Making an emperor bed

I will add it this evening or tomorrow, it's in line with the costs of a traditional mattress purchase rather than one of the new cheaper online companies.

I'd like to suggest that, no matter how proud you are of this, don't bring a woman over and open with "so I built my own mattress."

In the UK, apparently. When I talked to furniture companies like Jordan's, salespeople told me nobody had ever asked them for a bigger-than-standard mattress, only a smaller one.

Some people asked me how much it would cost to make them one when they saw it but they weren't super serious. I don't think anyone would pay me how much I'd charge them to make one the same way, especially with no warranty!

I disagree. If you hang around The Mattress Underground, where lots of mattress aficionados and professional sellers post, you will quickly become aware that most beds are pretty mediocre and overpriced. There's lots of in-depth discussion on their internals, and it's pretty disappointing.

It's not surprising, as there's a lot of information asymmetry in the bed market. Customers don't have a good understanding of internals, and manufacturers deliberately augment confusion by producing under tons of sub-brands and models. Furthermore, at least in the US, sells are carried on a 1-by-1 basis where the salesman tries to extract buyer's reserve price.

I've spent a few years optimizing the core objects in my life, and my bed is for obvious reasons on the top of the list. To cut a long story short, I tested dozens of beds, bought a high end nordic bed (Hästens) and a natural latex one. Both were good. But, like the OP, I've eventually settled on a custom design. A very different one, though.

IMHO, the most healthy option is a thin soft core on top of a hard surface. I also prioritized natural and washable materials. I ended up with a pad made of felt wood panels on top of a modular wooden base. A huge unintended bonus of this design is how easy it is to pack and move around. I can disassemble and carry my bed effortlessly. It's also pretty cheap and durable. And I can disassemble it and put each pad in my washing machine!

A good heuristic is that most high quality items are custom made niche things. Either made by you or, usually, by specialized artisans or engineers. I've seen the internals of some beds costing a few grand. Not pretty. Laughable quality compared to the carefully felted panels I commissioned from a great mill. Same applies to industrial tees vs loopwheeled ones, or cheap plastic coats vs ventile. In the PC world, an equivalent would be some bad quality box with horrible thermal paste and mediocre cooling vs a custom Calyos build.