As a mattress reviewer, I naturally get a lot of chances to think carefully about exactly what I want for my own bed. I’m also lucky enough to be given some mattresses and bedding accessories. What we have in our house is a real mixture of gifted products and products we have purchased, and I’m happy with all of them!
Let me share with you exactly what I’ve chosen for the beds in my house, after many hours of research, testing, choosing, deliberating (and arguing with the husband about which mattress is best for the master).
I’ll show you:
- My entire bed set up: mattress, pillow, pillowcase, blanket
- The mattresses each of our kids have (and what makes them great choices for kids AND adults)
- The mattress we bought originally, but ended up not liking so much
1. My Personal Bed Set Up
Mattress Is High End Memory Foam: Winkl Lux
This is our third memory foam mattress in two years. Two we bought, one we were gifted. We initially bought an Ecosa mattress, but it was too firm for us in the end, so we sold it on, replacing it with Napp (which we chose because it’s made in New Zealand and is a great medium firm). However, our Napp mattress is now in danger of being relegated to the spare bed because we’ve be testing a Winkl Lux mattress, and It. Is. COMFORTABLE!
Winkl claims to be the most comfortable mattress in New Zealand. Sounds bold? I think it’s actually true. The Winkl Lux (which we were gifted, and has replaced our amazing Napp, which we thought couldn’t be topped) has more comfort foams than any other in our market, and it has zoning in the support core that you can really feel.
Why Winkl Lux is staying on my bed:
- Very comfortable for all sleeping positions:
- Enough give to cradle my shoulder when lying on my side
- Great back support
- Great stomach support if lying on your stomach (this is one area in particular where I feel the Winkl Lux is stronger than Napp, you can really feel the zoned support core of the Winkl Lux kicking in when in this sleep position)
- I like the foam innovations: Winkl flex is a great, bouncy foam and I like the charcoal infusion too
- The cover is really nice: it feels durable and it has a great zip (not as easy to find as you might think). The pillow actually has the same cover.
- I like the height: at 30cm, the Winkl Lux is 5cm taller than most other mattress in a box brands
- It had the least amount of off-gassing smells of ANY memory foam mattress I’ve ever unboxed. These smells are a totally normal (and certified harmless) part of foam expanding, and are to be expected, but there were none with the Winkl Lux, which puffed up to full height and was ready to use straight away.
Pillow Is Also Winkl
I’ve tried my fair share of pillows. I’ve had a disappointing synthetic latex one from a big brand store (I’d love to try organic latex, which is much more durable), a firm memory foam pillow from an independent bedding store, which I’ve recently replaced with my Winkl pillow (which was kindly given to me).
Here’s why I’ve kept using the Winkl pillow instead of any of the others:
- It feels like a good height for me. I’m usually a side or back sleeper, and it works well in both positions.
- I really like the feel of the foam. The foam in the Winkl pillow is Winkl’s signature “Winkl Flex” foam. It’s like a memory foam, but it’s quite bouncy. It contours and supports without sinking. Check out the video below to see how the foam behaves compared to a Tempur pillow: they’re quite different.
Here’s a huge difference with buying a Winkl pillow: it has a SLEEP TRIAL. You’ll have a whopping 120 nights (yes that’s 4 months) to try it out at home. You won’t find many other pillows offering you this, and certainly not if you buy from a shop.
Husband’s Pillow Is Tempur. Why?
Pillows don’t usually come with a sleep trial, so this was an item my husband wanted to get from a shop. He decided he liked the Tempur pillow, which he picked up from our local branch of Harvey Norman.
Here’s why he bought a Tempur pillow:
- He liked the height (it’s a pretty similar height to Winkl)
- He liked the slow sink feel of the foam (watch the video below to get a direct comparison with Winkl)
- It feels heavy and substantial, due to the very high density foam (I’ll be interested to see how hot it gets when summer rolls around again)
Here’s a visual of what the Winkl and Tempur pillows are like side by side, it might help you decide which one is right for you:
Pillowcase Is Silk From Ecosa
Silk pillowcases are renowned for their beautiful smooth feel, are great for your skin and great for your hair. How’s that? Unlike cotton, they don’t absorb oils from your skin which helps it maintain elasticity overnight (I’ll let you know if it magically erases my frighteningly fast appearing wrinkles). It’s good for your hair because there’s less friction, which equals less frizz (my hair is quite curly, so this is pretty important to me.
