Beds for tall people

By Wangeci Kanyeki

Recently I discovered that my husband’s feet dangle out of the bed. In other words, our bed has been a size short for an entire decade and the man has never uttered a complaint.

The challenge with tall people is that they have a hard time fitting in a standard queen-sized bed (5ft x 6ft) especially in hotels, so they have to endure their entire stay folding themselves to fit.

Custom made bed

If this is your dilemma, have a custom made bed of your size. You can have a 7ft or even an 8ft bed. Consider the size of your room first to ensure it is big enough to accommodate this kind of a bed and also give you enough room to walk around, otherwise you could get home with a long bed only to realise it cannot get into the room.

It will be next to impossible to find a mattress that fits. Mattress manufacturers can custom make a mattress to fit your gigantic bed.

When booking into a hotel, request for a king-sized bed. Where that is not available then ask for a standard bed without a foot board. This will give room for your feet to stretch beyond the bed, as opposed to a bed with a footboard, which forces you to fit into the designated size.

In developed countries like United States of America, which is known for tall people, one can purchase an adjustable bed whose frame can be extended both length and width-wise.

Adjustable bed sheets

These also come with adjustable bed sheets, which have a bottom sheet with an all, round elastic to snuggle into your mattress.

Other options include bed sheets with wings or extra fabric to securely tuck the fitted bottom sheet and anchor tight corners with reinforced elastic at the corners to ensure your sheets do not pull off.

Rather than have a flat top sheet, you can have the option of fitted elasticized top sheet that snuggles onto the foot of the mattress so that it does not tug off.

This also makes it easier and quicker to make the bed.

As this has not been fully exploited locally, local bed and mattress manufacturers should consider this niche market and provide solutions for tall people to spare them the agony of squeezing into small-sized beds.