Forget the candy. Your post-Halloween treat is an extra hour of sleep

Daylight-saving time ends this Sunday, November 1. Turn back your clocks—and sleep in.

Throughout most of the United States, daylight-saving time (DST) will end at 2 a.m. (your local time) on Sunday, November. 1. If you stayed up to too late on Halloween, you might welcome the extra hour of sleep you'll get after turning back the clock on Saturday night/Sunday morning. (Find out when DST will start and end in 2010 and beyond.)

In this previous entry on daylight-saving time, you'll find a list of smart moves that can enhance safety around your house and save you some money. "Is Daylight-Saving Time Costing Us Money?" provides more details on this seasonal time shift. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Be sure to read our latest report on carbon-monoxide and smoke alarms (available to subscribers). And if you're having trouble getting a good night's sleep, read "How Did You Sleep Last Night?" This feature offers expert advice, details on sound machines designed to enhance sleep, an interactive quiz, and much more.

In this previous entry on daylight-saving time, you'll find a list of smart moves that can enhance safety around your house and save you some money. "Is Daylight-Saving Time Costing Us Money?" provides more details on this seasonal time shift. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Be sure to read our latest report on carbon-monoxide and smoke alarms (available to subscribers). And if you're having trouble getting a good night's sleep, read "How Did You Sleep Last Night?" This feature offers expert advice, details on sound machines designed to enhance sleep, an interactive quiz, and much more.

Get the best deal on a new mattress

"They say the media doesn't report good news, but I come before you today with three nice-sounding numbers: 7, 12 and 15. Those are three estimates of how much growth the mattress category will record next year. Yes, you heard us correctly. We said 'growth.' That's not a word that has been heard in Mattressville in recent years."

That's how David Perry, executive editor of Furniture Today and the writer of the Bedding Today blog, started a recent post about the latest mattress-industry forecast by the International Sleep Products Association. The projections Perry mentions represent a 7 percent growth in the dollar value of mattress shipments in 2010 and a 12 to 15 percent dollar gain for the industry.

Unless you're a mattress maker or retailer, your interest is not in industry trends but in getting the best deal from a reputable dealer on the right mattress. Our October 2009 survey-based report, "Would You Buy That Mattress Again?" can help you find the best mattress brands and the top mattress retailers (ratings available to subscribers).

Essential information: Before you buy, also check out our free buyer's guide to mattresses.

Forum Friday: Readers sound off on how to find the best mattress

As part of our latest report on mattresses, more than 17,000 Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org subscribers rated the best mattress brands and retailers (available to subscribers). Check out these discussions on our Home & Garden forum to share your opinions on mattresses:

• Successful mattress shopping: Read about one commenter's positive experience with the Original Mattress Factory, one of the top-rated brands and retailers in our survey.

• Caveats when comparison shopping: "It is common knowledge that virtually identical mattresses have different names at different stores," noted one commenter (our own research confirms this situation). He revealed how shopping around saved $500 off the price of a $1,899 mattress and how one manufacturer made slight changes to a model to avoid having to honor price-matching guarantees. Another required additional fees for delivery.

That message was followed by dozens of others in which people discuss common mattress myths and share their own positive and negative experiences with other mattress brands and retailers.

• Water beds? Although we did not include them in our survey, one commenter did share his experiences with a $500 model.

Essential information: Our free buyer's guide to mattresses and our past comparisons of high-end mattresses from Duxiana, Select Comfort, and Tempur-Pedic and two different models from Sealy can help you find the right mattress.

Mattress Shopping: What you gain for twice the price

(This story originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Consumer Reports.)

Do the differences below make the Sealy Posturepedic Sapphire LX Firm sparkle more brightly than the Sealy Posturepedic Ruby LX Cushion Firm? You’d need to judge for yourself. Our consultants said the two mattresses were similar in firmness and overall comfort. They’re sold with the same box spring. Prices are list, for a twin set.

Essential information: Check out our free buyer's guide to mattresses and watch the video on shopping for a mattress (right).

