After many years of experience in the bedding industry, we know that the vast majority of customers are, for the most part, looking for three things in mattresses and beddings: Quality, Comfort and Value.

Back-to-back meetings, heavy meals and high doses of caffeine during the day can make it more difficult for American adults to maintain a regular sleep routine. But if you’re not sleeping well at night, your sleep environment could be to blame. The irony, according to Better Sleep Council Executive Director Nancy Shark, is that, “unlike other sleep-robbing culprits, like stress or illness, sleep environment factors are controllable. This means that millions are needlessly sleep-deprived and suffering the consequences.”

Fatigue resulting from long work days, lack of sleep and irregular sleep routines not only impairs our ability to make sound decisions, but dulls our senses, makes us anxious and irritable, decreases productivity and increases the risk of mistakes and accidents. The Better Sleep Council offers these recommendations for creating a sleep environment conducive to sleep.

A. When was the last time you thought about your mattress? Many of us forget that our mattresses are the most utilized piece of furniture we own. In fact, if you sleep eight hours a night, in one year you'll rack up 3,000 hours on your mattress. After 10 years, you'll have logged 30,000 hours on the same bed. In these sections are a few hints that indicate it's time to start thinking about renewing your sleep surface.

Mattress prices range greatly: from about $299 to over $5,000 for a queen set. A good night's sleep is one of the best investments you can make, so buy the best mattress you can afford. Keep in mind that most of us spend as much as one-third of our time in bed. Your investment will cost just pennies per night over the next ten years! In fact, a $1000 Sealy Posturepedic sleep set costs about 27 cents per night (based on a 10-year life).