A mattress quiz asks how you sleep, what you weigh and how firm you like a bed, then names a few models. This page is the written version for Merit Home Furniture on Vancouver Island: four questions you can answer at the kitchen table.
Your sleep position and body weight set a firmness range. Each maker's own feel words narrow the list to a few beds, and lying on them settles it. We don't have an online quiz on our site. We do have 62 mattresses listed, and 14 of them can be ordered through our Duncan store. The answers below point to real ones, with their listed queen price.
How does a mattress quiz work, and what do the online ones leave out?
A mattress quiz turns a few answers into a firmness range and a short list. The national ones differ mostly in length. Douglas asks 12 questions, including your weight, budget, back pain and an email address for the results. Casper says most people finish its quiz in under a minute. GoodBed puts its quiz at 2 minutes and returns a match score, three online picks and three nearby stores.
A brand's quiz recommends that brand. The Douglas result draws only on Douglas mattresses, which is fair for a company selling one line. If you've taken one of those quizzes already, keep the firmness it gave you, because it carries over. What a brand quiz can't do is line that firmness up against a Restwell or a Restonic, since every maker names feel its own way.
The four questions here need no email address:
- How do you sleep most of the night? On your side, your back, your stomach, or a mix.
- What do you weigh? Under 130 pounds, 130 to 230, or over 230.
- Which feel words match that range? Read each maker's label against the scale in the next table.
- Which two or three can you lie on? Try them the way you sleep, with your own pillow.
Mattress firmness by sleep position and body weight
The starting firmness comes from two answers, how you lie and what you weigh. Sleep Foundation rates firmness from 1 to 10. On its scale, 1 to 3 is soft, 4 to 6 runs from medium soft to medium firm, and 7 to 10 is firm to extra firm. Weight matters because "the same mattress is likely to feel softer to a heavier person and firmer to a lighter person," in its words.
| How you sleep | Under 130 lb | 130 to 230 lb | Over 230 lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | 3 to 5 | 4 to 5 | 6 to 7 |
| Back | 3 to 5 | 5 to 7 | 7 to 9 |
| Stomach | 4 to 6 | 5 to 7 | 7 to 9 |
| A mix of all three | 3 to 5 | 4 to 6 | 7 to 8 |
Two cells run against the usual advice. A side sleeper over 230 pounds lands at 6 to 7, firmer than the common line that side sleepers belong on a soft bed. A back sleeper under 130 pounds can go as low as 3.
Two sleepers who land in different cells can meet in the middle, at a medium feel around 5. Or they can choose a split king, two twin XL mattresses side by side, each chosen for its sleeper.
Reading each maker's feel words against the scale
Makers label feel in their own words, so the number from the table needs translating. Sleep Foundation's guide says "No one firmness level performs optimally for all sleepers." The word on the tag is the company's, and two companies' Medium can feel different.
Beautyrest publishes a guide by position. It says side sleepers "usually find themselves looking into a Medium or Plush mattress," often with a pillow top. Back sleepers, by Beautyrest's account, "tend to benefit from a Firm to Medium feel." For stomach sleepers it points to "Firm or Extra Firm" and away from pillow tops.
Restwell prints a comfort level on its spec sheets, such as Plush Top, Medium Top or Firm Top. Restonic says each Comfort Care bed sleeps plush, medium or firm overall. What plush, medium and firm mean on a tag has the longer explanation of those words.
Of the 14 mattresses listed for our Duncan store, the maker's own description names a single feel on 13. By that word, 6 are plush, 3 medium and 4 firm, and none is called extra firm. The Restwell Copper Hybrid is the odd one out, since its listing says we stock it firm, medium and plush.
Which mattress is right for me? A shortlist through our Duncan store
The right mattress is one whose maker's feel word sits inside your range from the table. These ten Restwell and Restonic beds are listed for Merit's Duncan store. Each row gives the maker's own words, a sleeper to start with, and the listed queen price before applicable taxes.
| Mattress | Maker's words | Start here if | Queen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restonic Prestige | Plush overall, Euro top | Side or back, under 130 lb | $1,049.00 |
| Restwell Robin | Plush Euro top | Side or back, under 130 lb | $1,049.00 |
| Restwell Savannah Plush | Plush pillow top | Side or back, under 130 lb | $1,549.00 |
| Restwell Sparrow Elite | Plush pillow top, 15 1/2 in | Side or back, under 130 lb | $2,199.00 |
| Restwell Starling | Medium Euro top | Side or a mix, 130 to 230 lb | $1,449.00 |
| Restonic Notte | Medium overall, Euro top | Side or a mix, 130 to 230 lb | $1,688.00 |
| Restonic Vernazza | Medium overall, Euro top | Side or a mix, 130 to 230 lb | $2,599.00 |
| Restwell Canary | Firm tight top | Back, stomach or a mix, over 230 lb | $899.00 |
| Restonic Minto | Firm overall, Euro top | Back, stomach or a mix, over 230 lb | $1,199.00 |
| Restwell Nightingale | Firm tight top | Back, stomach or a mix, over 230 lb | $1,499.00 |
Against Sleep Foundation's bands, Soft and Plush sit around 1 to 3, Medium around 4 to 6, Firm around 7 to 8 and Extra Firm at 9 to 10. That match, and the start column, are our reading. Neither Restwell nor Restonic prints a number on these models.
