IKEA frame, IKEA Matrand mattress (around $250 for a 200cm^2 size), IKEA pillows. The whole setup is like $500 and perfectly fine for us.
I dont really get the obsession in the US with those >$1000 mattresses. I think the whole thing is artificially inflated via marketing, where I live people dont make a big thing about matresses and and fine :)
I have the sense that for people increasingly unable to afford a house or an automobile, an expensive mattress is being presented as the next-more-affordable luxury.
To me, an old R&D principle applies: If you are going to spend so much on a piece of custom hardware that you will be afraid to admit it was a mistake or lacked essential features, better to experiment a little with something simpler first.
I dont really get the obsession in the US with those >$1000 mattresses. I think the whole thing is artificially inflated via marketing, where I live people dont make a big thing about matresses and and fine :)