Time f bed… or
Lending an air of romance to the bedroom, it’s easy to see why antique beds are becoming ever-more popular, says
While classic British antique beds – from cast-iron or brass bedsteads to ornate mahogany fourposters – have their share of admirers, it’s the exuberance of continental antique beds that seems to have captured our hearts in recent years.
Dr Sco! Jones, owner of French Farmhouse Furniture (frenchfarmhousefurniture.co.uk) is a "rm fan. ‘British beds were typically fairly small, sober, dark-wood pieces, whereas their French and Italian counterparts were o#en large, joyful works,’ he explains. ‘Varying from restrained Louis XVI or Directoire forms to unashamedly theatrical Baroque (Louis XV) or Venetian pieces. A#er nearly 40 years I’m still amazed that I routinely discover uniquely wonderful beds in chateaux and a!ics all over France. Many French, Italian and Catalan beds have an éclat, romance and joie de vivre that our native beds don’t.’
Louise Bacou, owner of La Maison London (lamaisonlondon.com) agrees. Her business, which she runs with her husband Guillaume, started out as an antiques shop and soon began o$ering restorations too. Today, the company not only sells beautiful antiques – and is known especially for the impressive stock of 18th and 19th-century beds – but also undertakes recreations of the most popular antique beds to have passed through their hands. One such design is the ‘Cherub’ bed, which has a!racted celebrity customers and been used in projects such as Soho House New York and Serangoon House Hotel in Singapore.
It’s not hard to see why people are gravitating towards antique pieces in the bedroom. ‘Having been through 18 months of lockdowns and so on, I think there’s a desire for permanence and longevity,’ says Louise. ‘Antiques o$er a connection to something greater than our troubles in the present. Our bedrooms are sanctuaries and we want them to be calm and elegant spaces, and that’s re%ected in the beautiful lines and cra#smanship of antique and antique-style beds.’
Sco! suggests that it’s the sense of permanence that comes with antique beds that resonates today: ‘They are beds for more than one life… it’s hard to imagine any bed we deliver not pu!ing a daily smile on the face of its owner – and their descendants!’
The modern beds created by La Maison London, inspired by the furniture of the past, also aim to impart this sense of continuity. ‘I want the pieces we make to become antiques of tomorrow,’ says Louise. ‘I’m not interested in making something that someone will have for a few years and then move on. A lot of our customers are seeking a piece they want to have around for the rest of their lives.’
Although many antique beds are lavish a$airs, it’s worth noting that most of these frames (and ma!resses) were smaller than the ones we demand today – the concept of king and super-king size are relatively modern – so most antique beds will require some work before they can be used. Specialist dealers usually employ experienced restoration experts to carry out sympathetic and careful work, which can be anything from cleaning and retouching paintwork to extending frames or side rails to accommodate modern ma!resses.