A hand pressing into a mattress on the showroom floor, testing firmness
The Showroom Firmness Index

179 mattresses. One honest scale.

Every bed on our Kentucky floors, hand-rated by one rater on one 1-to-10 scale. Not spec sheets. The same beds you can come lie on today.

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179 beds, one scale

Every mattress on our floors, rated 1 to 10 by the same hands.

No thumb on the scale

Our salespeople are paid the same on every bed in this index.

Tag vs ride, called out

12 beds wear a label that does not match how they actually ride. We say so.

Five Kentucky showrooms

Every rating is a floor model you can test today.

Rated by hand, not by spec sheet

Why this index exists

Every mattress brand prints a firmness word on the tag. The problem: nobody agrees on what the words mean. One brand's Firm is another brand's Medium, a luxury firm pillow top can ride softer than a plain medium, and the number scales you see online are usually copied from the manufacturer's own marketing.

This page is different, and here is exactly why: we rated every bed ourselves. All 179 mattresses below are on our showroom floors across Kentucky right now, and each one was personally hand-rated by Billy Mullins, our Vice President with 20-plus years in this business, by lying on the actual floor model, on one consistent 1-to-10 scale. Not shipped review samples. Not spec sheets. The same beds you can come lie on today.

How we rate (the method, in plain sight)

  • Who: Billy Mullins, Vice President. 20-plus years in the mattress business, and he personally rates every bed in this index. One rater, one scale, no committee averaging.
  • What: the physical floor model of every mattress we carry, rated in-store.
  • The scale: 1 to 10, where 10 is the firmest. As anchors: 3 to 4 is plush (you sink in), 5 to 6 is medium (cradle without the sink), 7 to 8 is firm (you lie on it, not in it), 9 and up is the sleeping-on-a-firm-handshake zone.
  • When: ratings are re-checked when floor models change. This page shows its updated date and we keep it honest.
  • What a rating can't do: firmness is felt through your body. A 250-pound back sleeper and a 120-pound side sleeper will not feel the same 6. Use the number to shortlist, then come lie down: that part takes ten minutes and settles it.

One more thing worth saying: our salespeople are paid the same on every bed in this index. Nobody here earns more if you land on an 8 instead of a 4, so the ratings have no thumb on the scale.

The Index

All 179 beds, by brand

Filter by feel, search a model, or browse by brand. Every bed links to its full page, and every rating is a floor model you can come test.

Where the tag and the ride disagree

This is the part the spec sheets won't tell you. Out of 179 beds, these 12 wear a label that does not match how they actually ride.

The pattern worth knowing: a Firm with a pillow top usually rides medium. Beautyrest Black's Firm pillow tops are beautifully built beds, and they ride like 6s, not 8s: the pillow top does its job. If you want the ride the word firm promises, look for the true 8s and 9s in the index.

Beautyrest 39 beds

Sealy 38 beds

Stearns & Foster 21 beds

Tempur-Pedic 15 beds

Jamison 15 beds

Purple 11 beds

Sierra Sleep by Ashley 10 beds

Nectar 8 beds

Serta 6 beds

Casper 5 beds

Molecule Mattress 4 beds

DreamCloud 4 beds

Sherwood by Sealy 3 beds

Rated in words, not numbers (45 models)

Kids' beds and a few models have no honest place on an adult scale, so they carry word ratings instead of forced numbers.

