The Bed

10

Write about your last trip to a furniture store – or about a memorable one. Was it with purpose or just browsing? Did you buy anything, or did you leave empty handed? What store was it and why did you choose it? Or maybe it was online shopping? Here is where to find all this weeks prompts. 

"Buy something that will last," her mother told her.  As a recent graduate, having lived the last six years in a combination of dorm rooms, over crowded flats, and back and forth in her parents basement, she had finally moved into her first apartment of her own.  There would be no roommates and no family within 200 miles. Her budget was tight, with a student loan bill from obtaining her masters of nearly $600 a month, nearly 1/3 of her take home pay. She filled a U-haul with enough furniture, handed down from relatives, or bought second hand, to adequately set up house. There was one item she needed though, and this she had determined was going to be new and that was her bed. 

Too many years of sleeping on a twin mattress, never being able to feel quite like a grown up, made this want feel more like a need than anything she ever desired. She could make do without a bedroom set, having watched enough YouTube videos and DIY in those months of late night resume writing and job searching, that she felt she could update pieces and cobble together a bedroom suite with what was given to her. She planned on sleeping on an air mattress until she could locate a mattress, box spring, and bed frame. She set out the first afternoon she arrived in her new city, boxes and other furniture left where her friends had left it when they helped her unload.  Timing worked out well.  Two guy friends arranged their own road trip to only take  a slight detour to follow her as she pulled the small trailer.  In an hour, they were unloaded,  grabbed lunch, and were back on the road. 

She had researched and found a furniture and mattress store, a big, multi site company, within 15 miles of her apartment. With a budget of $1,000, which she didn't know was realistic or not, she headed in the door. She was immediately greeted with an eager salesperson, overly smiley, with an aggressive handshake.  She was directed towards mattresses, and was slightly relieved to learn this woman must need to stay in that section, and didn't follow her.  She passed display upon display of carefully  set up living room sets, dining rooms, and whole bedrooms that could be bought in full, and picked up and dropped in any home in America. The new graduate felt a little smug, knowing her apartment, once she was done, would have an eclectic and unique look, and not look like it was thrown up from a furniture advertisement. 

She found the mattresses. A less aggressive man gave her a quick overview of where different brands and types were. He let her know he was available for questions, and would check in, but she should feel free to wander and test.  The choices were staggering with pillow tops, and sleep numbers, and memory foam, multiple variations and price points. She knew she wanted a queen size, having been blessed to find an apartment in a second floor of an old large house, now converted into three apartments, one on each floor.  Hers was a one bedroom, but must have been the master when it was a single family home, nice and large with a big bay window overlooking the shared back yard.  She tested  out a few until she laid on one that was so comfortable, she fell asleep for a minute or two. She got a sock of sticker shock in her belly. Before frame, before delivery, the mattress was priced at $1,499.  Her heart dropped a little. "That is a good selection.  Twenty year warranty, and highest customer satisfaction rating. " said the salesman, who was more aware of her shopping than he appeared. "and this particular set, is going to change slightly, so we are running an unadvertised special at 50% off." 

Remarkable, she thought.  She completed the paperwork, added the frame, and set up delivery for Friday of that same week.  She would have three nights to sleep in splendor before starting her new job the following Monday. She spent the week organizing the rest of her place, creating order out of the chaos.  She used a combination of Target gift cards and money saved for her move to purchases new bedding.  She laundered it, and made sure it was at peak softness for when the bed arrived.  Lacking a head board, she had found a discarded garden trellis down the street, salvaged it after asking the owners, by spray painting a mint green color, and toggled the trellis on the wall where the bed would go. It arrived relatively on schedule, the frame put together with ease. That might she was so exhausted, she didn't even have time to savor her surroundings.  With the first morning light, she slowly reached her arms out wide, first right, then left, and knew she was home.