A side sleeper between 130 and 230 pounds would start with the Medium rows, and under 130 pounds the Plush rows fit too. A back or stomach sleeper in the middle band sits between Medium and Firm, so the Starling and the Canary make a fair pair to compare. No Duncan bed is called extra firm, so a back or stomach sleeper over 230 pounds would start at the Canary or the Minto.
For a single bed, the Robin is listed in twin at $799.00. The Starling and the Nightingale come in twin too, at $1,299.00 each, and all six Restonics add a twin XL. Those prices are before applicable taxes.
Across every queen Merit lists for Duncan, the Restwell Canary opens the list at $899.00, and the Restonic Vernazza and Treviso top it at $2,599.00. All 62 listed mattresses can be sorted by maker and size. The other makers' beds are carried at our Campbell River and Port Alberni stores, so call either one for our best price. Once one is home, Restwell and Restonic each set their own rules on how often to flip or rotate it.
Choosing mattress firmness when your back hurts
Back pain is the one answer that can move the range, and the research leans away from the hardest bed. A 2003 trial in the Lancet gave 313 adults with chronic low-back pain a firm or a medium-firm mattress. After 90 days, the medium-firm group reported less pain in bed and on rising, and less disability.
A 2015 review in Sleep Health, covering 24 trials, found a medium-firm mattress best for comfort, sleep quality and spinal alignment. Neither study can say what suits one particular back. HealthLink BC suggests a pillow between the knees for side sleepers, or under the knees for back sleepers. It adds that its advice "does not replace the advice of a doctor." Sleep position raises health questions of its own, and which position suits neck pain or reflux is covered separately.
If pain is why you're shopping, please talk with your doctor or physiotherapist first, because a mattress is not a treatment. Mattresses for a sore lower back goes further into the studies and the beds we list.
Is there such a thing as a mattress tester?
The mattress tester that works is your own body, lying the way you sleep. Sealy Canada suggests 15 minutes on each mattress, and bringing your sleep partner and your favourite pillow. Two or three beds from the shortlist fit into one visit at that pace.
Heat is a fifth question for some sleepers, and it sits apart from firmness. Among the ten above, the Nightingale's listing names a cool-feel COOLER cover. The Notte's quilt is a Copper Cooling Fabric, and the Vernazza's is a Tencel Cooling Fabric. Beds and covers for people who sleep warm takes that question further.
What mattress to stay away from, by position and weight
No maker on our list is one to avoid. The mattresses to stay away from are the ones that miss your own answers:
- A soft pillow top for a stomach sleeper. Beautyrest itself steers stomach sleepers away from pillow tops.
- An extra firm bed for a side sleeper under 230 pounds, whose range tops out at 5.
- A soft or plush bed for a back or stomach sleeper over 230 pounds, whose range starts at 7.
- Any mattress picked on its label alone, without lying on it, since each maker sets its own words.
This finder is also wrong for some people. Pregnancy, a recent surgery, a hip or shoulder injury, or a sleep disorder are questions for your doctor before they are questions for us. The table is a starting point, and it cannot see the body lying on the bed.
Bringing your four answers to the Duncan store
Write down your position, your weight band and your range, and bring your pillow. You'll find Merit in Duncan at 107 Ingram St, and it's open 9 to 5, Monday through Saturday. Duncan's floor holds display models, so call first to ask which of the shortlisted mattresses are set up.
Mattresses take 2 to 3 weeks to come in, and then you can collect yours free at Duncan or have it brought to you. From Duncan, delivery costs $150 across the Island with assembly included, though a mattress headed across the Island might have to ship a different way. A Gulf Islands delivery can be arranged for some islands, so call the Duncan store for details.
Merit encourages exchanges for up to 30 days and looks at each one case by case. The Campbell River and Port Alberni stores quote their own delivery, so a call to either one settles it. Bed size is the last question to settle, and twin through king in inches covers it. More of our sleep writing is on one page, and the pillows, protectors and bases that go with them are listed alongside. If you need help deciding on your next mattress, the Merit team in Duncan is glad to talk it through by phone first.
Where these numbers come from
- Sleep Foundation's firmness guide by Daniel Noyed, July 25, 2025 update, checked October 2026.
- Beautyrest's help page on picking a firmness, checked October 2026.
- Sealy Canada's in-store shopping tips, checked October 2026.
- Kovacs and colleagues, firm versus medium-firm mattresses for chronic low-back pain, The Lancet, 2003, checked October 2026.
- Radwan and colleagues, a systematic review of mattress designs and back pain, Sleep Health, 2015, checked October 2026.
- HealthLink BC's page on sleep and back pain, dated November 9, 2022, checked October 2026.
- Douglas, Mattress Quiz; Casper Canada, Mattress Quiz; GoodBed, Mattress Finder, all checked October 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture listings, the makers' feel words and queen prices, read live on October 9, 2026.