*REVEAL PICS OF THE BED I DESIGNED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST*
Have you ever wished you could edit your furniture? You know: that armchair you’d like to make substantially softer, lower by six inches and reupholster in flowery velvet? Or the bath that would benefit from being a tad wider, with more space on the side for your shampoo, reimagined in hammered copper? Yep. Me too.
So how would you feel if you got to design a piece of furniture from scratch, EXACTLY to your specifications?
This is what happened to me a few months ago when Hypnos, bed-maker to The Queen (as in they construct her beds and make her mattresses; they don’t actually pop round Buck Pal to change her pillowcases) asked if I fancied designing a bespoke bed for my bedroom in The Pink House.
Erm…does a Kardashian impact the share price of social media?
The Pink House Husband and I have been sleeping on a slightly saggy mattress on the floor for the past 9 months – the only better piece of news we could have received than the one Hypnos delivered was that the kids were to be whisked off on a three-month vacation with both sets of grandparents and a swimming teacher (teaching kids to swim has to be THE most tedious experience).
So I finally had a chance to design the bed of my dreams just as I wanted it, but how DID I want it? Read on for my 6-step build-a-bed process…
Step 1: Bed down the basics
The first thing I did was make a list of the essentials:
- Comfy headboard, ideal for pre-sleep book reading (oh ok, Instagram scrolling)
- Beautiful headboard, possibly in the style of a Kit Kemp-designed Firmdale hotel
- Plenty of under-bed storage (our bedroom is rather compact and my 54 pairs of shoes are lacking a home)
- Super kingsize, despite it being too big for our bedroom (much as I love the Pink House Husband, I also like my personal space in bed – though not all the time, as the existence of the small Pink House Dwellers will testify)
But beyond this I was scuppered. I felt I didn’t know enough about beds to be more specific. Plus the fact that there was a LOT riding on this decision added to the overwhelm: I had decided I didn’t want to over-clutter my new, bijou London bedroom with art, objets and unnecessary furniture, so the bed was to a) be the starting point for the whole room’s design, and b) act as the focal point.
Here are the first inspo pics I pulled out, based on two of my favourite hotels – as you can see, the beds look quite different:
Artist Residence London
Firmdale's Dorset Square hotel
So when Hypnos suggested I visit their factory, see how the beds and mattresses were made, I jumped (well, bounced) at the chance, hoping the visit would aid my decision making.
Step 2: Gather bed-based information
The factory was genuinely fascinating. So many people! So many skills! So much camel hair! I was given a full tour and learned LOADS about beds. I don’t want to bore you, so here are my edited highlights:
- Lying down on a pillow-top mattress spells doom for your to-do list. I never wanted to get up again and only did so because the sandwiches arrived
- Hypnos uses natural fibres - including camel and cashmere – in their mattress fillings, which helps explain my reluctance to leave my pillowtopped pit
- Their mattresses are framed and edged in such a way that you don’t get the sagging-edge thing that renders three inches at each side un-lie-on-able (unless you enjoy descending rapidly to the floor)
- There are sewing machines specially set up to embroider intricate crests and designs on to the mattresses, and they do so at an astonishing rate. Don’t put your fingers in them
- There is one Hypnos bed that lifts up to reveal enough storage space underneath to hide the Pink House Husband and both small Pink House Dwellers – it’s called the Super Storage™ [click 'Super Storage' after clicking link to see the design]
- There is another – the Easy Store™ [click 'Drawers' after clicking link to see the design] – that has two huge drawers, each one big enough to store 28 shoe boxes. Hmm…
- Hypnos can make beds in pretty much any shape, size or colour. They once made a massive round one for a prince who fancied himself as a bit of an Austin Powers
- There’s a really pretty soft pink fabric in one of their fabric books called Tweed Rose
- Brass studs come in various finishes
Step 3: Mattress-related revelation
Due to the way Hypnos frames their mattresses with rows of hand side-stitching, I discovered their king sized versions have about as much usable sleeping space as our existing super kingsize, with its drooping edges (drooping is not a word that should ever be used in connection with beds). Which meant that we could SAVE SPACE in our bedroom by swapping our super king for a king sized bed with Hypnos mattress. Who knew a well-made mattress could actually save you square-footage? Mind = blown.
And then there was the fact that I had discovered the heaven that is the Emerald pillow-topped cashmere mattress and I wasn’t leaving without it.
So the mattress was sorted – what about the bed base?
Step 4: Bed-base no brainer
Much as I loved the lift-up-and-hide-the-family bed, I couldn’t resist the Easy Store™ divan, with its ability to store 28 shoe boxes on EACH SIDE. So that’s my 54 pairs of shoes sorted, with plenty space left over for PHH to store his brogues. Well, one of them at least.
Hypnos' Easy Store™ divan bed base stores 28 shoe boxes on each side
Step 5: Pinterest makes perfect
As you could probably tell from my factory edited highlights, a certain pink fabric caught my eye, as did a couple of studded show beds. I was told that although brass studs (my fave) aren’t a standard design option, due to the fact Hypnos can make bespoke beds tailored to your needs, they are available upon request – yay! I also found myself drawn to button-backed headboards. But how to bring all these elements together?
Now I had a better idea of the component parts and could be more specific, a Pinterest trawl was much more successful. I came up with the following:
Photo from Style At Home
Photo from Four Chairs
Atkin & Thyme pink Coco headboard
Next, I pulled together my favourite aspects of the different beds and drew the following quick sketch:
Finally, I sent this sketch, along with the following specifications over to the clever bed makers at Hypnos:
- king sized Easy Store™ divan
- headboard with two rows of bright brass studs spaced 10cm apart
- bed to be made in the soft pink Tweed Rose fabric I’d found at the Hypnos factory
- Emerald pillow-topped mattress
Step 6: Making the bed (and getting over-excited about lying in it)
A few days ago Hypnos sent me the following pics of my bed in the various stages of being made in their factory. It is due to be delivered ON MONDAY NEXT WEEK AKA TOMORROW! The day it arrives will herald the end of more than 9 months of sleeping on a squidgy-edged mattress on the floor. And it will also mean the massive tower of 54 shoe boxes on our landing can finally be stored away, significantly reducing the chances of a Pink House Dweller being incapacitated by a size 5 Sophia Webster.
My divan being constructed
Making a space for all those shoe boxes
Shaping my headboard
Getting the curve just right
Hammering in the shiny brass studs
Adding the finishing touches...
Am I ridiculously excited? You BED I am!!!
NB: Keep an eye on @pinkhouseliving on Monday 5 March – I’ll do an Instagram Live of The Bed arriving at The Pink House…
This post is sponsored by Hypnos, but as always, all opinions, thoughts and designs for pink-and-gold dream beds are entirely my own.
