Review: South Shore's Little Treasure Mates Bed - Country Pine

Not long ago I was very lucky in coming into extra money that was still due to me via my deceased mother who had passed away back on August 26, 2006. I had a long wait for that money but was ever so grateful when I did, since one of the things I wanted to use that money for was to get a desperately needed new bed and mattress set. The bed-frame I had currently been sleeping on, was the same one that I had, had ever since my grandmother, mother and I moved into the apartment where I still live and that was way back in 1961! And don't ask how old that mattress set was that I was sleeping on. No, not that old, but old enough...believe me when I did get my new mattress I was thinking of setting off a bonfire and burn it.

Long before I actually had the money in my hands, I began searching on websites for beds and had narrowed it down to two possible choices. Some months passed by however, as I was having slight problems in having my mother's money released to me. Finally I got the money and here I was all set out to get my nice new bed, but to my dismay, both choices of new beds that I had in mind where no longer even available. So it was back to searching again and it took me weeks to find the perfect bed. You see, since I live in a small apartment, getting anything larger than a twin sized bed was definitely out of the question. My bedroom, really isn't a bedroom proper, but an alcove, with an arched entrance, in other words no door. I found some beautiful choices of beds, but alas either king or queen sized.

It wasn't until I searched the Target website which, by the way, has a really incredibly large selection of beds in general and a good vast majority are on-line specials not available in their stores, such was the case with the bed I finally picked out. The bed is called the Little Treasures Mates Bed-County Pine (Twin) This is one part of an entire bedroom set one can actually get and each item is separate, from the nightstand, dresser and chest and it also has the optional matching Bookcase Headboard which I opted to get at the same time. I happen to do a lot of reading before going to bed, and thought having the bookcase headboard would be the perfect solution in keeping my favorite books near me that I love to read.

The bed-frame itself measures 77"L x 41"W x 14"H and weights an estimated 119 pounds when assembled and costs $149.99. Since this is a Captain's type bed in style it has three storage drawers where there is enough room to store sheets and blankets. This was a real convenience for me, since I use my linen closet more for storing the overflow of extra books I have. Yes I do have a lot. The matching bookcase headboard is 43" L x 10"W x 37"H and when assembled weighs about 35 pounds and at a cost of $99.99 . The bookcase area itself had three sections, with a larger center shelving area and two smaller ones on either side.

My transaction for my bed went very smoothly. After establishing an official account with Target all I had to do was place my order, and the total came to $249.98 plus $93.14 shipping and $25.19 sales tax. Since at the time I ordered my bed, this was one of those special promotional on-line items, I was given a $42.50 discount, so all in all with all the costs involved I paid was $325.81, and I had my new bed within a week's time and was delivered to me via UPS.

Now, like many furniture items nowadays, this was one of those assemble it yourself projects and technically speaking no special tools are required save a Phillips screwdriver. In the manual, it clearly states not to use a drill, to drill in the screws, however, while I'm not exactly a weakling, I found trying to assemble the drawers, which they recommend assembling first, rather difficult for me, I just couldn't get the screws all the way in, not matter how hard I tried. Luckily, long time ago, I had gotten a Black & Decker drill and took my chances in using it despite the warnings in the manual not to. Well, no mishaps occurred while using the drill and I was able to get each screw firmly in without any problems.

The manual also recommended that two people are needed to assemble the bed. Well, being that I live alone and I'm a do-it-yourselfer in general, I managed to tackle the job of completely assembling both the bed and the bookcase headboard in small steps in a matter of three days.

As for my opinion of this bed in general? In a nutshell, I'm very pleased with my choice here. Being a nice light-colored pine wood tone it works very well with my decor of my bedroom. It is strong and sturdy, has that storage space of those three drawers that I love, and combined with the new mattress I got, I actually find it hard to get up in the morning. As a side note, my two cats seem to agree with my choice as well as they often cuddle next to me while I sleep. As for the center shelf area of the bookcase headboard, let me put it this way. Forget my storing books in it, as my two cats seem to take turns snoozing in it. The one downside about this bed, however, is that like almost all furniture made nowadays, rather than solid wood, it is constructed out of particle board. Since particle board swells so easily, one has to be careful in not getting any part of the bed wet, and only clean with a very lightly wetted down cloth and wipe excess moisture off right away. Also the partly laminated surfacing can easily scratch. Thankfully, my two cats are well behaved and don't use the bed as a glorified scratching post.

This Little Treasures Mates Twin Bed is perfect for both older children and adults, and its twin size is ideal for small apartment type bedrooms or alcoves. One can order this bed on-line not only at Target.com, but also via Amazon.com, Bellacor, Sears and a variety of other on-line stores. I highly recommend it and don't regret for a moment in getting it.

Little Treasures-Mate Twin Bed-Country Pine

Bookcase Headboard