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An Honest Lull Mattress Review and a Painted IKEA Bed Frame Makeover

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This painted IKEA bed frame makeover is brought to you by Lull Mattress, but the project and opinions are those of Thrift Diving. 

Not sure which furniture paint to use? Check out this handy guide: What’s the Best Paint For Furniture?

Lull Mattress had reached out to me to try one of their mail-order mattresses. I had planned to paint my IKEA bed frame, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try a Lull bed (our mattress was nasty) while painting our bed.

Months before, I had made over my pretty lavender master bathroom, so it only made sense to make over my master bedroom, too, since the two rooms are connected.

I’ve known for a while that our bed needed a good makeover.

Heck, the whole thing just needed to be ripped down and replaced altogether!

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - BEFORE - Thrift Diving

 

But I’ve never been able to find a king-sized bed that I liked enough to replace my old IKEA bed that’s been kickin’ for 15 years. LOL

And right alongside my bed, there’s been our comfy ‘ole mattress that we’ve been too cheap (and loyal) to toss out. After all, this mattress has cuddled my family through many nights, including through infancy, co-sleeping, sickness, and lots of storytimes and movie nights with my family.

You don’t realize how attached you get to your mattress!

I priced new mattresses, and have you seen the price of new mattresses?!?! At least $2,500 – $6,000 (yes….$6,000)….for a brand new King-sized mattress. Who has that kind of money??

I’ve heard of companies that ship mattresses in the mail, but while I’d been 100% on board with ordering groceries online, ordering a mattress wasn’t a “risk” I was going to take.

Lull.com, a company that ships mattresses in the mail, however, was looking for bloggers to test out their mattresses in exchange for a review. They chose me. I was excited and curious!

I was afraid I wouldn’t like it but figured I had nothing to lose to at least try it out.

Plus, this would be a great opportunity to paint my bed over!

Let me show you what it looked like before.

BEFORE

Now, mind you… I took this picture in the morning after we woke up before the bed was made.

And yes, that ceiling fan is real. No ugly photoshopping there, folks. 🙂

I have never made the time to replace or paint it, but this picture is a stark reminder that the eyesore needs to go.

And in case you’re wondering about the books, I’ve got reflux issues, so raising my bed up 6-8 inches does a great job of preventing reflux at night!

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - bed BEFORE - Thrift Diving

 

And I know you’re gasping right now, but yes, this is what my nasty mattress looks like deep down underneath the mattress pad.

We were loyal co-sleepers with our kids and you best believe this bed has seen everything from pee to vomit.

This mattress definitely tells a story!

I guess we didn’t know the importance of mattress protectors, huh?

It’s a shame because we absolutely loved this mattress!

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - Nasty mattress - Thrift Diving

 

(Pssst! I participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites).

AFTER

Afterward, the bed looked amazing with a couple coats of fresh Beyond Paint Pewter paint and a new Lull mattress!

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Thrift Diving

 

I’ve been wanting to replace this IKEA bed for a while.

You have no idea how many times this bed has fallen apart on us, literally dropping out from the bottom, and we’d pull a “MacGyver” to piece it all back together again.

Oh, the joys of sitting on the edge of your bed and the bottom falls through….Ahhh….what an adventure….

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - IKEA bed falling apart. - Thrift Diving

 

Eventually, if I can’t find a nice second-hand King-sized bed I like, I am certain I’ll make one in my workshop. There are some really cool headboard ideas, although I fancy the DIY upholstered headboards!

We shall see…

But for now, I have painted our IKEA bed frame.

Related: What’s the Best Paint for Furniture? The PROs and CONs of 10 Furniture Paints

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - IKEA bed falling apart with slats. - Thrift Diving

 

Anyhow, the Lull mattress arrived in the mail with free shipping, right on my doorstep.

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattresses are shipped free to your door. - Thrift Diving

 

Getting it upstairs wasn’t too difficult. I lugged it upstairs myself. But I do have She-Ra strength at times…

Get help if you need it!

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattresses come in a medium size box. - Thrift Diving

 

I had the kids help me unpack it. I thought it would be cool for them to see this mattress coming out of the box all wrapped up, and then hear and see it start to expanding once it’s free of the plastic wrap!

