I have just had my bedroom decorated and feel quite relieved at having a calm and organised space at last.
I didn’t realise what great timing I had – as March is National Bed Month organised by the National Sleep Council. Established since 1995, The Sleep Council is an impartial organisation that looks at how you can adopt healthier sleep habits and focuses on raising awareness of a good night’s sleep to health and wellbeing. For all sorts of advice about a good night’s sleep see: http://www.sleepcouncil.org.uk/
Of course, a satisfying sleep begins with the right bed – here’s a Moodboard of some famous and infamous ones.
The Great Bed of Ware is probably the single best-known object in the V & A. The four-poster bed is famously over three metres wide, the only known example of a bed of this size, and reputedly able to accommodate at least four couples. Constructed in about 1590, the Bed was probably made as a tourist attraction for an inn in Ware, Hertfordshire.
Babies get to have famous beds too – this one was made for Napoleon’s son, the King of Rome. The city of Paris offered this throne-cradle made of more than 280 kg of silver to the Empress Marie Louise (Nap’s second wife if you’re wondering). All the symbols refer to the achievements of Napoleon and expresses the hopes which were related to his son; the cradle stands on horns of plenty, symbols of good government and wealth; force and justice are represented by two little angels; the cradle is decorated with bees on all its sides, representing on one hand the diligence of the citizens of Paris and being on the other hand the personal emblem of Napoleon Bonaparte. Enough to disturb anyone’s sleep I would think.
