I had the same problem and ended up buying a shorter bed frame. It's only one-two inches shorter but what a difference! I no longer have to "leap" into bed, though my feet would not touch the floor when if I sat on the sides or end.

Do not use stairs or a stepstool or anything like that if you get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. You'll sustain a nasty fall; it's only a matter of time.

I should perhaps spell out exactly what I have

My bed is on an adjustable bed platform - there is no box spring.

I could get lower legs for the adjustable bed frame but my designer has advised that the actual mattress should not sit below the bed frame so simply lowering the adjustable bed frame on which the mattress sits is not a viable option.

I have custom lucite legs on the decorative bed frame to match the lucite legs on the other bedroom furniture. FWIW, the bed in the picture is from Anthropologie and was my inspiration photo which I had a local upholsterer make for me.

I am thinking of having upholstered stairs or an upholstered step built. I could safely sit on the bed and use the slightly elevated height to push me into bed. I was thinking I could have it done to match the upholstery on the bed so it would blend in.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Obviously safety is a concern.

I wouldn't mess with stepstools. Replace the legs - it shouldn't be a big deal.

Helen, given what you wrote I agree with jmm1837. Just have new Lucite legs made in the height you need. Truly safer than any stairs or stool.

A thinner mattress? I don't know why the new mattresses are so thick. They're not any more comfortable than the older thinner ones.

"my designer has advised that the actual mattress should not sit below the bed frame so simply lowering the adjustable bed frame on which the mattress sits is not a viable option." Why is this? Will it impede the bed's functioning or is it a matter of aesthetics?

This how the bed will look if the mattress is even with the frame. The mattress should be even with your nightstands. Shame on your designer for suggesting a bed that doesn't fit your stature.

I might consider having stairs made with matching upholstery fabric. What else can you do.............you're short.

You could screw a little plate to the underside of the bed for a step up. It would be less conspicuous.

Get new lower legs for the bed. Don't let beauty be painful for you.

Beautiful bed! A small step stool on the side would work just fine. I don't think that's too geriatric. lol

Well, between what something "should" look like and how it will because it needs to function a certain way, I'm sure there's a margin. Per Beverly's examples, there are plenty of rooms with nightstands that are higher or lower than the mattress. The height of one's nightstand is a fairly personal preference, I'm sure.

I don't understand why changing the legs would make the mattress lower in the frame - surely it would just make the frame itself closer to the floor. That at least would be my objective.

I recently had a hip replacement and for the first week it was h*ll getting my leg up into the bed, so I understand the issue a bit - though a combination of a new "getting into bed" technique plus hip exercises solved my problem soon enough. But falls are a major issue for older folks, so, were I you, I'd be looking for a better solution than a step stool.

Buy two inch square legs in wood. Paint them silver. Take the cutrent legs off. It's no loss. Or grow four inches.

Or have a booster built that can roll under he bed and hide!. You only need about four/ five inches

I don't think changing the legs would make the mattress lower in the frame, jmm1837. It's two separate solutions. I think lowering the legs would be the best solution in this case but Helen hasn't shared if it's feasible or not.

The mattress is on an adjustable frame which means it can be raised or lowered, but the mattress bottom side needs to be even with the velvet frame so you can make the dang bed and because its supposed to look like a platform bed. The new thicker mattress is too high as is. The options are: lower the bed (by removing existing legs and putting shorter ones) and lower the mattress; get a different thinner mattress or use some kind of step. I think?

That's how I understand it, suzyq53. The drawback to a step is the risk of a fall. The drawback to simply lowering the mattress (into the frame) is it will no longer be at nightstand height. Don't know if replacing legs or mattress are options.

Well tartan I guess that leaves the upholstered death step. Hopefully there is carpet or area rug there, because hardwood is hard.

The OP says the legs are custom. To my mind, that means they should be replaceable with shorter legs. And I dont see why changing the relationship of the frame to the floor would have to affect the relationship of the mattress to the frame.

You mention a new mattress. How thick is it? Maybe you are still within the time period where you can exchange it for a thinner one. Some of the newer foam mattresses are only 7" or 8" high and have as good support as some of the behemoths that are apparently up to 21" thick. Another benefit of a thinner, lighter mattress is that you may be able to set the mattress a bit lower in the frame, and lift up a corner slightly to tuck a sheet. You can't do that with the thick heavy mattresses.

It won't but it will change the relationship of the bed to the nightstands. I agree that shorter legs would be the safest solution, jmm.