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Get kids to help unpack the bed. - Thrift Diving

 

The mattress comes wrapped up in plastic, folded in on itself, with all the air sucked out of the foam.

The minute you unpack it, you can hear the hiiiiisss of the mattress expanding. It’s pretty cool!

We laid the Lull mattress on top of our IKEA bed to let it finish its expanding.

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattress wrapped in plastic about 2 inches thick. - Thrift Diving

 

By the time it was done expanding, it was about 10″ thick, after having seen flattened to about 2″!

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattress will expand to about 10 inches after unwrapped. - Thrift Diving

 

The best part, of course, was giving Kojo a place to play after we unpacked the box! LOL

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Kids playing in Lull mattress box. - Thrift Diving

The Pros and Cons to Buying Your Mattress Online

So let’s jump right into my thoughts about buying a mattress online since it was something I was skeptical about before actually trying it out.

The Pros

  • You don’t have to leave your house. You can order it right from Lull.com from the comfort of your home. Beats having to go to 3-4 stores laying on mattresses that everyone and their mama has laid down on.
  • Free Shipping. In this day and age, everything should be free shipping, including your mattress shipping. Thankfully, the mattress comes right to your door, no extra charge.
  • 100 nights to try it out. There’s no risk involved if you give it a test-run for 100 nights! That’s a lot of time to decide if you really like it or not.
  • Free returns. Don’t like it? Just contact Lull and they’ll send a truck to pick it up. You don’t even have to keep the original box! There would be no way to stuff it back in there, anyhow. LOL
  • There’s a $50 off coupon. For under $1,000, you can get a new bed. My King is about $950, I believe. If you need a smaller size, they’re even more affordable. And if you click here to use my Thrift Diving link, you can save $50 off.
  • It really is soft! I pressed down deep with my hand and the memory foam conformed to my hand. That’s pretty comfy. I also love the quilted cover that came zippered on. It felt nice! We slept well on the mattress.

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattress has memory foam. - Thrift Diving

 

Bed makeover with Lull Mattress - Lull mattress has a quilted cover. - Thrift Diving

 

There aren’t very many cons at all! But there are a couple things I’ll note from my experience.

The Cons

  • May not be as deep as other mattresses. My old mattress is a whopping 18″ deep, which is crazy because the silly sheets always slide off! Lull mattresses are about 10″ deep. We felt like we were sleeping so close to the floor. We also didn’t have the books underneath the feet, so that could also contribute to feeling closer to the floor.
  • You might need a box spring. Our bed has a slatted bottom with no boxspring. If your bed has a slatted bottom, the mattress can sit right on the slats. However, related to the previous point, you might need to invest in a box spring only for the simple fact that if your old mattress is thicker, you might want extra inches underneath to raise you up higher. Or if your bed is adjustable, like mine, you might want to raise the platform a little higher to accommodate for the more compact mattress.
  • If you’re used to a pillow top mattress, you might need to invest in a pillow top cover. The Lull mattress is very comfy, indeed. But if you’re used to a pillow top mattress, it might feel funny not having the squishy pillow top. You can also buy one to add on top of the Lull, but if you don’t need the familiar “squishy” top, then you’ll be just fine.

BEFORE

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - BEFORE - Thrift Diving

AFTER!

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Painted IKEA bed frame. - Thrift Diving

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Painted IKEA bed frame and new mattress. - Thrift Diving

BEFORE


Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - BEFORE - Stained mattress needs to be replaced. - Thrift Diving

AFTER!



Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Quilted cover of the Lull mattress. - Thrift Diving

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Lull mattress is about 10 inches thick. - Thrift Diving


Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - AFTER - Lull mattress cover is gray and white with dark blue trim. - Thrift Diving

Sooo….Should You Buy a Mattress Online?

You should definitely consider buying a mattress online.

The cost, return policies, and free shipping makes it virtually a risk-free purchase.

Lull mattresses are comfortable with a 10-year warranty, and they’ve gotten great reviews.