Sealy Posturepedic Ruby LX Cushion Firm		Sealy Posturepedic Sapphire LX Firm
$700		$1,400
13/16 inches of polyurethane foam and polyester batting. < Quilt fill > 11/2 inches of polyurethane foam and polyester batting. Good-quality damask. 4x8-inch tight stitch pattern. < Ticking > Excellent damask; stretchy fabric on top. Open stitching for soft feel. 2 inches of flat polyurethane foam. < Padding > 41/2   inches of egg-crate polyurethane; thin layers of flat and memory foam. 580 < Coils > 660

Let's Get Ready to Rumble! April 4th is International Pillow Fight Day

Saturday, April 4, is International Pillow Fight Day, with combatants in more than 75 cities worldwide participating. (The photo shows Vancouver's 2006 pillow fight). The official Pillowfightday.com Web site isn’t clear on the origins of this global pillow-pugilism party except to say that “organizing a massive pillow fight is perhaps the simplest of free events or interventions, but also one of the most rewarding.”

The site also includes information on how to organize a mass pillow fight. Early afternoon is preferable, although the event founders note that this “will necessarily lose those hungover souls whose Friday nights ran quite late.” A large public square is the ideal location, and social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter are best for spreading the word.

As for which “weapon” to use, Consumer Reports hasn’t recently tested pillows, but in general, soft ones are ideal for stomach sleepers and pillow fighters. Anything firmer could result in bloody noses or other injuries, which are as bad for pillow fights as stiff necks are for a good night’s sleep.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: Read "How Did You Sleep Last Night?"  for advice on choosing sound machines and separating sleep myths from realities.

BBC warns visitors to New York City to be wary—of bedbugs, not muggers

With the pound sterling continuing its two-year decline against the U.S. dollar, the number of British tourists to New York City is likely on the decline. And after "Bedbug Cases on the Rise in NY" was published last Friday on the BBC Web site, you can bet that more folks will reconsider taking a vacation in the Big Apple.

As we reported last month in "By the Numbers: Bedbug Complaints Soar in New York City," the number of bedbug complaints to New York's 311 hotline soared almost 34 percent during the last fiscal year.

The BBC story highlighted visitors to New York City who got bit by bedbugs and returned home with Cimex lectularius along with the usual souvenirs. Learn more about bedbugs and how to deal with them at home. When you're traveling in an area where bedbugs are a concern—the problem is definitely not isolated to New York City—here's what to do:

Inspect your room. Before you hit the minibar or unpack your bags, lift the mattress and examine the folds and seams in the bed linens for telltale signs of bedbugs—dark-brown and reddish fecal spots. Consider packing a small flashlight to assist your inspection.

Keep your luggage off limits. If possible, hang clothes in the closet so they're out of reach of carpet-creeping bedbugs. Pack large plastic trash bags to house your luggage while in the hotel. Once home, don't just dump your baggage on the bed. Wash all your packed clothing—even if it's clean—and dry with high heat. Inspect and vacuum your empty suitcase, then seal it in a plastic bag away from your bed, and if possible, store it in a hot area of your house, such as the attic. If it's warm outside, leave your luggage in your car for a day to cook any remaining critters.

Essential information: Visit The Journal of Americans Medical Association Web site after 4 p.m. ET on March 31 to read about a study that examines the consequences of bedbug bites.

Is the Executive SAFE-T bed a safe or wise investment?

A couple of years ago, we wrote about the extravagant beds from Hollandia International, whose "sleep systems" cost upward of $50,000.

Hollandia has recently introduced the Executive SAFE-T bed (shown), which has a 8 x 10.6 x 4.3-inch safe located in the bed base beneath the mattress. Cost: $20,400, or $399 as an addition to other Hollandia beds. We haven't tested the beds or the safe, but it seems like a questionable move to introduce such a pricey bed during a recession.

Then again, perhaps this Israeli company, trying to capitalize on the widely accepted notion that crime rises during economic downturns, figures that its wealthy clientele will want a secure spot to stow their baubles. Or maybe the SAFE-T bed is for people who are concerned about bank failures and want a cache to stash some cash.

Essential information: Visit our Personal Investing hub for expert advice on the best ways to manage your money today.