I bought this Ecosa pillowcase. Here’s why I decided it was the best:
- Best price (I think I paid around $80, when Ecosa was having a 25% off sale. Keep an eye on their sales, they roll around regularly).
- Good silk quality: Ecosa has a rating of 22 momme. Momme is a quality rating for silk, and the higher the number the more silk actually in the material. Many silk pillowcases (which cost the same or more) have a rating of 19 or 20 momme, which means dramatically lower sheen and durability than Ecosa.
- It came in a blush colour option, and to be totally honest with you I really like pink!
My Blanket Is A 7kg Weighted Blanket From Groundd
Originally developed as a therapy tool, weighted blankets have recently become a popular lifestyle item. A weighted blanket feels like a big cozy hug, and I love mine! I’ve been using this blanket all summer, and it hasn’t been too hot, surprisingly.
I love the feel of it being really closely draped over me at night. I tried to go back to a regular duvet, to get a feel for how they’re different, and I only lasted a couple of nights before I was back using my weighted blanket.
Groundd very kindly gifted me this blanket, after I reached out to them to tell them they’re the best. Here’s why I chose them:
- Best value for money
- Beautiful eco silk cover
- Size options to suit everyone
- Nice colour range
2. The Kid’s Beds
Emma Comfort Mattress
The Emma Comfort Mattress is new to New Zealand, and replaces the Emma Original mattress, which many people found too firm. Emma listened to customer feedback and have made the Comfort mattress, which has thicker comfort foams and more of a medium soft feel.
Emma very kindly gifted me a mattress, which I tested for a week before passing along to one of my kids, who loves it.
- Even the top is soft enough to be contouring without that memory foam “sink” that I don’t think my kids need. It’s also bouncier than other all foam mattresses
- Emma has a great cover design to clean up any accidents: you can zip just the top part of the cover off for easy washing if you need to.
- Emma is extremely affordable, making it a good “first” mattress if you think your child may outgrow a single sized bed eventually.
- Emma offer amazing bundles with their toppers, pillows, and protectors. The protectors are quite resilient and would make the mattress totally waterproof, and the pillow has adjustable layers so you can change the height of the pillow to suit your needs.
Peacelily Natural Latex Mattress
Latex is the most durable, breathable, and supportive material you can find for a mattress. It’s also sustainably produced, so it’s kinder to the planet. It usually comes with a big price tag, but Peacelily have worked their pricing to bring you the best value latex on the market without skimping on anything. It costs around the same as a memory foam mattress, which is pretty awesome.
Peacelily very kindly gifted me a mattress, and I knew it would be perfect for my 5 year old because:
- His original, super cheap spring mattress has been worn out by him jumping on it. Peacelily has a 25 year warranty, can’t top that.
- He’s a SUPER hot sleeper. He’s the hottest sleeper in our house. Natural latex is a premium temperature regulating mattress material and Peacelily has a beautiful organic cotton cover, so it’s a good choice if you sleep hot.
- The mattress is made of all natural materials, which is so reassuring as a parent.
- Peacelily has a firm side and a medium side, so he can flip it around to suit his preferences as he grows.
3. The Mattress We Got Rid Of
Ecosa
Ecosa is probably the best known mattress in a box brand we have here in NZ, and it’s an obvious first choice. It’s the choice we made too, when we needed to replace our mattress 2 years ago (just before I started researching mattresses for this website).
I need to say, that even though we ended up selling our Ecosa after 18 months, it’s still a good mattress:
- They’ve got fast shipping and good customer service (even though their team is based in Australia)
- It’s a good quality mattress that felt really durable
- If you like quite a firm mattress you’ll be happy – get yours here
Why’d we choose to swap it for something else then?
- It’s just too firm for me. I did get used to the firmness, and I did sleep well on it, but after trying out a Winkl in mid 2020, I knew I’d be happier on something with more of a medium feel.
- I was kind of annoyed that Ecosa says the mattress has changeable firmness levels. Yes, you can flip the comfort layers around to change the feel, but in my opinion the options are firm or VERY firm, no medium
- The foam does not offer much contouring. At all. I don’t like the full-on “stuck in the mud” slow sink of Tempur, but I wanted more comfort than I felt Ecosa could offer me, personally.
