I've had both queen and king sized beds with the king being what we have now. My husband and I are both tall people and we've owned big dogs that sleep on the bed. We are ready to downsize...not the bedroom or house...just the size of dogs and the bed. I cannot really get the comforter clean in my washer at home, despite front loading or no post large capacity washers. I have to use several large blankets and an empty duvet cover. With the dogs I wash everything once a week. I can no longer lift the mattress myself to turn it/flip it seasonally.

From a design point of view, unless your new space is mammoth, the queen will probably look more to scale and perhaps you'd have room for a chaise or an easy chair. Take some blue painters tape and mark off the different sizes in your space.

Hubby and I are like your mom, cuddling is a must. The king would be too big for just the two of us. We're trying to train the dogs to sleep off of the bed and we're going back to queen.

We really love our king size bed. I hate it when we go to hotels and have to sleep in a queen. It really is personal preference, though.

jaedwards has a good point if you want to be able to wash the comforter at home (as opposed to dry cleaning).

We have a queen bed and our comforter just barely fits in our large-capacity washer and dryer.

It seems like it would be a drag to have to send a comforter out for cleaning.

We had a queen and went to a king about 15 years ago, pre kids... I think we'd have a VERY hard time going back to queen, I know we have a tough time sleeping in hotels or when visiting and getting a queen bed. My comforter does fit in my front load machine, in general, I tend to wash it every few months, unless there has been some unexpected happening (kid coming in bed and diaper leaking onto it, vomit, etc...)

Yes, it's a bit awkward to make it, but once you get the routine down it's not hard. My problem with ours is the top of the mattress is at my waist... it's all but a jump to get into the bed! I wish we could figure out how to lower it... I'm dreading replacing my old "low" profile mattresses with the new "thicker" ones.

I love our king. Our bedroom is only 12x12 but we fit that king in there and we're glad we did. We have 3 cats, and who knew 30 lbs of cat could take up so much bed!

Just because the bed is big doesn't mean that you can't snuggle, too. DH and I do plenty of snuggling but at times when I'm feeling sick to my stomach or feverish and just need my space, I can have it without DH having to perch percariously on the edge of the bed. It also is a heck of a lot more fun for wrestling to have a bigger "ring" ;).

We have a King and as has been mentioned previously always request a King in hotel rooms.

We're not large people but let's face it the older you get the more restless you sleep. The King gives us more room to toss and turn without disturbing each other. Our current bed is one of those with the "won't disturb your partner" feature which entails a specific kind of spring system. Several manufacturers offer this.

Also, I don't know about your HD, but mine is a cover stealer and with a King comes larger sheets, blankets, etc.

I wash my comforter easily in my Whirlpool Duets.

The negative to the King is the addtional price, but we think it's worth it.

We also did a low profile mattress frame, but not the low profile box spring.

Gotta run, daughter desires computer.

Just like kgwlisa, I have a 12x12 bedroom with a king bed - love it! I have a hard time sleeping in anything smaller now. We spoon a lot, but eventually I get too hot sleeping next to The Human Furnace, and it's nice to have my space. I have no regrets about trading floor space for bed space.

Oh, and Lisa, I liked your analogy about wrestling as well. I've never thought about it that way, but you are definitley right!

Nicole

I'm stuck with a queen because it is the biggest that will fit. But, if I had the space.... When a couple sleeps on a queen, they get less space than if one person slept on a twin. Half a queen bed is 30 inches, a twin is 39 wide.
King bed equals better sleep!

No question, KING! The extra space is great! If my husband is snoring, he is far enough away not to be doing so in my ear. If I am reading, he is far enough away not to be bothered by the light. And when we want... we meet in the middle.

The older I get, the more I think the snuggling is over-rated. Maybe Lucy and Ricky had the right idea with those twin beds. My own bedroom sounds even better! Now that I've had more room, I would not go back to a queen. I had to sleep with DH on a double a few years ago and it was not condusive to a good night's rest.

My comforter fits just fine in my large capacity machine. I don't find making the bed difficult, but it goes quicker if DH and I do it together. Ours is a wool padded top, so even with flipping it has gotten a hump in the middle. It causes whatever kid has crawled in bed to usually roll to my side!

Gloria

My parents have been married for nearly 40 yrs and have always had a fullsized bed. Neither are tiny people, BTW. I asked how in the world they could stand it. She said they have learned to not move when they sleep!
DH and I had a full sized (the same matress he slept on as a kid) for a few yrs. Then, we had kids and moved into a queen. As the kids grew, the bed shrank. We got a king last year and we're so much happier. It's perfect for wrestling, snuggling, snoring, wandering kids, and the occassional cold or stomach flu.

