When you’re a child you’ll often start out in a twin or full size bed. These beds are great for small rooms as they take up less space than the larger queen/king size beds. Children grow and soon you're a teenager or young adult discovering that you’re longer than your bed which presents some issues least of which is the fact that you don’t fit your bed anymore. Your room just isn’t large enough for the bigger queen and king size beds and you’re left scratching your head what to do. There are options available to you should you run into this issue and they’re called extra long beds.
Extra long beds come in a variety of sizes. The most popular size is called twin extra long beds or (xl twin). These mattresses will measure 39 inches by 80 inches which is 5 inches longer than a traditional twin size mattress. That added length can be the difference for some as it extends the bed to sleep someone up to 6 feet 8 inches. Which happens to the be the same length as a queen size bed. Extra long twin beds are going to be the easiest of the XL beds to find as it is a size that the bedding industry has come to recognize over the years. Typically the mattresses themselves will be easy to find but the frames will sometimes be a challenge to find.
Another size that is available is called full extra long or (xl full). These extra long mattresses will measure 54 inches by 80 inches making them 5 inches longer than a standard full size mattress. Again much like a twin extra long, full extra long mattresses will sleep someone up to 6 feet 8 inches. Full extra long beds are a little tougher to find as these are more specialized in sizing. However many manufacturers have made the effort to build these mattresses for consumers and you should be able to find them in innerspring and memory foam applications.
The two sizes we’ve talked about so far (twin xl & full xl) offer advantages to small rooms in that they take up the same amount of space width wise and are just a little longer. This is a great benefit since you don’t have to commit space to a mattress like a queen or king which will take up a large majority of width in the room that you may not be able to afford to lose depending on the size of the room. This is why extra long twin and full mattresses make so much sense in that they give you that extra length and at the same time keep most of the traditional dimensions of a twin or full width mattress the same.
One size of mattress we haven’t talked about yet is called the California king. Cal king mattresses as they are also referred to are a little different that extra long beds . They don’t take the existing dimensions of a king mattress but instead are their own dimension. King or eastern king mattresses as they are called measure 76 inches by 80 inches. This differs from California king mattresses which measure 72 inches by 85 inches. Less wide but longer than a king mattress. In fact so long that a Cal king mattress is just over 7 feet long. It’s definitely a mattress than accommodate almost anyone.
In this article we’ve looked at alternatives for teenagers, young adults or even adults looking for bedroom solutions for smaller rooms that can’t fit regular longer beds. We’ve explored twin extra long and full extra long mattresses as possible alternatives which keep the shorter width of the standard beds but provides more length for taller adults. We also took a look at California king mattresses which are the longest mattresses offered in the bedding industry at just over 7 feet long. If you know of or are a young adult who is ready for a larger bed but their room can’t support queen or king beds, consider xl or extra long beds to help provide that added comfort without sacrificing your limited room space.