I’ve written about my quest for a good night’s sleep before but I’ve always focused on the routine of bedtime – meditation techniques, relaxing scents and calming baths, I’ve tried it all – not the actual apparatus. With deadlines, juggling too many things at once and being constantly switched on, I’ve become used to the occasional, horrible sleepless night with a mind endlessly whirring. So, in search of the perfect night’s sleep, I’m willing to give anything a go, and where better to start than with what you sleep on. If you get the foundations right, the rest will follow right?
That’s where Leesa, a US mattress brand recently expanded to the UK, steps in. On a mission to help people sleep better, Leesa creates foam mattresses that can be bought online and delivered straight to your door in one compact box, without you having to move a muscle (except maybe a few clicks of a button). Set up by David Wolfe after years of trouble sleeping and awkward experiences in mattress showrooms, Leesa offers a very different kind of mattress – ignoring the idea of a tailor-made soft, medium or firm mattress in favour of a ‘universal’ fit that meets the needs of all types of sleepers (there’s hope for everyone, even the wriggliest, sleepless of us, hurrah!).
After years of same old mattress, I was eager to take up the challenge and try one out for myself.
Made in Glossop in the north west of England, Leesa’s one-size-fits-all design is made of three layers of foam. The top 5cm-thick foam layer encourages air-flow for a cooler nights sleep, a middle 5cm-thick layer of memory contours to the body, while a 12cm-thick bottom ‘dense core’ layer provides support and structure.
With a quick and painless online purchase, the mattress comes compressed and rolled up into a tall rectangular box for easy transportation, perfect for small spaces or compact corridors like in our London flat. Assembly couldn’t have been easier – the rolled-up mattress is pulled out of the box and simply placed where ever you would like to sleep or on your bed base. Then, it’s just a matter of tearing away the plastic until it magically springs open and falls into place.
The rolled up mattress, above.
It really is that simple, I’ve even made a little video to show you, I’m not quite that fast in real life unfortunately…
The mattress takes about an hour to expand to its full thickness before it’s ready for napping and lounging about until your heart is content.
At first I was a bit skeptical about the idea of buying a mattress that you haven’t tried first online. But, lying on a mattress briefly in a shop display is very different to actually falling asleep in a bed, in the comfort of your own home, tossing, turning and wiggling about, and finding out if it’s the right fit for you.
That’s why Leesa offers the chance to trial the mattress for up to 100 nights for a full refund if you’re still not happy with it (they recommend trying it for at least 30 nights to adjust to the feel of the new mattress). Added bonus – any returned mattresses are then donated to local charities. And, for every ten mattresses sold, Leesa donates one to charity. Even that should make you sleep a little better at night.
When I first had a bounce around to test the mattress I was initially fearful it was a bit too hard compared to the old springy one I’m used to, I like a soft mattress and even softer pillows like the Princess and the Pea. But the proofs in the pudding as they say and after just a couple of nights I found I was sleeping sounder and not constantly waking up in the night. It’s a different mattress than I’m used to but it does envelop and take shape around your body, gently supporting your back but not restricting your movement. I’ve also noticed that I can’t feel my boyfriend moving about as much as I did, which means we’re both not waking each other up in the night if we can’t get to sleep and setting off a spiral of huffs and puffs.
Leesa’s mattress has given me even more reason to stay in bed longer, now the problem’s just getting up in the morning…
If you fancy one of your own, readers can get £50 discount on Leesa mattresses using the promo code CATESTHILL50 here.
This post was written in collaboration with Leesa. All images my own.
