Box Springs & Mattresses in the UK

Am I missing something? I've been perusing British furniture store websites lately, and whenever I get to the bedroom furniture section I never see anything about box springs.  Do the British not use box springs under mattresses in their bedding?  If not, what do they replace it with?  Or, if they do include box springs in their beds, but call them something else, what is the British term for box spring?  And while I'm on this topic, what is a bed diva?  Feel free to impart any other consumer advice regarding buying bedroom or any other kind of furniture in the UK.  I also noticed they don't seem to sell furniture in sets, as they do in the States.  Most pieces of furniture seem to be sold as seperates.  By the way, as long as we are talking about furniture, if you can think of any national retailers who sell pretty good quality furniture at a reasonable price (reasonable price?...Yeah, I know...this is Britain we're talking about, where everything seems to cost 2-3-or even 4 times of what you pay in the US!  I sometimes wonder about the British interpretation of quality too, but hey, that's another story), please feel free to give them a plug.  Thanks!

No, we dont use box springs.
Sometimes mattresses are on a platform, usually with drawers in it... that's a divan.   Otherwise mattresses are laid on wooden or metal slats in the bed-frame.

No, we dont use box springs.
Otherwise mattresses are laid on wooden or metal slats in the bed-frame.

We have an iron bed frame...the mattress is on wooden slats and its just fine....great bed. Not having a boxspring isn't a problem, it doesn't change the quality of a good night's sleep.

I think I prefer not having a box spring now. More room to store crap under the bed!

I bought a Superkingsize bed at Christmas time with a Divan under it, it is a fancy schmancy one...the Divan has 2 big drawers in it, very handy for clothes storage. Its a relyon and it cost an arm, a leg and my first born!

Now I just need a storage solution for the rest of my house!!!

No, we dont use box springs.
Sometimes mattresses are on a platform, usually with drawers in it... that's a divan.   Otherwise mattresses are laid on wooden or metal slats in the bed-frame.

We went through the whole bed shopping experience last November, and I quickly learned that the common US combo of mattress+box spring+bed frame just doesn't exist in the UK.

However, you CAN get what's called (I think) a "sprung" bed - in other words, an inner-coil mattress (you'd be surprised at how many crap mattresses there are out there!) and a bottom half that's set up like a divan, with drawers underneath for storage, but which also has a layer of springs on the top, like a traditional box spring.  We bought a king-size (US queen) one of these for around £500 and it's proven to be very comfy!

I brought everything with me when I moved here - beds, mattresses, boxsprings, the whole works. I haven't needed to replace a mattress yet, but I know that day will come. Given that I have American beds, am I screwed? Will a British mattress sit OK on top of my US boxspring?

Given that I have American beds, am I screwed? Will a British mattress sit OK on top of my US boxspring?

I imagine you'll be fine - better than fine, really, as you'll have a proper box spring!    Seriously, though - we've used US double/full sheets on a UK double, and US queen sheets on our UK king, and had no problems, so the mattress sizes can't be that different.  As for the construction of the mattresses themselves - you should be able to find a close match to your US one (coil, memoryfoam, whatever).

I found this chart of bed sizes on Wikipedia....

No, we dont use box springs.

They were quite common here at one time on older beds, but tended to fall out of favor as divans and other newer styles of construction became more popular.

Why do people *want* box springs?
I havent had them for over 20 years and it never occurred to me that i was missing something good... 

Why do people *want* box springs?
I havent had them for over 20 years and it never occurred to me that i was missing something good... 

I sleep better on a box-spring - don't know why!  Probably because having one contributes to having a lovely soft squishy bed, which is my favorite type of bed.  Then again, I'm probably the only person in the world that would put a foam mattress-topper on a pillow-top mattress!

To each their own...if you haven't missed having a box spring for these 20 years, then obviously you don't "need" one now!

Then again, I'm probably the only person in the world that would put a foam mattress-topper on a pillow-top mattress!

i'd do this too! 

i'd do this too! 

So I'm not crazy, then? 

Then again, I'm probably the only person in the world that would put a foam mattress-topper on a pillow-top mattress!

Not a foam mattress-topper, but a thick, squishy, padded mattress pad! It's on top of my pillow-top mattress which is on top of my box spring .... aaaaaah, heaven! 

Not a foam mattress-topper, but a thick, squishy, padded mattress pad! It's on top of my pillow-top mattress which is on top of my box spring .... aaaaaah, heaven! 

We've only got the foam one for now, while we save up for a proper featherbed.