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The day it arrived, my life changed.
By Amanda Chatel — Last updated on Feb 24, 2023
Up until a few weeks ago, I was still sleeping on the mattress I had in college. It was when I moved out of the dorms into an apartment right before my senior year that I was finally able to persuade my parents to buy me an "adult" mattress. As in, one that was bigger than a twin.
They bought me a double, and less than a month into having it, my college boyfriend had already spilled at least a six-pack's worth of beer on it and scorched it twice with this cigarette. When I complained to my parents, they told me to flip it and deal with it; that was the one mattress they were going to buy me in my life.
My mattress saw a lot of action, not just from my single years, but it happily lived in New Hampshire for a bit, Boston for an even shorter bit, and made its way down to New York City where it has seen the inside of three different East Village apartments.
It's also seen its fair share of urine, thanks to my dog, Hubbell, who would pee on the bed when he was nervous, which meant every time there was a fly or mosquito in the apartment, and even a run-in with bedbugs during the summer where it seemed like half the city was infested. It also comforted me through many breakups, the shingles, mono, and easily 1,000 hangovers.
When my mattress and I finally parted ways, it was stained, almost threadbare, and had not one or two, but three mattress pillow toppers, as a means to make it somewhat comfortable.
I was sad to see it go, but my husband, excited by the fact that he’d be the only one to sleep in a new bed with me, was delighted to drag it down the five flights of stairs, leaving it on the curb with a sign that read, "No bed bugs! I promise!"
Now it was time to fall in love with a new mattress, and having heard such great things about this mattress from other friends who had recently upgraded (and swore it was the best mattress for sexy times), I knew that’s what we wanted.
And in a queen size, of course, because two adults shouldn't be sleeping in a double-size bed, especially when one hates to share a bed in the first place (that would be me!)
The day it arrived, my life changed. I never knew a new mattress could have such an impact on my life, but I was wrong.
Here are 5 ways my mattress transformed my relationship:
1. I'm well-rested
When we first got the mattress we were a little surprised. It's delivered to your door in a box. Yes, a mattress in a box. Once you open it, it sort of unravels before your eyes. Even before we got it officially on the bed frame, I threw myself onto it and just lay there… where I promptly fell asleep because my husband wasn’t home and I really didn’t see the need in getting up from where I was.
When he returned, he woke me up, and we put the mattress on the frame … where we both proceeded to repeat over and over again, "OMG. OMG. This is the best bed in the world." Granted, our last mattress was the pits, but having traveled quite a bit, and tried out several hundred mattresses in those travels, it was definitely the best. This night owl has been in bed before midnight most nights ever since we got it, and that rest makes for a less cranky, and hornier me.
2. I want to have sex more
This goes for both my husband and me. Not only do we both want to have sex more, but we want to do it in bed more. We used to feel like the couch or the kitchen table would spice things up, and it does! But who the hell needs spicing up when there's a magical wonderful land of comfort just a room away?
3. Its firmness is awesome for tricky positions
For all its firmness, it's the right amount of squishy, too. Whereas other mattresses don't have the necessary material to either keep you in place or even let you get into that place that you want to be in in the first place, our new mattress is very welcoming and supportive in allowing us to be more experimental in our sex positions. It gives the support a floor would be combined with the comfort of a pillow—if that makes sense.
4. It's a wonderful part of foreplay
I'm pretty sure I've made it quite clear that my number one love, aside from my dog, is food. I love it. And while I’m not one to eat in bed, usually, our mattress and its firmness actually allow for food consumption in bed without there being a big old mess. What do you want to do after you’ve had Chinese in bed while watching Netflix? Nap, and, of course, fool around. We’ve found that our new mattress is an integral part of our foreplay.
5. We can't seem to get out of it
It's true! And while some days that’s great, especially the cold days to come, on Mondays, it can be a real hassle. But what it comes down to is that we're definitely spending more time in bed, and, let's be honest, the more time two people spend in bed, the more sex they'll have. I'm pretty sure it's a scientific fact.
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Amanda Chatel is a writer who divides her time between NYC and Paris. She's a regular contributor to Bustle and Glamour, with bylines at Harper's Bazaar, The Atlantic, Forbes, Livingly, Mic, The Bolde, Huffington Post, and others.
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