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Hardwood furniture for bedrooms |
 Bedroom
furniture In the early nineteenth century the predominance of the
wooden bedstead was challenged by the introduction of mass-produced
and relatively inexpensive iron bedsteads. At the time these were
believed more ‘hygienic’ than wood, as they were non-absorbent
and therefore would not harbour ‘noxious miasma’ –
foul air, which was greatly feared as the principal source of disease.
However, even fears for health could not persuade everyone to give
up the cosy enclosure of a wooden bed – pleasure rediscovered
I the recent revival of the lit bateau, a type of bed whose name and
appearance make explicit the metaphorical links between floating in
sleep and on water.Bedroom Furniture Comfort
In bedroom furniture probably the most important elements of comfort are provided by textiles – whether curtains to filter
bright sunlight or block it out completely, or bedding, the second
skin we cuddle up in before slipping into unconsciousness.
While heavy, luxurious drapes may seem appropriate in a living room,
bedroom furniture requires a cleaner, lighter feel. This preference appears
to date back to the late Victorian obsession with minimizing dust
in the bedroom, where contaminated air might harm the sleeper. This
was a genuine concern in homes where coal fires produced a daily layer
of fine black soot and at a time when cleaning heavy draperies was
a matter of plenty of elbow grease and a carpet –beater. Although
much less of a practical concern today, the associations have stuck,
and we tend to choose obviously washable fabrics for bedroom furniture as opposed
to rich velvets or heavy woollens. Cotton muslins are pretty and airy.
Linens of various weights may provide more in the way of draught-and
light -proofing while sharing that same freshly laundered feel.
Some bedrooms dispense with curtains altogether, but this is usually
a luxury reserved for a house set in splendid isolation. But no bedroom
furniture would be complete without its bedlinen, whether a plumply stuffed
duvet or the more traditional combination of sheets and blankets.
The weight, warmth, softness and cleanliness of bedclothes are all
vital to the enjoyment of bedtime and a good night’s sleep.
As little as a hundred years ago the luxury of clean, crisp sheets
could only be achieved as the result of a long and arduous laundering
process. If you were lucky, the filling of the copper, the plunging
and swirling of the linen in boiling water, the wringing-out, passing
through a mangle, hanging and finally ironing, were undertaken by
your own servants. Otherwise you could take your dirty linen to the
local washerwoman. The alternative was to struggle with it yourself.
The washing machine has only recently liberated us from this back
-breaking, scalding work. It has taken almost all the effort out of
being clean and doubtless made us less appreciative of the privilege
of fresh sheets. The ubiquitous cotton and polyester mixes that dominate
modern bedlinen mean that even the chore of ironing has been minimized. |
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