How to Choose a Mattress
Choose a mattress by three things, in this order: how you sleep (side, back, front), your build (lighter bodies need softer surfaces to let shoulders and hips sink; heavier builds need firmer support to stay aligned), and how warm you sleep. Price and spring counts come after all three — not before.
We make mattresses, so read this knowing where it comes from. But the guidance below is the same we give in the studio, including when it points at the cheapest mattress we sell — or none of ours at all.
Sleeping position — the first question
Side sleepers need the shoulder and hip to sink while the waist stays supported — medium surfaces with genuine cushioning above the springs. Too firm, and you'll wake with a dead arm and a compressed shoulder.
Back sleepers need the lumbar gap filled and the hips held level — medium-firm is usually right.
Front sleepers need the firmest surface of the three; anything soft lets the hips sink and arches the lower back.
Combination sleepers — most people — should buy for the position they wake up in, not the one they fall asleep in.
Pocket springs, honestly
A pocket-sprung mattress holds hundreds or thousands of individual springs, each in its own fabric pocket, each responding only to the weight directly above it. That is what stops one sleeper's movement travelling to the other — and why we build with them.
The honest part: spring counts are close to meaningless on their own. A 3,000-spring mattress with poor filling layers will sleep worse and age faster than a well-made 1,500. Counts tell you how finely the surface can respond; the fillings above the springs decide what the response feels like. Judge the whole construction, never the number — ours run from 1,500 to 3,000 and the right one for you is not automatically the biggest.
Firmness explained
Firmness is a feel, not a spec — there is no British standard behind the words "medium" or "firm", so one maker's medium is another's firm. Use body and position, not labels:
| You | Side | Back | Front |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter build | Soft–medium | Medium | Medium |
| Average build | Medium | Medium-firm | Firm |
| Heavier build | Medium-firm | Firm | Firm |
Sharing with someone of a different build? The heavier sleeper's requirement wins on support; the lighter sleeper's on surface feel — which is why couples do better on a mattress with firm springs beneath a genuinely cushioned surface than on a uniformly hard one.
Support and body weight
Firmness is what you feel in the first minute; support is what the mattress does all night. The two are not the same thing: a soft surface over a well-engineered core can support you better than a hard mattress that simply resists you. What you are looking for is a surface that lets the shoulder and hip settle while the core keeps the spine roughly level.
Build changes the answer. A lighter sleeper sinks less, so a mattress that feels medium to one person can feel firm to another; a heavier sleeper compresses the comfort layers further and usually does better one step firmer than the general advice for their sleeping position. Couples of different builds often meet at medium-firm — it is the most versatile tension in our collection for that reason.
Movement and pressure relief
Two things decide whether you wake in the night: pressure and disturbance. Pressure builds where the body meets the mattress hardest — hip and shoulder on your side, the small of the back on your back — and a comfort layer that contours to you spreads that load. Disturbance is your partner turning over. Individually pocketed springs move alone, so one side of the bed can turn while the other barely stirs; that is the practical reason we build every mattress on a pocket-sprung core.
If you turn a lot, avoid anything you sink into so deeply that turning becomes work; a responsive surface over pocket springs suits combination sleepers best.
Temperature
If you sleep warm, the surface layers matter more than the springs: dense foams hold heat; gel-infused foams and natural wool move it away. If you are warm in summer and cold in winter, wool regulates in both directions — no setting required.
When to replace a mattress
As a general guide a mattress is replaced every seven to ten years, sooner for heavier sleepers or a mattress that was never right. Age matters less than the signs: a visible dip or body-shaped hollow that does not recover; waking stiff and easing as the morning goes on; sleeping noticeably better in other beds; springs you can feel or hear; or a surface that has simply lost its resilience. Any two of those together are a clearer answer than the calendar.
Rotating a mattress head-to-toe regularly and keeping it on a firm, flat, well-ventilated base extends its life; nothing extends it indefinitely.
How ours answer these questions
Arete 1500 — structure first: gel-cooled engineering, spinal alignment. The firm, reassuring handshake.
Tranquility 3000 — the pillow-top: gel-and-viscose surface, hotel-bed indulgence with a cool head.
Laurel Comforto 2500 — deep cushioning and pressure relief; being gently held in memory foam.
Laurel Natural 2500 — wool and natural fillings; softness that breathes.
Laurel Natural 2500 and Tranquility 3000 — our hand-finished upper range, chosen in conversation rather than from a chart.
Sizes
A mattress must match the bed exactly: double is 135 × 190cm, king 150 × 200cm, super king 180 × 200cm — UK sizes, which differ from EU. Full dimensions for every size, with room-fit guidance, are in our UK bed size guide.
Buying for a specific size? The honest picks: best mattress for a double bed · best mattress for a king size bed.
The 60 nights that make the decision safe
Every mattress we sell carries a 60-night free trial and a 5-year warranty. The honest reason the trial matters: no showroom minute predicts night 30. Firmness that feels right for ninety seconds in a shop can be wrong by week three — sleep on it at home, through real nights, and decide then.
Still between two? Let the studio listen first · See every mattress