Mattress for our Motorhome

My wife and I are converting a delivery van into a motorhome in three phases and this is The Mattress Phase. I decided to write about the mattress separately, as it wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be. If you want the details, scrolled down to TL;DR below.

If you just want to look at pictures, here is an updated photo journal with the most recent photos at the top.

I ordered the mattress from Funky Futon Company in Leeds. After speaking with Mark and Andrew, I quickly realised they knew what they were talking about. I was sent a sample of the mattress construction as well as some colour swatches from the Hopsack 100% Cotton fabric range. My wife and I chose the CHILLI fabric for the cover (the reddish one).

The mattress is constructed from a 12cm piece of foam, with another thin layer of memory foam of top, wrapped up in fire retardant (polyester) sleeve and stitched into a durable cotton fabric cover. We ended up upgrading to the firmer foam, which is blue in colour, as opposed to the medium foam pictured in the sample.

Since the mattress needs to function as a sofa bed as well as a double, it was constructed out of three pieces. Two narrower pieces forming the back of the sofa bed and the base piece.

For reference, the mattress pieces are as follows:

• 2x pieces: 26cm x 183cm x 15cm
• 1x piece: 72cm x 183cm x 15cm

Our bed frame has the following dimensions:

• as a double 124cm x 183cm
• as a sofa 72cm x 183cm

So if you do the maths, it all adds up.

The two smaller pieces are joined together by a tough white zipper (not visible). When the two smaller pieces form the back for the sofa bed, the zipper is undone and the cushions sit nicely against the wall of the van. As you can see, they don't block the window either. Mark included some self-adhesive velcro strips and straps with the mattress, which we may use to fasten the cushions to the wall of the van, if it becomes necessary.

When the bed is made as a double, the two smaller pieces zip up together and lie flat, together with the larger piece.

The mattress was ordered on Wednesday and arrived on Saturday, on time and more importantly on budget. I am very happy with the quality of the work.

I'd like to say a big thanks to the folks at the Funky Futon Company, please give them a big thumbs up.

TL;DR

I originally budgeted £300 for a mattress, which I thought was fair and comparable to the mattress we have at home. The budget came from looking at the website of
The Caravan & Boat Seat Cover Centre (CBSCC) in Bristol.

After I picked up the van in Tor Point, Cornwall, I drove back via Bristol and dropped in to CBSCC for to get a quote. Unfortunately this was a total waste of time, as I was quoted over £800. I said I'll think about it and left.

Once I got back to London, I got a few more foam mattress quotes and these were also coming in at anywhere between £500 and £900.

I started looking at alternatives, such as futons, thinking it should be cheaper, as these do not depend on fluctuating oil prices. Unfortunately futon mattresses are also pretty dense and don't fold very well, making them unsuitable for a motorhome mattress in our configuration.

One place that got back to me was the Funky Futon Company, who luckily, apart from futon mattresses, also manufactured foam mattresses for their sofa bed range. They gave me some very good advice, provided a very reasonable quote, sent out a free sample and after I placed an order, turned the whole thing around in less than three days for less than half the price of what CBSCC quoted me.

The world would be a better place if all businesses operated like the Funky Futon Company..