Top bedroom buys

High Point— Beds, dressers, chests and nightstands are the heart and soul of the bedroom market. Nearly three-fourths of bedroom-buying households purchased a bed, dresser, chest, nightstand or some combination of the four.

Combined spending for the four pieces topped $10.5 billion in

The bed is the cornerstone piece. It is purchased by the largest percentage of households and they spend the most on it, a median of $600. It's also the product for which shoppers actually turn into buyers: three-fourths of households that shop for a bed actually buy one. That's the highest close ratio of any of the bedroom products.

Slightly more than half of the bed-buying households also purchased a dresser; 49% also purchased a nightstand; and 43% also purchased a chest.

More than one-fourth of bed buyers were buying one for the first time. While the incomes of first-time buyers tend to be lower than bed buyers in general (not surprising, since more than half are young, members of Generations Y and X), they invest a little more in their beds. First-time bed buyers spent a median of $600 for their bed, compared with a median of $500 for those buying a replacement bed.

"Get 'em while they're young" is an appropriate motto because those initial bedroom purchases have a long life: Ten or more years is the age of pieces being replaced by 45% to 58% of bedroom-buying households.

Dressers, purchased by 44% of bedroom-buying households, have the shortest lifespan; two-fifths of households replaced a dresser that was five-years old or less.