be the most comfortable I can be.

Like everyone else I think a double duvet is lovely on a single bed, but I struggle so much with that now that I have changed to a single duvet on a single bed. To keep it in place I have the lightest ever duvet lying across the bottom of the bed. I love that as my feet were always cold before and now both duvets stay in place regardless of how much I toss and turn. My bedroom is 4x4 meters so it gives me decent floor space at the same time. It was my late husbands bedroom and the only en-suite which I love, despite having a huge double bedroom elsewhere

Easy enough. Try it. You are keeping the double anyways.

My DH and I have a 3' single bed each. Whatever you do, don't be tempted to get an Adjustamatic. We have had 3 different mattresses and found the beds extremely uncomfortable with all of them. When I did my research after the third mattress, I found we weren't the only ones who found this.

Hmm, I was persuaded to buy a double bed after my husband died, previously we had a hospital bed and a single. I wish I hadn’t swapped! The mattress I bought must be turned regularly, although I don’t/can’t turn it over I do swap it around each week. It’s heavy and awkward and was expensive so I won’t be changing it any time soon.

Unigran4