One of the most ingenious ideas in the interior design community is substituting an air mattress for an actual bed and bedframe when staging. Air mattresses are collapsible, portable, and extremely small comparatively, making them terrific for storing away in warehouses and transporting from house to house.
It definitely beats dismantling and reassembling a bed frame and towing an enormous mattress wherever you go! It would require much more time, manpower, and larger transportation vehicles, which all in all, will cost a lot more in storage, transport, and assembly, both fiscally and physically.
However, air mattresses can be finicky things. They can get holes fairly easily, causing them to collapse over time and create an unpleasant surprise when potential homebuyers come in to see their dream master bedroom spoiled with a sunken king bed.
Or, the air mattress may not fill up all the way, resulting in a divot in the middle, making a saggy bed rather than one that is as neat as a pin.
Read on to discover how to stage a bedroom with an air mattress– and more importantly– how to do it right.
Necessities for a Successful Stage
There’s a list of essential materials you’ll need to stage your bedroom with an air mattress successfully.
First, and most importantly, an air mattress. As budget allows, aim for a durable, reliable brand of air mattress that is known for lasting a long time without popping.
Most air mattresses are designed for occasional use by relatives or friends of the homeowner, and therefore not built for extended periods or regular use. With all of the traveling and storing your mattress will experience as a staging mattress, it will be worth your while to invest in a quality air mattress that will withstand all of the excessive usage.
Next, make sure to have a bed skirt and/or sheets handy, depending on what method of staging you use (in more detail in the following paragraphs). Bedskirts can help hide the bottom part of the air mattress you’d rather the homebuyer not see to keep the illusion of a full bed.
Sheets can cover the entire air mattress and imitate the appearance of a real mattress. Along with sheets and a bed skirt, bring a thick, fluffy comforter that will really give volume to the bed and add an element of luxury and comfort that will make the homebuyers want to curl up in that room!
Finally, pillows! To give height, European pillows are a must. European pillows are large, tall, square pillows that can give structure to a bed and act as a headboard, a plus for you because it keeps the image of the full frame-and-mattress look you are hoping for!
Then have two regular-sized pillows in front, followed by as many decorative pillows you want to provide to tie in the bedroom colors, fill the bed space, and give it that quality, luxurious appeal.
Use Two Air Mattresses
Sometimes, as they wear with age, air mattresses will develop a sag down the center which looks quite unappealing as a staged bed. This is common with thick, tall air mattresses that go from the ground up to about two or three feet to emulate the height of a mattress and bed frame.
The way to combat this sagging effect is to use thinner air mattresses, only about a foot thick. These last longer without developing the sulky center we abhor.
However, then the bed will only be about a foot off the floor! Not very appealing! Well, that’s why we recommend using two, to appear the same thickness as a regular air mattress but negate the sagging.
How to set it up: Usually higher beds are more appealing to homebuyers, as volume is associated with luxury and grandiosity. In order to create this tall bed with thinner mattresses, use four storage containers, one on each corner of the mattress.
Stack one mattress on top of these boxes, then put a bed skirt around this mattress in order to block the containers from view. Then, put the second mattress on top of the first. From there you can add the comforter and the decorative pillows without even needing to put sheets because the comforter and bed skirt will give the appearance of a fully made bed.
Use One Air Mattress
Maybe all you’ve got is just one, tall, thick air mattress in your staging warehouse. That’s okay! It is more prone to sagging, but we can work with what you’ve got.
To get the right height and structure with only one air mattress, you may want to use a simple, collapsible metal frame. Use a bed skirt to hide the frame, and you can either put sheets on the mattress or not– the comforter will hide the rest of the mattress, so really it’s up to you in how much material and time you want to put into the bed-making.
If you’re afraid it will be revealed or visible, best to put sheets on just in case. Then just add the comforter and pillows and complete the look!
Remember that a thick, plush comforter is the best for not only achieving height and luxuriousness but also for hiding any saggy middle in your mattress.
If you blow it up and realize it is on the saggy side, try adding decorative pillows right over the saggiest parts. An exposed center will make it obvious, but covering the dip with pillows may help hide the effect a little more.
Use furniture pieces to distract from the mattress If the bed is the only thing in the room, all of the attention–and criticism– will be put solely upon it. To combat this, add extra elements to the room to create attention-grabbers that will distract from the air mattress and any of its flaws that the homebuyer may fixate on and lessen the quality of the home and the professionalism of the interior designers in their eyes.
One example of a distracter is matching bedside tables on either side of the bed. You can make them statement pieces or bold colors if you want to distract from the bed entirely, or subtle and complementing if you want them to focus on the overall display.
Pieces of artwork above or around the bed can take focus away from the faux bed as well. Try to use larger pieces, as smaller ones will only add atmosphere and won’t take attention away from the bed.
Other Staging Tips: De-personalize Your Room
A necessity in staging a bedroom is to take out all personal items and touches, such as photographs or posters, knick-knacks, graphic quilts, or stuffed animals.
Personal items in a room make it hard for homebuyers to see themselves living in the house. It makes them feel distant and as though they are on the outside viewing your life rather than seeing the potential of their own in that home.
To effectively de-personalize, empty the closet of your clothes and other personal items stuffed in there so they can see what the whole closet looks like and imagine their own clothes in it. Change the bedspread from your Olaf comforter or Grandma’s homemade quilt to a neutral, plain spread.
Take down posters and photos and put up pictures of flowers, soothing patterns, or images. Take all of your knick-knacks off your shelves and lean towards the minimalist side, letting the room’s decor be just enough to provide a basis and the rest be decorated with their imagination.
Neutral Tones
Bold, bright colors and patterns usually appeal to only a smaller number of people, and often it depends on the specific color or pattern. Overall, using neutral, simple colors will appeal to a larger audience. Neutrals are calming and peaceful, and home staging often wants to convey that feeling of safety and relaxation you desire in your home.
Use a neutral color palette such as whites, creams, soft blues, and purples to convey that this home is an escape and an oasis. Ensure that whatever color scheme you pick continues throughout the room, with all bedding, furniture, accessories, and artwork tying into the overall aesthetic.
The Bottom Line
Air mattresses are really the best of both worlds in the staging world– cost-effective, easy to store and transport (especially up all those stairs), simple to assemble and disassemble.
However, due to their original purpose, these mattresses are prone to holes and sagging over time and especially after excessive use. Remember, the best way to avoid this is to invest in a high-quality air mattress, use two smaller ones instead of one large one, and use furniture and decorations to hide or distract from any sagging in the bed.
Master these tricks and you’ll be breezing through your staging and impressing homebuyers everywhere with your beautiful bedroom designs!