This has been MOST helpful -- thanks so much for all the great replies. It's one of those things that you really don't know about until you ask; you don't often get to see others' bedrooms. We definitely have the room for a king sized bed now, the first time ever. At first I was really leaning on staying with a queen. We have a history of always buying furniture that is just a bit too large for the space, and I didn't want to do the same thing again, at least for no good reason. But I think maybe we would enjoy a king more than I originally thought. DH falls asleep instantly, but I'm a night owl -- I like to bring a stack of magazines to bed with me or work on my laptop, etc. DH sometimes rolls over and his elbow knocks into what I'm working on! LOL Plus, I'm sure he would appreciate a little distance between his eyes and my lamp (even though I keep it on dim).

If that weren't enough, I think the wrestling part clinched it! :) Thanks for helping me with this -- never hurts to ask a silly question!

We have been married 20 years and we bought our first King 5 years ago. We are building a new home, but sold our other home 6 months ago. We currently are in "Limbo", living in small quarters with a Queen size bed for the last 6 months. I can not wait to get our new King bed back! I sleep so much better, but can cuddle whenever! When our 4 yr old climbs into bed with us - there is no room, and I can't sleep! My vote is definately for a King.

We have a double. Always have had. I Love to snuggle and DH cant get away. He's gotten used to it through the years, I guess (we've been married forever).We read in bed or not, wake up and go to sleep at different times, the cat and dog like to sleep on the foot of our bed in the winter etc. We both sleep just fine even though as we have gotten older we have both started snoring. We could easily afford a new larger bed but except for the occasional new matress set have not felt the need for change. It gives us tons of extra empty space in the bedroom which is kind of nice, the sheets and blankets are easy to wash...I think you should choose what you like best and you'll get used to whatever you pick.

We have a kingsize. Neither of us are tiny people, and we've got two kids and a cat who sometimes like to crawl in with us. Lifting the matress takes two of us, and washing the blankets/comforter can be a nuisance. Also the bed only really just fits, we really couldn't have a larger bed and the space still look good and be functional. If we rented rather than owned our house, we would have gone for a queen size because of the uncertainty of finding places with rooms that really fit a kingsize properly.

We went from a queen to a CA King. DH is 6'3" so the extra length is much more comfortable for him.

My only complaint is how much more expensive sheets, comforters & blankets are.

For years and years my husband and I only had a full sized bed because our room was so small and narrow that it was as big as we could get. When we moved into this home we talked about getting something bigger. One weekend, while I was gone, my husband remodeled our bedroom and he bought a king size bed and we love it! Lots of room to stretch out!
Sue

Once you sleep in a king size bed you'll wonder how you ever did without it. We are average size,and love it.
My husband was a little mad when I bought the king but after sleeping in it and having lots of room for a good night sleep, he did not want to get out of it in the morning. We are on our 3rd king size bed now. This time we tried the momory foam.

Sue, that is cool that your husband remodeled while you were gone -- mine would NEVER venture to do that!

Cortina, how do you like your memory foam? That is exactly what I think I'm going to get. Did you get TempurPedic, or another brand? DH and I both have back issues and problems sleeping; our current mattress is killing both our backs. I'm hoping a foam mattress will help.

I fought for the queen size bed but after a couple of years I gave in to the king size-----go for the king. So much more room.

We love our memory foam king. Our backs feel so much better, my husband feels like a new person.
We bought it at Sleepys. It is a little wierd at first,its just dead,your husband could be jumpimg up and down and you won't feel it.

I have a question for liz1315 if she's still there:

I am a restless sleeper and my husband snores. Between those two things neither of us were sleeping. Do those "won't disturb your partner" features really work?

DH moved to the guest room because he had a cold with a bad cough a month ago, and both of us slept so much better that he never came back! I/we thought we were sleeping badly because we were older; we didn't realize that it was him keeping me awake, and vice versa.

To change to a king I would have to give up my antique double bed, which I have had all my life, to make the switch, so have been reluctant to try. (I don't think you can convert a double to a king!)

We have a queen - no way a king would fit in our bedroom. How do people with a 12x12 room fit a king in there - you must not have any other furniture and/or doorways? I think a king would be nice since we have three cats that usually sleep with us. However it's nice not to have the added expense of king linens and I have a enough trouble getting a duvet cover on a queen comforter - let alone a king.

Here's a plan of my master bedroom... the room is actually 11'8" wide (bed wall) by 11'11" long:

{{gwi:1529233}}

It's really impossible to photograph my master bedroom because the bed appears to take up the whole space... you can't get far enough away to get that really spacious long shot, but there is plenty of room. The only thing having a queen bed would buy me is 8" more on each side of my bed (queen and king are the same length). I don't really think I am missing anything by not having those 8"... when buying furniture for this bedroom I just selected slightly smaller nightstands (easy to find in antiques, not as easy in new furniture).