The only hiccup is that you may need to make some adjustments to your bed if you’re used to a certain height or if you prefer a pillow-top type of mattress. Our bed was much more flat with just the Lull mattress.

But paying for a pillow top is a small adjustment that still put you way under the cost of what it would be to buy a mattress from a department store with middle-man markups.



Lull Mattress Review - Perfect for affordable kids mattresses. - Thrift Diving

 

Lull Mattress Review and painted IKEA bed frame - BEFORE and AFTER. - Thrift Diving

 

Updated: Our Lull Mattress Review 10 Months Later

My husband and I wanted to enjoy the Lull mattress on our bed since we needed a new mattress. But we missed the thickness and comfort of our old mattress and felt we were too close to the ground. So we decided to keep using our old mattress until we could buy one a thicker mattress that we want.

After this Lull mattress review, we gave the mattress to our sons (ages 8 and 6) who share a room. They like to sleep together. Some nights, our 12-year-old likes to sleep in their room with them. So we put the Lull mattress under their loft bed and that’s where it’s been for the past 10 months. They find it comfortable and it’s plenty of space for all three of them to stretch out when they are sleeping over with one another. I would definitely consider buying another Lull mattress for the kids’ room, but for my own personal preferences, I like thicker mattresses.

Overall, I think the Lull mattresses are good deals for people that don’t want to pay a lot for a mattress.

Have you ever considered buying a mattress online? Tell me all about it in the comments section below!

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10 Comments

  1. Hi I was just wondering how much of that paint was used, I have a queen bed and would lik to paint it.
    Thanks

  2. I don’t know how recent this post was, but I, too, missed it. It was a great room makeover and a great way to get a new mattress! Eventually, I think I’ll explore getting a mattress this way. Mine is still in good condition, although nearly 14 years old, but it’s extra, extra, extra firm and I think I’d like something a bit softer when I get a new one. I sure wouldn’t mind it not being so deep either. I’m under 5’2″ so when I sit on the edge of the bed my feet dangle; not fun! Not to mention how heavy it is. Bed making is a pain.

    Painting your bed frame made such a nice difference! My head board is an old fashioned metal one, currently a creamy off white. I’m wanting to make a quilt, then will choose a color from that for changing the headboard color. I have a night stand that has a dark wood finish top and flowers painted on the sides and front. I love the flowers, but the background color is olive greenish which goes with absolutely nothing! I ordered it on line and it was supposed to be an off white–goes to show how far off printed pictures can be. I will also paint that to go with the quilt and headboard when I do those. Love how your projects spark ideas for our own projects. Learning concepts and principles–that’s what teaching is all about!

    1. Hey, Teckla! This is a recent post, like last month, I think! I may have forgotten to send it out via email. This was a super busy time for me and I could barely keep my head on straight. HA! Yeah, things online always look a little different due to screens! LOL. Can’t wait to see how it looks what you’re done! 🙂

  3. How did I miss this post?!!! I should check my junk folder as lots of stuff was ending up there I noticed. ? What a nice improvement!! I ordered a mattress off of QVC one time. I was glad they took the old mattress. Does this company take the old mattress for you?
    Love how your IKEA bed turned out!! I want us to do a new headboard in “Grandma’s Room” too. I’m going to cheat though!! I’m contemplating a couple easier options as I’m not at your skill level, DIY Queen ??

    1. That’s a great question, Gwen! Nope, they don’t take the old mattress. That’s definitely a downside because where else do people put big ‘ole mattresses when the new one comes? We just moved it over to the kids’ bedroom while we put the new one on the bed!

  4. OMGosh Serena, that old mattress definitely needed replacing, haha! And the bed itself looks so much better with the paint job! I’m sure you’ll be getting better sleep now with the new mattress!

    1. Jeanie, how embarrassing to show my nasty mattress for the world to see! HA! But it was a good mattress that carried us through 15 years of life! LOL Glad you like the makeover. Thanks for commenting!!

  5. Wow nice! Great idea, love the color. I think the night stands are roughly the same color, right? Thanks for info of the mattress company. I might be needing them…

  6. Thank you for giving the pros and cons……Some bloggers don’t give that information. ….I love how you re-did your headboard. ….Gorgeous

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