The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1546317
BY KRISTIN ACCORSI Sleep Together. How Castaway Bed Is Ending Sleep Divorce For couples, sharing a bed can be one of the most intimate parts of a relationship. But when two people have completely different sleep habits, that same bed can become a source of frustration, exhaustion, and, eventually, distance. Whether it's children, changing schedules, snoring, or differing ideas of what makes for a comfortable night's sleep, sharing a bed with a loved one can become complicated. For some couples, the solution has been to sleep in separate bedrooms, a practice increasingly referred to as "sleep divorce." But for Veronica Gelman and Michael Strem, sleeping apart didn't feel like the answer. "I'm a light sleeper," Veronica explains. At 5'1", she is significantly smaller than her 6'1" partner, who snores and moves around during the night. Aer months of waking up exhausted and frustrated, the situation began affecting her days as much as her nights. "I was waking up next to him, not getting great sleep, and I was miserable for months," she recalls. Veronica started looking for an alternative. She didn't want to move into another bedroom, but she couldn't find a product that would allow the two of them to stay together while creating enough separation for her to sleep comfortably. One day, she began "frantically Googling" for an answer. ere had to be another way, she thought, other than sleeping in another room. When she couldn't find one, she sat down with Michael and told him she wished she could simply push a button and move away from him at night while still remaining in the same bed. Michael, with his background in electrical engineering, and Veronica, with 15 years working in e-commerce, combined their talents, experience, and desperation for a good night's VUE ON | HOME & DESIGN 80 VUENJ.COM

