To take my mattress or not, that is the question...

Hi,

I was looking for some advise on bringing my queen size mattresses to the UK.  US queen  is equivalent to a UK king, US Queen 60''x 80'' (152 cm × 203 cm) vs UK King 60" × 78" (152 cm × 198 cm),  so there is only two inch, ~5 cm, difference in length.

I was hoping to get some input on any hardships these 2 inches might have caused.  I was checking IKEA bed frames and the measurements for a 5FT King seem to be compatible based on the numbers. 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I would bring your current bedframe to avoid any issues.  Or if you want new, get a new one in the US.  It will likely be cheaper and much nicer quality in the US.

Hope you're moving somewhere with a large bedroom ...

What other size of bed would you have in a master bedroom?  It's not a US King for heaven's sake.  My in-laws who live in Northumberland, have always had a UK King and never had an issue.  They just moved last year too.  Their bedrooms have never been palatial, but they have not been teeny tiny.  We are bringing over 2 US Queen size beds, and one single daybed.  We will figure it out.  I am already having to sell an almost brand new US King Mattress and bed frame, and another one that is fairly new.  We have downsized a lot, but we just cannot downsize to having single beds, or sharing a full size one.  My husband snores and he thrashes a bit when sleeping (well a lot).  I would have to kick him out of the room if we were forced to sleep in a full size.

What other size of bed would you have in a master bedroom?  It's not a US King for heaven's sake.  My in-laws who live in Northumberland, have always had a UK King and never had an issue.  They just moved last year too.  Their bedrooms have never been palatial, but they have not been teeny tiny.  We are bringing over 2 US Queen size beds, and one single daybed.  We will figure it out.  I am already having to sell an almost brand new US King Mattress and bed frame, and another one that is fairly new.  We have downsized a lot, but we just cannot downsize to having single beds, or sharing a full size one.  My husband snores and he thrashes a bit when sleeping (well a lot).  I would have to kick him out of the room if we were forced to sleep in a full size.

BostonDiner's concerns are pretty legitimate. Out of all the bedrooms I've stayed in here, the first one I've had that could handle a UK king is in the flat I just moved into last week. Our previous house could barely fit a double in the bedroom, and neither could my fiancé's house prior to that. His bedroom back at his parents can't even fit anything larger than a single. Rooms are just statistically smaller here. Brits live in smaller spaces than Americans.   It's just something to think about.

It really depends on the property you'll be living in, and potentially where.  London spaces definitely seem smaller than places outside of the southeast England area.  The point that Brits generally live in smaller spaces is pretty spot on in my experience.  

I've stayed at four different properties in the UK.  One of them could fit a UK king and typical bedroom furniture.  It wasn't spacious, but wasn't too crammed either.  It was certainly live-able.  

One of them could fit a UK king and typical bedroom furniture, but it was definitely a small space without much room to move about at all.  DH and I would have to do a little dance to get past each other since the space was so tight.  

And the other two places... well, a UK king could have fit in the bedroom, but no other furniture.  Not even a nightstand.  DH and I decided on a smaller bed so our bedroom would be able to fit other furniture (nightstands, dresser) and we would be able to move about without constantly bumping into each other or having to climb over stuff to get where we wanted to go.

Compared to the US, any place I lived in could have easily fit a US king and any assorted bedroom furniture.

I totally understand the concern.  I am not unaware of the size of rooms in some British homes.  However, I will not be living in London.  I wouldn't live there.  It is just too expensive for what you get, money wise.  My husband will be working in Kent anyway.  I have been coming back and forth between Britain and the US for a little over 20 years, so I kind of know the limitations.  I am downsizing like crazy, because I know I am not going to have space like I have now.
My comment was just that I have family in Britain that does have UK King size beds, and it's not a big deal.  However, they do not live in London. 

We have a UK king, bought to replace a US king (yes, I said US king) that was sagging after 3 years of use (and we are NOT big people and it was NOT a cheap mattress). I've never had an issue with fitting a UK king in a BR in our houses, but I do know some that would struggle. It's a bit tight in our current house, but doable, and works for us.

Personally, I would bring a frame. One of those metal frames on casters that you can buy practically anywhere would be cheap and cheerful for the short term, especially if you have a box spring - which I assume you do. If not, frames from Ikea will work. Bed linens are just that tad different and don't quite fit right is you get UK king for a US Queen. Plus, far better quality sheets for far less money in the US.

If you are shipping other stuff and you are happy with your mattress, bring it.

I definitely second the bring your own sheets thing. For some reason sheets are outrageously expensive here for terrible quality. I'm talking the same price for 200 thread counts here as I paid for 600s in America. I was just talking to my mom yesterday about bringing me some decent sheets when we next visits.

We just want you to be aware of the room size thing. You'll have less trouble with newer builds I think. Most of my room size problems have been in old houses, whereas I think our current flat was built in the 90's. It's not just London you need to worry about though, as all the houses I was talking about are in South Wales where property is dirt cheap in comparison.

We ended up bringing both of our queen mattress sets....and I fully agree on the sheets compared to what you find for the money in the UK. We brought it all..with the notion that we can always downsize if need be.

I totally can sympathize with your dilemma. One of the crazy things that I have thought of continually since we began researching the "big move" was should we bring our US king mattress. We love it. It's one of those cushy latex ones and we just bought it last year. We discovered on our recent trip to the UK that most of the beds we slept in were down right hellacious. Plus we're both active sleepers so sleeping in a full size bed could be hazardous to our health! The jury's still out on what we would do if we do move.