Speaking of feats of acrobatic maneuvering, Helen, perhaps your designer could look into upholstering one of these for you. ;-) (Don't know if it's any safer than a step stool though.)

Partim is right: what's the point of these huge thick mattresses? They make finding bedding that fits a royal pain in the tush as well.

For heavens sake!?????????? Lower the entire bed frame, not the mattress! A two inch foot. Paint them silvery! Or a LOW bun foot to mime the detail in headboard. Just LOWER the entire bed. A Half decent handman could do it. . For that matter, set the entire thing on the FLOOR. You will need a vacuum attachment if you do that- it gets dusty there.Even an inch of "clearance" is enough

It doesn't look all that stable anyway! Add your decor and be done! lol. And don't fall out either.

PS. Virtually all decent sheets fit up to a 20 inch deep mattress. A NON issue

Before and after

Jan, Helen, the OP, has not come back to her thread since we started batting around ideas so perhaps we should wait until she chimes in on our suggestions before getting impatient. :) Btw, how do you feel about nightstands that don't match bed height?

Lower the frame and let the mattress sit partially inside the upholstered area or return the mattress for one with a lower profile. Safety and comfort trump design in my house

Nobody comes back. A bit LOWER side table is fine. I do not like more than an inch or two higher. Hideous.

There is just NO trouble here. Lower the dang bed. Or REMOVE the lucite legs completely.

Helen is a regular around here. She'll be back. :)

DO NOT get a mattress sitting down into the rails. It wil be nearly impossible to get a fitted sheet on, without skinning your knuckles. Which is why I said above.......lower the entire frame, center support, : )and nothing else.

While I appreciate the comments, lowering the bed or more accurately lowering the bed frame and the adjustable bed frame is not feasible.

The bed with mattress isn't that extraordinarily high - some of my friends of the same height have no trouble getting in :-). I think it's probably because I am long waisted and therefore have shorter legs proportionately for my height.

My designer had nothing to do with selecting the bed nor do I appear to be freakishly dwarfish. We did take quite a bit of time measuring height; depth and everything else involved in the upholstered chair, couch and chaise :-).

I bought the adjustable bed platform and mattress before the start of my remodel. I love my mattress and spent a great deal of time testing it and none of the thinner Tempurpedic models were to my taste. It also is not outside the current norm of mattresses as I think it is 14" high which is pretty standard in today's mattress world.

The actual height of the bed is solely due to the adjustable bed frame plus mattress - it has nothing to do with the decorative bed frame - it sits inside it and only interacts insofar as it needs clearance to operate properly.

As others have posted, lowering the adjustable bed creates problems in terms of making the bed as well as potential issues with it lowering and raising properly. My old bed was a sleigh bed footboard and I am not going back to having a bed that presents making the bed more difficult than necessary.

My actual question is whether any creative souls have seen people ramps/steps that are attractive and safe. I have access to a great upholsterer and great wood person so I cn have anything made I dream up. I have tried googling but what comes up are either literal steps - or medical supply supply looking step stools and frankly neither seems that safe/functional.

I get it now. Thank you for taking the time to explain all this, Helen. In that case, I'm thinking suzyq's idea of a little plate screwed under the bed might be a very good idea. A bed stirrup, if you will. Alternatively, you might look at what's on the market right now for bed step stools and see if one could easily be copied and the sides upholstered. Who knows, you might conceive a product that fills a market niche. :) Btw, I find 14 inches for a mattress to be quite high. I'm dreading replacing my current 10" when the time comes (yes, I know low profile box springs...).

I don't think you'll find steps that would be safe, Helen. You can have "safer" ones made, perhaps wider, maybe even with a handrail. But if you get up at night to use the restroom, any type of steps or stools would be potentially dangerous because at some point or for some reason you will fall despite being careful most of the time.

If you don't need to get up at night, stable stairs might work but I really encourage you to re-think this idea. It is really too easy to make a misstep. If that happens you will likely break something or worse.

@tartanmeup - following your equestrienne analogy, I think your suggestion would be more of a mounting block and less of a stirrup since a rider is not actually to use stirrups for anything :-).

That mounting block does seem like a solution since what I need is the ability to sit on the edge of the bed and have something to push against so that my tush is further back on the bed and then swing legs over.

It wouldn't have to extend that far out because I wouldn't really be stepping on it - just need something that my heels could grip because right now when I sit at the edge of my bed, my feet dangle and therefore I have no way to use my legs to push me back.

I did get silk sheets which are slippery and make the sliding in easier than my old sheets which had a higher COF. :-).