By the Numbers: Paint sales defy the downturn, says Home Improvement Research Institute

$12.5 billion

Amount of paint that Americans will be buy in 2010, according to a report
commissioned by the Home Improvement Research Institute and covered in
Home Channel News. The figure represents a 12.9 percent gain from 2008, when
sales of paints and preservatives totaled $11 billion. Sales in 2009 sales are pegged to rise by 2.9 percent, says HIRI. Based on these numbers, paint is showing signs of bucking the recession trend.

Retailers are reporting a shift from neutral off-white colors and earth tones that won't put off prospective home buyers to more active, vibrant colors for homeowners who want to personalize their living spaces. Perhaps that's why Pantone, the Carlstadt, New Jersey-based company that provides color standards for design industries, named Mimosa (swatch shown) its color of the year for 2009, succeeding Blue Iris and Chili Pepper.

Essential information: See our March 2009 report on interior paints.

SiteSeeing: Instructables.com shows you the way with its DIY projects

After working on our latest report on cordless drills and tool kits, I was inspired to find practical, skill-building home projects that could put my own tools to good use and maybe even save me a little money.

A friend tipped me off to Instructables.com, which was founded by four MIT graduates in August 2005. The site features more than 21,000 projects on 18 different channels, according to cofounder Eric J. Wilhelm. They run the gamut from simple (duct-tape wallets) to complicated (turning an old washing machine into a honey extractor) and take the occasional detour into the unusual (converting a car into a garbage-powered vehicle). Instructions are presented as easy-to-follow photo-and-text slideshows and as PDFs.

I wondered about the reliability of the projects—would I end up with an impossible-to-build or even dangerous piece of furniture because some schmo posted lousy instructions? But, says Wilhelm, "We have a publishing review process, and do reject some projects—typically they are simply not complete."

The site's terms of service do require users to agree to "bear all risks associated with, the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content." I'm not a lawyer, but I think that means that Instructables.com is not responsible if something bad happens after I make a project I found on the site. My advice: Let the user reviews be a guide—if a project has only one or two stars, you might want to avoid it. And don't do projects for which you lack the skill set or that might pose a safety risk you're not willing to take.

With that caveat and these safety tips for cordless drills and circular saws in mind, consider some of the projects below. (Watch the short buying guide for cordless drills, right.)

Workshop
I told a follically challenged colleague about one of the myriad workbenches on the site. He's yet to build it, though I assured him he'd succeed without pulling out his remaining hair.

Bedroom
A lattice-framed platform bed that uses less $30 worth of lumber.
A loft bed that provides a handy closet space.
A laptop stand that allows you to work from bed.

Home office
A slot-together desk.
A design to convert a closet to a work area.
A collapsible hobby desk.—Gian Trotta

Essential information: See our reports on DIY closet and garage organizers and household glues and assembly tips for IKEA furniture.

Forum Friday: Top forums in recent weeks

Washing machines: This has been the most popular appliances forum recently, with the least-repair-prone front-loading washer and LG washer smell among the hottest discussions. These topics have emerged as our other top forums.

Vacuums: Vacuum aficionados have been posting in our best vacuums topic, while picks and pans of deep and steam cleaners have drawn numerous reviews.

Refrigerators: A newer French-door refrigerator discussion has sprung up to replace the old discussion on the same topic, along with a call for the quietest refrigerator.

Mattresses: The hottest non-appliance forum has many folks chatting about latex mattresses. And thanks to the member who posted the last word on how to buy a mattress.

Dishwashers: The I love my dishwasher discussion continues with passionate posts. Can top one member’s tale of her 24-year-old dishwasher?

Central heat/air conditioning: Cold weather and energy prices probably stoked discussions, like Which gas furnace should I buy?, which ranks as our most viewed discussion. We're looking forward to responses to a member's call for opinions on integrated heating and hot-water systems.

Ranges: These kitchen appliances have seen more activity as the holiday-cooking season kicked off and Consumer Reports published new ratings. The pros and cons of induction cooking is especially useful.

Small appliances: Coffeemakers dominate here. As detailed in a recent Forum Friday, numerous threads are percolating away in the wake of our latest review of coffeemakers.

Dryers: You’ll find numerous discussions of particular brands and some interesting exchanges on ventless condensation dryers and ways to prevent clothes and sheets from “balling.”

While it didn't crack the Top 10 in traffic, the energy saving in your home forum has had some wonderful insights to put more green in your holidays.