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Home Decorating

Bed Size: King or Cal-King?

12 years ago

We are getting ready to purchase bedroom furniture for our new master bedroom and are trying to decide whether to stay with the cal-king size or switch to regular king. Our current bed is a cal-king, and although I think the size and proportions are a good fit for us, I have been constantly frustrated with having to use ill-fitting regular king blankets, duvet etc because I haven't been able to find anything but sheets in cal-king. Buying a regular king would really open up the bedding choices, but I'm kinda turned off by the more square appearance of a regular king.

Any other pros and cons to consider? Advice in general?

Comments (5)

les917
12 years ago
Having well-fitting and a wide range of bedding choices makes the king my choice. Besides, unless you need the longer length, I would rather have the wider width. A king mattress is 76 wide x 80 long, whereas the Cal King is 72 wide x 84 long.
User
12 years ago
We had a cal king and it was a PIA to find bedding. I would go with the King, after your eye gets used to it, you won't miss those 4 inches at all. We dropped sizes from a Cal King to a Queen now THAT was an adjustment, but I love being able to stay warmer at night and the bonus is bedding is less expensive.

Rule of thumb, function over form. If it will work better for you, go with the king.
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I can't sleep using a king size pillow, too large for me to scrunch. Doesn't matter that my (and DH's) standard pillows are underscale because they aren't seen. When I make the bed I hide the 2 pillows we actually sleep on behind 3 euro-shams which are purely decoration. And because I'm not a minimalist I like a 2nd row of pillows in front of the Euros in a different but coordinating fabric color & pattern. Those are 2 king pillows inside shams. AND if that's not enough I place a small pillow in front of those just because I don't think I have enough decorative pillows. :D I bought all of my shams over 5 years ago, I wasn't aware that king shams have been obsolete. I am pretty sure I've seen them because I still look at sheets and often the shams are mixed in. How you dress your bed depends on your decorating taste. My style could be outdated for all I know. Maybe you like contemporary and want a clean look with just the pillows you sleep on and nothing else. I can't imagine removing a pillow every night from its sham so you can use it to sleep on. Is that what you thinking of doing? Too much hassle. I've always used shams for decoration only.
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anomoley, I think many of us tend to think "grandma" when it comes to bedspreads. However, they have a place for our purpose! :-) Somewhat related to this topic...bed skirts. I never thought finding one with the right size drop length could be so hard. I needed a 16" drop for our guest room bed. Looked and looked to no avail. I finally found one on Ballard Design's site. Not inexpensive but the right size, color and design. I even called Ballard to confirm the 16" measure with a "product specialist." Yes...definitely 16". It arrived...beautiful quality BUT the drop length was almost 18 1/2". I was so irritated...back it went! LOL...sorry...a bit of digression!
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B H
12 years ago
I agree that if it works better for you, go with the king. We have a cal king and will likely always have a cal king as DH is 6'3" so having the extra inches at the foot of the bed is essential. Also, king would actually be too wide for where the bed needs to be placed in our room.
sis3
12 years ago
We decided on a Cal King for a guest room because two of our most frequent guests from overseas are both 6'7" tall! I buy great CK sheet sets from Costco but find regular king quilts work fine.
alku05
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks everyone! I think I just needed reassurance that there wasn't some hidden mecca of cal-king bedding out there before making the switch to a king. And you're right, once my eye gets used to the more square shape, I won't notice it at all.

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