Dress Your Slab, Now Lie On It

Stone can be tres chic and be a key part of feng shui, but it can also be a sleep aid – and not by conking yourself in the head, either.
At least that’s the opinion of some steady sleepers in northern New Jersey, according to reporter Eric Hsu of the The Record in Bergen County, N.J. He’s noted the appearance of stone beds.
That’s right. Stone beds. And customers think the sleepytime slabs are great.
The beds caught on in Korea about a decade ago, and are now appearing in areas of the United States with large Korean populations. Hsu reports that the bench-like beds have a 4” sleeping platform, topped by quartz, mica, topaz or jade. The beds also include heating coils for a low, radiant heat.
It’s not all rock-hard in the stone-bed world, either. A variation includes a vinyl surface covering a layer of hardened mud.
Hsu reports that prices can be from $1,500-$5,000; the beds aren’t especially a hard sell, either, as non-Koreans are now taking an active interest. The largest stone-bed manufacturer in Korea, JangSoo Industry Co., now has a U.S. office in Atlanta.