CONSIDERING THAT IT
is the one piece of furniture we probably spend the most time on, it’s astounding how ambivalent some folks are about beds. Yes, dear readers, there is a section of the population for whom the bed is a mere statement in horizontal utilitarianism, an inner-sprung resource. For others, however, it is a queen-sized canvas for self-expression, expansive items as much for gazing upon and embellishing as collapsing on come day’s end. As such, they are prone to the fashions, fads and foibles that characterise so many other areas of decor.
Case in point: the four-poster. Although now mostly found lingering in country B&Bs, until the early ’90s the four-poster bed was the epitome of elegant romance. Many a honeymoon was breathlessly embarked upon beneath a redundant canopy – you were, after all, indoors – of Sanderson print. There was doubtless a grandeur to a quartet of mahogany posts soaring ceilingwards, a sense that you were grabbing 40 regal winks.
The mosquito net was another add-on that had its gauzy moment. Suspended from the ceiling on a ring, it actually had a practical, insect-defying purpose, while rendering whoever was reclining behind its diaphanous folds in appealing soft focus. Or early-stage glaucoma. That was until a lone mozzie somehow – yet inevitably – snuck between the transparent swathes to the inner sanctum for a night-long shrill serenade, accompanied by self-administered slaps to the limbs as it sought flesh. Not exactly Fifty Shades of Grey.
For a minute there, we also turned to pretty much the exact opposite – from four-poster to futon. Nothing else quite exemplified the simple allure of Japanese minimalism like the futon. Until, of course, we realised that all of its apparent back and spine benefits were cancelled out by getting into and out of a bed that sat mere centimetres off the floor. For a time, we were also besotted with the idea of sleigh beds, which paid sweeping and curled timber homage to the horse-drawn vehicles you might splash out on in St Moritz to take you from après to Gasthof. And you just had to have a faux fur throw to complete the picture.