  • Casper Casper Cloud One Mattress Medium-Soft
  • Purple Purple® Mattress Medium-firm; supportive foam base with flexible GelFlex Grid give on top
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 10 Inch Chime Elite 2.0 Mattress Firm, tight top (no pillow top)
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 10 Inch Chime Memory Foam Mattress Firm, tight top feel with little surface give
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 12 Inch Chime Elite 2.0 Mattress Plush, one of the softer feels in the Sierra Sleep lineup
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 12 Inch Memory Foam Mattress Medium, noticeable contouring at the surface with firmer support underneath
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 13 Inch Hybrid Hot Buy Mattress Firm, a supportive on-top-of-the-bed feel
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 14 Inch Chime Elite 2.0 California King Mattress Ultra plush, the softest tier in the Sierra Sleep lineup
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 8 Inch Bonnell Hybrid Mattress Firm; a traditional coil forward feel, not medium or plush
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 8 Inch Chime Innerspring Mattress Firm, traditional coil support with minimal cushioning on top
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep 8 Inch Memory Foam California King Mattress Firm, minimal give at the surface
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Ashley Firm Mattress Firm, a genuinely supportive, minimal give surface
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Augusta2 Mattress Firm, a genuinely firm feel rather than a medium marketed as firm
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Chime 12 Inch Memory Foam Mattress Plush (softest tier of the Chime lineup on Ashley's own firmness scale)
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Chime 8 Inch Memory Foam Mattress Medium firm, as consistently described across retailers
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Comfort Plus Mattress (M50911) Medium, a true middle of the road feel (not firm, not plush)
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Comfort Plus Mattress (M51811) Medium, a balanced feel for back and side sleepers
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Destin Cove Firm Mattress Firm, on the firmer end of Ashley's Sierra Sleep lineup
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Destin Cove PT Mattress Luxury plush, the softest and tallest build in the Destin Cove line
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Destin Cove Plush Mattress Plush, the softest of the three Destin Cove comfort levels
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Elite Springs Plush Mattress Plush, soft end of the Sierra Sleep lineup
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Firm Luxe 2.0 Mattress Genuinely firm, one of the firmer builds in the Sierra Sleep lineup
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Hybrid 1300 Mattress Plush, softer than a medium or firm feel
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Hybrid 1400 Mattress Ultra plush, a soft and contouring feel with coil support underneath
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Limited Edition Firm 3.0 Mattress Firm, on the firmer end of the comfort scale
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Limited Edition Firm Mattress Firm, one of the firmest mattresses we carry
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Limited Edition Plush Mattress Plush, soft initial give with coil support underneath, the softest comfort tier in the Sierra Sleep Limited Edition line
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Limited Edition Plush PT 3.0 Mattress Soft to plush, on the softer end of the comfort range
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Millennium 2.0 Foam 12 Inch Mattress Firm, a supportive surface with minimal give
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Millennium 2.0 Foam 14 Inch Mattress Plush, a soft and cushioned feel
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Millennium 2.0 Hybrid 14 Inch Mattress Plush, softer than our medium and firm hybrid builds
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Millennium Luxury Gel Memory Foam Mattress Cushion firm: a supportive tight top surface with contouring give at the shoulder and hip, not a deep plush sink
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Millennium Luxury Plush Gel Latex Hybrid Mattress Plush, softer than Sierra Sleep's medium and firm hybrid models
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Nectar Foam Kids Mattress "Not assigned a numeric rating. Built to feel firmer under a lighter child than the same foam would under an adult, with the 8 to 12 side offering more support
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Peak 2.0 10 Hybrid Mattress Medium (a true middle-of-the-road feel, not firm or plush)
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Peak 2.0 12 Hybrid Mattress Medium firm, a supportive middle-of-the-road feel
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Peak 2.0 12 Memory Foam Mattress Firm, built to keep the spine level rather than to cushion pressure points
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Peak 2.0 8 Memory Foam Mattress Firm, minimal sink, close to the surface
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Peak 2.0 Bonnell Mattress Medium comfort level (Ashley's official rating; no numeric firmness scale published for this model)
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Plush Luxe 2.0 Mattress Soft, plush end of the comfort range
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Terra Sleep Firm Mattress True firm: supportive with minimal surface give, firmer than most mattresses
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Terra Sleep Medium Mattress Medium, true middle of the firmness scale
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep Terra Sleep Soft Mattress Soft: plush contouring latex comfort layer over full coil support
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep iKidz Coral Mattress and Pillow 2/CN Firm, built for a lighter, growing body rather than rated on the adult 1 to 10 scale
  • Sierra Sleep by Ashley Sierra Sleep iKidz Ocean Mattress and Pillow 2/CN Firm, built to resist soft dips under active kids
Using the index

Three steps, ten minutes

  • Pick your zone, not a single number. Side sleepers usually live in 3 to 5. Back sleepers, 5 to 7. Stomach sleepers and heavier folks, 6 and up. These are starting points, not rules.
  • Shortlist two or three beds from different brands in your zone. The brand name matters less than the number: a Sealy 5 and a Nectar 5 are closer cousins than a Sealy 5 and a Sealy 8.
  • Come lie on them. Ten real minutes, in your sleep position, at any of our five Kentucky showrooms. Every bed in this index is a floor model you can test today. That is the whole reason this index can exist.
Straight answers

Questions we actually get about firmness

Is firm better for your back?

Not automatically. The research points to medium-firm as the safest default for most adults, and support (keeping your spine level) matters more than surface feel. A too-firm bed can be as hard on pressure points as a too-soft one is on alignment.

Why does my bed feel softer than it did in the store?

Floor models are broken in. A new mattress typically softens noticeably in the first 30 to 60 nights, then settles. Our floor ratings reflect the broken-in feel, which is the feel you will live with.

Do firmness numbers from different websites match?

No, and that is exactly why we built this index. Most published numbers trace back to the manufacturer's marketing. Ours trace back to our own floors: one rater, one scale.

The part the internet can't do

Come lie down

Ten real minutes, in your sleep position, settles what no number can. Every bed in this index is on a floor near you.

Lexington/Nicholasville Rd· Richmond· Georgetown· London· Somerset
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Rated by Billy Mullins, Vice President, Mattress Overstock, 20-plus years in the mattress business. Mattress Overstock is an independent Kentucky retailer, founded 2012, with five showrooms. This index covers the beds on our floors; it is not a paid ranking and no brand had input. Updated July 2026.