After a month off, I hope to try and keep the reviews coming now, and will endeavour to catch up on ...
After a month off, I hope to try and keep the reviews coming now, and will endeavour to catch up on reading as many reviews as I missed. Reads always returned :)
Member since:31.01.2009
Reviews:67
Members who trust:81
For some reason, Mum always liked having a spare bedroom. We live in a 4 bedroom house, and originally, there was the Master room for mum, then a bedroom for my sister, and me and my two brothers shared the next room, leaving another free. Jaimie then moved out, leaving her room free, and Robert moved into the previously spare room. Liam and I then shared rooms. That was back in 1994 or something, and we kept sharing from then on. Eventually, however, it got to the point where we were a bit too old to be sharing a room, and so I kicked Liam out into the spare room, where he slept on a sofa. That was about 2006, and things were fine. I took apart the bunkbeds, and had one, while he was content with the settee.
The first thing on our lists of needed things, was a new bed. Liam needed a bed point blank, and I wanted to get a double bed. As soon as Mum had the money spare, we went bed hunting. It took quite a while for us to decide on the styles and things we wanted, but we both found what we were looking for, at a decent price in Argos.
I opted for this, the Canterbury Double Bed. The picture in the catalogue made it look like just what I wanted, a black, metal framed double
bed, with footrest and headrest. It also had the stipulation Mum had requested – metal, not wooden struts.
You can get this bed in two colours, Black, or Ivory, which are the same price. The actual cost of the bed depends on how you get it, it coming in bed only, and various mattress types. There is also a single bed version available.
The cheapest you can get the double for, is £123.99 which is for just the frame, but this wouldn’t have been very comfortable, so we went for the cheapest mattress, since cost was a very important issue. The most basic mattress is a Sprung Mattress, which adds just £68.99 to the price, bringing it to £192.98. There are several over mattress types available, from firm, Comfort, Pillowtop, or the most expensive – Memory Foam, which is £338.98.
First thing is first, this bed is only available for delivery. You cannot go and collect it from the store, and needs to be ordered. You can order in a number of ways, from in store, over the phone, or as we did – on the internet. Delivery is £5.80 per order, so since we ordered both beds at the same time, that was all we paid. Delivery is very quick, and a team of two people were soon knocking on our door to deliver the two beds.
Dimensions
The Argos website gives the following dimensions: W – 1.43 metres, L – 2.02 metres, H – 1.12 metres. Underneath the bed there is a good amount of space, which can easily fit a few storage boxes.
From Box to Bed
The bed comes flat packed in a couple of boxes. I cannot remember exactly how many it was, but I think it was around 3, plus the mattress.
I wasted no time in rushing upstairs, and dismantling my old bed, and throwing the bits out the window (saves time…). I then hauled the boxes upstairs, and set about the task of piecing the bits together. The instruction manual enclosed was straightforward enough, mainly consisting of diagrams. It was split into several stages (as instructions often are) and it didn’t take long before I had the basic frame upright. This really requires two people, as the instructions recommend, since it was darn awkward at times, mainly trying to get the main length of the bed, attached to both the headboard and footboard, one was easy, but the next meant you had to try and hold the headboard up, whilst supporting the beam, and then putting the bolt through and doing it up. I know I struggled.
With that done, it was then just a case of putting all the support struts across, which again was nice and simple. It was just a case of lots of bolts. All Alan keys were included.
The bed-knobs things screwed on – and voila!
My Sleepy Times
I have had the bed for nearly a year now, and have slept on it most nights. While Mum thinks the basic mattress is horrible – I am not particularly fussed, since a bed is a bed to me, and I can get a good night sleep in a bush, bus stop, window frame, pool table, under a dining table, kitchen floor, bath and other such places, although, I did put an old sleeping bag over it, which does make it that much more comfortable.
The frame itself is nice and sturdy, and has suffered no damage in a year of use, except the bed-knob things, where one has snapped off. It was often used by people talking to me to lean on, and gradually that wore it down. This is actually a bit annoying, since I would have thought it would have a bit more strength.
The only other complaint I have, is that the mattress seems not to fit perfectly. In sleeping on it, I noticed that my pillows were falling off into the headboard. What happens is that the mattress slid towards the foot of the bed, creating a bit of a gap. I solved this by shoving a CD Tower down the foot of the bed, and I expect that it is more the fault of the mattress than the bed.
I just performed a quick shake test, and the bed does not wobble. So, shows no loosening of bolts and bits.
All in all, I think it was perfect for me, being durable and comfortable. The price was good compared to a lot of others that we saw, and style wise it is nice and plain, with just a simple bit of pattern to make it look a little nicer. You can see this in the pictures.
exceptional by (12%):
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