Mattress Forum

Wow - first let me just thank all of you who have posted on this forum and thoroughly educated me in mattresses!!!  I almost bought an "S" brand a couple weeks ago (have only ever slept on inner spring mattresses in the past), went home, did some online research which led me to this forum, and now (after much "head-swimming-experience") :0) think I'm pretty sure what I want...  You all have convinced this completely non-handy "DIY??  You gotta be kidding me!!" gal into... well, doing it myself!  So I took some of your all's advice and went to the only place I knew of remotely close to where I live that had latex mattresses (not just a layer of latex) to try them out - IKEA - and found that I liked the fairly firm feeling Erfjord mattress.  Does anyone know what kind of latex is used in this mattress?  Since it didn't seem to have much "give", based on what all I've been reading, I was thinking it might be dunlop?  Was wondering so that I had a better idea of what I should order for my DIY bed!  This is so exciting!  :)  So, at any rate,  I was suspecting that it might be dunlop, but the talalay blended latex "sounds" more appealing to me (durability, conformity throughout, springy-ness, etc)...  To give you an idea of what my body seems to prefer...  I'm 5'4", 140 lbs, "curvy" (i.e. bigger hips and thighs, and smaller waist), prefer to sleep on my stomach, but always seems to hurt my lower back, so try to at least start out on my side.  So far, I've liked the feel of a more firm mattress, but wondering if that's just because I think it will hurt my lower back less, so thinking I might actually like a "soft" layer if I got adequate support in the base layer?  Don't like feeling like I gotta "climb" out of my mattress though...

So this is what I was thinking of getting, if any of you would care to give me your opinions based on the novel I wrote above, I'd really appreciate it!!!

Bed option 1:

SleepEZ components:

bottom layer - 3" Firm (38-40 ILD) 100% Natural Latex-Dunlop Process ($357)

mid layer - 3" Medium (30-32 ILD) Blended Latex-Talalay Process ($357), or maybe 3" Soft (22-24 ILD) Blended Latex-Talalay Process?  Not sure if the "soft" would feel too soft for me though?

toying with idea of adding a top layer/mattress pad/topper of the "Natura Washable Wool Queen Fitted Mattress Pad" from dreamsoftbedware.com (saw someone posted that if I ordered it by today Labor Day), I could get 30% off (bring it down to $121 I think...).  Was thinking of this option because seemed like a nice way to pull all the components together, help with "temperature control", and the cover is machine washable...  Plus, might add some "softness" if my 2 latex layers proved too firm...

Other option I was thinking of for a top layer/mattress pad/topper was Costco's Pure Comfort Memory Foam Mattress Topper ($150), but thought that might make me feel like I was "sinking" too much...  Or even defeat the purpose/feeling of the latex layers??

Bed option 2:

FBM component:

6" Talalay Firm (33-38 ILD) ($484) - wish they had the "Firm" in a 3" "topper" layer, because then I'd use the 3" Firm from FBM as my bottom to save some $$$, and then 3" of SleepEZ's blended Talalay as my mid layer, but they only have Medium and Soft in the 3" layers that I saw...

Some sort of softer topper layer - maybe just the wool mattress pad?  Or if that wasn't soft enough, add another 1" or 2" of a softer latex?

Ok, so yeeeah.  Started this post THINKING I thought I knew what I wanted, but there really is a lot to digest/consider!  :)  If anyone has any opinions/suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!  Basically trying to keep costs low (~$800), but potentially allowing some "upgrades" if doesn't sky-rocket the price...  Also, realize it might be pretty lame, but would it be horrible (for the latex) to just put the bloomin' thing on the floor instead of a foundation for a little while (maybe a month or two) until can either gather up the gumption to risk appendages and attempt a DIY foundation, or gather up a few more sheckles to buy one if prove too chicken/"un-handy"?

Thanks bunches for any responses!!

Mary