A queen mattress that fits through a twin doorway

July 12, 2012 3:01 PM

Looking for a comfortable (firm!) queen mattress that fits through a very small door.

My girlfriend is looking for a mattress that has the following properties:
* Firm (like Ikea three-dots firm)
* Queen size or thereabouts
* Low profile (half the height of a normal mattress would be great)
* Won't break the bank. Maybe around $300 if possible?

The mattress also has to go up two flights of narrow stairs (both with corners) and last of all it has to go through a very small door (optimistically five feet tall and two and a half feet wide). We suppose that means it should roll up.

Ikea offerings either won't compress through the door (e.g. Sultan Fjordgard) or aren't firm enough (e.g. Sultan Fidjetun). American futons haven't impressed us much in the past (they tend to get divots no matter how often you flip them), but are worth considering if there is a good brand. A Japanese shiki futon sounds nice, but we know of no place in Pittsburgh to try before buying---is this a good way to go? What do you think? Any advice on specific models?

posted by Chef Flamboyardee to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Have you considered a not-soft-enough-but-compressible-enough option like that Fidjetun, but combined with a very firm mattress pad?
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:11 PM on July 12, 2012

Have you thought about an air mattress? They're no trouble at all to get up the stairs and through a door. They can get pretty firm by my estimation, but I can't speak for your girlfriend. You can go into a store that sells them to try them out, though. Sleepnumber stores are pretty good about letting you ask a million questions and poke all the buttons, for example.
posted by Mizu at 3:11 PM on July 12, 2012

We bought a king size memory foam mattress at Costco that came compressed in a box small enough to fit in the back of our (large) car. It was heavy, but small. The problem is that once it's expanded, I'm not sure you'd be able to get it back out...
posted by primethyme at 3:27 PM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Seconding memory foam.

Even if you can't get it back to it's original rolled-up/compressed state, it will turn corners and smoosh through doors. They're relatively firm (at least, the one I had was) and are thinner than conventional mattresses. I'll warn you though: they sleep hot. During the summer a cotton mattress pad will be necessary, and even then they tend to keep you pretty dang warm.
posted by Specklet at 4:03 PM on July 12, 2012

We have a Sleep Number, and it's great because once we break it down, we can practically fit the whole thing in the backseat of the car. My husband jokes that I like to sleep on a slab of concrete, so my side is extra-firm, while his is the consistency of a melted marshmallow.

I don't remember what it cost - it was 7 years ago - but they probably have no-interest financing.
posted by desjardins at 4:16 PM on July 12, 2012

A full size is only 6" narrower than a queen to sleep on, and might be much easier to get in.
posted by yohko at 4:21 PM on July 12, 2012

My old ikea foam mattress was very firm, and my roommate and I successfully got it up three fights of the narrowest and twistiest stairs you have ever seen. (not that exact set, but same size/shape/etc) It was comical and absurd but not very difficult. We were later able to get it back down with less difficulty.
posted by sepviva at 4:21 PM on July 12, 2012

I was coming to suggest memory foam as well. My inlaws recently had one delivered, and it was in a box that could be transported easily. However, look carefully at the height options. Theirs ended up being too high of a profile for my 92 yr old father-in-law to manage on their frame, which is a bit higher than normal.
posted by saffry at 4:51 PM on July 12, 2012

We have a queen size latex foam Sultan Engenes from Ikea. It's "three-dots firm" and came rolled up very, very tightly. I'd say it was about the size of an average person standing up. We got it home in a little Toyota Yaris.
posted by zsazsa at 4:56 PM on July 12, 2012

Keetsa mattresses are not low profile but come folded up in a box with wheels that is easy for even one person to maneuver. I'm extremely happy with my full size mattress which was about $500. The company's green credentials are great too.
posted by beisny at 6:46 PM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

In Pittsburgh, you might try the Original Mattress Factory for a split mattress. They made me a pillow-top for just my half of a queen-size mattress, which had to be done custom because it was a bit narrower and a bit longer than a twin mattress. They are, more generally, very helpful and willing to do custom stuff over there, since they fabricate the mattresses themselves. A split mattress is also nice because you won't feel each other moving around.
posted by palliser at 7:40 PM on July 12, 2012

I have a Keetsa mattress too - its great, made of mostly natural fibers, and minimally outgassing. The shipping box will easily fit through your doorways, though you might want to have two people to lift it up the stairs.
Plus it's fun to watch the medium-speed sproinging it does when you free it from the packaging.
posted by janell at 8:07 PM on July 12, 2012

Thirding Keetsa, I'm a big fan of my firm queen mattress, which is called a Keetsa Plus.

Here are three photos showing the mattress rolled up before, during, and after the unpacking process. It arrives rolled up and small, ends up at the expected size.
posted by pkingdesign at 10:46 PM on July 12, 2012

Are you sure the Fjordgard won't fit? It comes rolled up very tightly and is basically tiny until unwrapped. We brought ours home in the back of our Honda Insight. I need a very firm mattress and I just adore it--the best sleep I've ever had.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:03 PM on July 13, 2012