California King Vs. King Size Bed
- A regular king bed (also known as Eastern king) measures 76 inches wide by 80 inches long, making it the widest commercially produced size and the largest size that is commonly available throughout the United States. For a couple, it offers as much personal space as two twin beds, which are each 38 inches wide.
- A California king (also known as a Western king) measures 72 inches wide by 84 inches long, making it the longest commercially produced size. Though it can be found in many stores, especially in the West, it is not as common as a regular king. It doesn't offer as much width per person for a couple than two twins but has more length, accommodating adults as tall as 6-foot-2 when you account for 10 inches taken up by pillows.
- Given their bulk, both the regular and California kings are difficult to move, especially through tight corridors and single doorways. To minimize difficulty, measure the widths of any tight spaces before moving the mattress. You can avoid the bulk of a regular king box spring by using two extra-long twin boxes (80 inches long) instead in a configuration known as a split box spring.
- Regardless of what you decide to buy, you can evaluate a potential purchase properly only when both members of the couple lie on the mattress at the same time in the store. Asks the salesperson to provide the same size and number of pillows that you use at home. Sit up and down, twist and turn, and lie for at least 15 minutes to adequately measure comfort.
- If neither of the king beds are suitable, you can buy custom king sizes, which need to be specially made and require custom bedding. One company that produces these giants is Ultraking (see Resources). Their largest bed is 12 feet wide by 10 feet long and costs more than $22,000 for the mattress, box spring, pillow top and steel frame (as of September 2009). The company also sells linens and furniture to match.