Why is it not "feasible may I ask? especially if you are short why would making the bed, be an issue? You don't h ave to bend that far, or you wouldn't be woryring about getting in and out! I am confuuuuuuuuused.

A mounting block, not stirrups? Thanks. My handful of riding lessons go back to camp. That was a while ago. :P

I have to climb up on my bed too. I'm thinking of lowering it. I've got the adjustable platform on multiple raisers which is the only way it looks good with the huge headboard. I want a waterbed.

I must be totally missing something. Why can't you lower the decorative frame - I assume it must be resting on something if its independent of the actual bedframe, so why can't you lower both of them?

Call a handyman. For heaven sake, this is really not that Hard. I just lowered a four poster to clear a stupid ceiling fan, Yes, the BED. Not the mattress. It's legs are now missing two inches. Nobody notices, and nobody cares. The legs ad under clearance on your bed is the ISSUE.

"As others have posted, lowering the adjustable bed creates problems in terms of making the bed as well as potential issues with it lowering and raising properly. My old bed was a sleigh bed footboard and I am not going back to having a bed that presents making the bed more difficult than necessary."

I think what is throwing people off with this dilemma is the picture of your bed (frame), Helen. Perhaps posting a picture of the actual adjustable Tempurpedic bed would make it clearer. Does the bed really have no play whatsoever for the legs to be shortened? Perhaps you can double check with Tempurpedic? I don't know which model you have but in this picture, the mattress doesn't seem to go lower than the frame and I can't imagine how shortening the legs would impede its function. I do understand that if the Tempurpedic bed is lowered in the decorative upholstered frame, it might make it snugger to put the fitted sheet on the mattress.

This is really funny! Given that most of us would think a step is not the safest approach, I humbly suggest a ramp!!! And maybe some foot lights that go on when the ramp is stepped on. You could upholster it to match the bedding or the carpet.... I love the platform slipper suggestion LOL. Seriously, cut the legs down. Simple.

Why can't you trim down the legs of both the adjustable frame and the decorative bed frame? then the mattress is not sunk in too deep in the bed to inhibit sheet changing. And you can get in/out.

I'm also wondering why you can't just push your feet off the top side of the decorative bed frame? Does your mattress sit that much higher than it that your foot can't reach it to push you up some more?

"I really want to fix my problem, but I don't want to do the most simple solution."

No one is going to notice that you cut the legs down, no one will probably notice the legs of the bed. Do people normally go into master bedrooms when they visit? I know that I don't. I don't know if I could tell you what 90% of my family's bedrooms look like because I never go in them.

change the bed legs to smaller , that's what i did for almost same bed , or just removed them and put a pad

"Nicola Abraham" is spamming once again. Please flag the spam

If lowering the custom Lucite bedframe legs is not feasible because it won’t match the custom Lucite nightstand leheight, why not lower both?You’ll have form/function.

I am sorry to be getting into this conversation FIVE years late! But my easy solution for getting my 4'11" self into a too high bed was to buy a folding yoga mat. For less than $40 I bought a mat that was about 1 3/4" tall, and that can be folded up into four. That means I can lay it on the side of my bed and fold it in half to make it 3 1/2' tall. Or I canfold it into two parts with three sections on one side and just one section on the other...making one part 5 1/2" and the other part a little step of 1 3/4". It doesn't slip, because it is a yoga mat. I don't fall off, because it is a large flat surface. And if I were to ever fall in the middle of the night, I would be falling on to a soft surface. Added bene - it completely slides under the bed because it weighs so little.

Great idea Gigi. I am not finding a yoga mat that matches your description. Any chance you could send me more information? Thanks!

@JOANH123GOOGLE!!!

shove it under the bed.....grab a handle......

Jan Moyer...thank you for the mat options. I was actually looking for an anti slip mat but I suppose if I am careful getting into bed (and dont use it to exit the bed, which I don't need) the ones you listed would work. Thank you again :)

Helen...you must be surprised that this thread is still alive and kicking! Hope you found a solution.

Omg, I have the same situation. I am going to try each of the suggestions ending with the platform slippers ;)

We recently purchased an adjustable bed platform with our new mattress, and I find it is more practical to have only a headboard, no side rails or footboard to contend with. This lets you get the adjustable platform to the desired mattress height needed. Eliminating side rails/footboard allows for ease in changing the sheets (which is difficult to do when side rails are in the way).

Try a bed buddy (handrail that is sturdied by a platform that skips under the mattress. It will help you hoist yourself up enough to sit comfortably on the bed.
Ps. I am 5’4 but have problems after hip surgery and needed knee replacement.