"This is an article taken from the Sunday Times. It goes a long way to explaining the variety of bedsteads that you can buy today and the way in which people perceive beds as being the focal point of the bedroom."

Regardless of whether you mix antique and modern bedroom furniture, or whether you choose bedroom furniture to match your bed. The beds on offer from various companies range in price from rare antique beds right down to a child’s reproduction beds made out of M.D.F.

Handmade Revival beds fit somewhere amongst these and have the added advantage of being available in bespoke sizes.

The History of Beds (extract from Sunday Times)

Where once we coveted something anonymous and minimal, beds are currently becoming center stage and most desirable. These bold, brash and decorative statement pieces of furniture are seen as something to invest in. “As people have got more adventurous with their interiors, they have moved away from simple bed frames towards a more theatrical, eclectic look,” explains Louise Bacou from La Maison.

Louise's company specializes in antique French and Italian Rococo-flourish bedsteads, in everything from plain wood to painted, upholstered, crushed-velvet, or even silver leaf finishes.

According to Louise – and the glossy interiors magazines – people no longer want the full bedroom suite with matching bedside tables and amoires. We’ve moved on and now prefer to mix and match, while concentrating on one fabulous bedstead.

Original antique bedsteads in good condition are not only difficult to find, they are also likely to be smaller in proportion to modern replicas, although a lot of places that sell antiques also offer replicas. La Maison’s range of originals bedsteads spans the 18th and 19th centuries, with gilded-cherub motifs, lacquered black chinoiserie and caned beds..

Curvy decorative bedsteads, either original or reproduction, are generally Louis XV inspired, and straighter-edged versions, with stricter architectural motifs, finials and columns, are likely to be labeled Louis XVI..
The terms sleigh bed and lit bateau are used to describe a bed with high or roll-top - Scrolled and rounded as opposed to straight flat – ends, and semi-enclosed sides.

Original Antique caned or upholstered bedsteads will often have been restored, but this shouldn’t detract from their value. Victorian brass bedsteads are often the cheapest alternative, but they also tend to look less splendid – the current fashion is to paint them white rather than leave them black with brass finials.

Libby says - "This column from the Sunday times goes a long way to explain how people like to mix things up in there choice bedroom styles. I get the feel that people don't want their bedrooms to be boring and are prepared to go to great lengths to avoid drab styles"

Parisienne Painted Sleigh Bed

Revival Painted Bedroom Furniture

Painted Orleans 4-Poster Bed