I personally would rather have the extra space in the bed over larger aisles next to the bed but YMMV.

hit submit too fast, oof. As you can see I have two doors (one to closet, one to hall), two windows (yes the bed is in front of one of them but even a queen bed would have to be) and a decent amount of furniture. This is the piece at the foot of the bed (yes, I know I will rot in hell for buying thomasville since it is made overseas, oh the horror!), which is actually 3 pieces that bunch together and will give me a ton of storage:

And here are the nightstands I got:

IMO if you have a small room you just have to prioritize. It took forever to find a piece of furniture for that other wall that had everything I wanted in it and had as much storage as I wanted... I think I will now have more drawer space than when I had a much more spacious bedroom and two separate pieces that wouldn't fit into my smaller bedroom rather than the one. We bought a flat panel tv that will sit on top of the piece and the armoire will be used for storage for a/v components and other clutter like DVDs and stuff that always seems to collect on flat surfaces in my bedroom. This way I'll still have a flat surface at about the same height but can close a door on it. No, it's not a palatial master bedroom suite with sitting area etc but it's comfortable for the way we live in it. That's what's important.

kgwlisa - thanks for posting that! I see my problem - two inside pocket doors, a six foot exterior sliding glass door/window and a non-walkin sliding closet door also about six ft. I have a beautiful view so no way I'd block it with my bed or other furniture. I was thinking maybe there's something I'm missing....but I think not....other than open wall space.

My husband and I bought a queen size bed a few years ago thinking that a king size would not fit in our room, but we regret not buying the king size. When we go to hotels we always get a king size bed and we never fight over room. But, it just depends on the person. If you like to cuddle then buy the queen if you want your own space then buy the king.

We have always had a full sized bed! It has become such a pain lately. We are in the process of building a home and we actually threw our mattresses out when moving out of our other home. So we will be getting a new set. We will have to get a queen sized one because our headboard only accomodates full or queen. I know my husband would not agree for us to get a new bedroom set too. LOL I guess the queen size should be an improvement...

Linnea, Sorry I just returned to this thread and saw your question.

We bought the hard as a rock Stearns and Foster mattress and supposedly because of the spring system they say you won't feel your partner shifting in the bed. For the most part I don't feel him moving on the mattress like I did with the prior Sealey Perfect Sleeper; his movement is definitely absorbed by his coils.

I still seem to wake up sometimes because he makes noise with the covers and moves my covers from my "cocoon". The shaking of the bed is non existant unless he sits down on his side and that I do feel.

Hope this helps.

I find eastern kings to be too wide and boxy for my taste, and queens too small for my comfort. The "western" or "California" king has the perfect size and dimensions, IMHO. Yet another thing I love about living out west :-)!!

Just order my new bedroom set and guess what ? We're going back to a king ! Me & Hubby are not tiny people and I'm just need some more room to stretch out without hitting him in the head. Now I have to buy another mattress after I just bought 2 queen mattress in the last 3 yrs for us.(The first one was too too firm) But so looking forward my new big bed !!!!!!

Great decision, you'll love your king and wonder how you ever got along with out it!

just got a king....think we died and went to heaven

We have a large bedroom (23' X 13') and could accommodate a king. However, there is only one place for the bed and a king would cause encroachment in the window area. Our solution was an Olympic Queen. It is so perfect, I could keep the queen bed frame and have extra sleep space. We are so comfortable; it feels roomy like the kings that we get in hotels.

BTW, if you are buying a new mattress and are tempted by the new, extra tall style -- most mattresses nowadays really don't need box springs, so you can save yourself the excess height.

You should be careful, though, as there are some mattresses so tall that it's very difficult to get sheets for them! We have a Stearns & Foster and it took me 3 years to find 22" deep all-cotton sheets. Very expensive for linens, too!

Thanks again for all the great responses here. I'm happy to report that just tonight I finally made my decision and ordered a king! I went with the Novaform memory foam from Costco (they're on sale this week). I'm a bit nervous -- a bed seems like such a crucial purchase and it's so easy to get wrong -- but I feel like anything will be better than our tired old mattress.

I need to decide what sort of actual bed to get with it. Since we previously had a queen I can't use the same box springs with the new mattress. I realize no box spring is necessary, but we don't even have a bed frame of any kind. We may buy a really nice bed sometime in the future, but for now I just want to sleep comfortably! I suppose it will be okay on the floor for a while, but I'll need to think of something pretty quickly. I don't think my poor old knees could take getting out a bed on the floor for too long!

Thanks again for your input -- it really helped our decision-making process.

Got my new King size bed last week and loving every minute of it !!!!!!!!!

We just received ours and opened it up last night (foam mattress). I'm thrilled! It feels so luxurious (both in terms of size and softness) compared to our old bed. I can't wait to get it all set up and actually sleep through the night on it. Wow!!!