We’re going to need a…

We're going to need a new bed, since ours is moving to the guest room. I want this one, and the forest it rode in on:

I found it because I started looking for tree beds, when I realized my original canopy bed plan might not work. I'd planned on a canopy bed in our master bedroom, because I find them insanely romantic, and also very Sri Lankan in feel. Check out these Indian beds from Taschen:

I wasn't going to do anything as fancy as the first (and I wouldn't actually like the second, because the mosquito netting comes too close to your face when you're in bed) -- just a normal four-poster bed. But I just realized that a typical four-poster bed won't work, because the bottom left corner post would directly block Kevin's view of the TV, especially if there's fabric around it. We don't typically watch TV in bed these days, but I think that's mostly 'cause we're too exhausted, and just collapse into sleep as soon as we go to bed. Hopefully that condition won't last, and at that point, we might want TV again. Especially since we're not going to have a TV on the first floor (eep). And especially when someone is sick. TV is great for that. So no canopy bed.

I was sad to give up my canopy bed.

Then I found this canopy option (all following pics courtesy Apartment Therapy):

Do you think a version of will work? I can have the bars mounted permanently above the corners of the bed, and run the drapes back along the sides to frame the head board most of the time. That would mean not having mounting brackets halfway down the sides, though, as most of these seem to have. Would it be secure enough without those? (Would we have to cut holes in the ceiling to make sure there was wood for the mounting hardware?) I'm happy to just use lightweight sheers. I guess alternatively, I could have the mounting brackets, and just accept that I'd only be running the curtains halfway up the bed, which would still give something of a feeling of enclosure.

Some other versions:

Or perhaps, you'd just mount two bars, one on each side? I think that's what they did here (Domino). I don't need it to fully enclose -- I think even having some fabric on each side, coming up halfway, would do a lot to give the feel of a canopy bed. And this one is so insanely elegant.

Help?

8 thoughts on “We’re going to need a…”

  1. Is that first one from Taschen a canopy bed? It looks like a tent! With like tables and chairs and a fountain in there. Or am I totally misunderstanding that picture? :^)

  2. If you do something where the cloth can slide like a curtain it wouldnt matter about blocking the tv because you could just move it out of the way during tv time.

  3. Wow… love the tied latticework arches. How crafty and exotic.
    Also like the patterned curtains and dust covers for the bed frame. I think that it adds color to the room and gets away from the look of a hospital examing cubical with the white sliding curtains.
    Perhaps a type of side curtain that can be pulled to the side and tied to the posts rather than just let hang straight.
    Having a light overhead inside the frame is a good idea unless you are planning on headboard sconces or lamps.
    The advantage of rails at the ceiling is that the hangers can be coordinated with the rafter spacing and set outside the spacing of the curtains.
    Won’t comment on why one would watch TV instead of some other activity… ;^)

  4. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Other activities may return to our life someday, when the children leave home. 🙂

    The latticework arches are on a boat, actually. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a home on a boat? Perhaps even better than in the trees.

    Right now, we have end tables and wiring for wall-mounted lamps above the end tables. Also wiring for a ceiling-mounted light with fan. Which is another reason I wouldn’t actually want canopy fabric over the top of the bed; I sleep a lot better with a light fan going.

    Now I’m worrying about whether fabric near the head of the bed is just going to get in the way of reaching the stuff on the nightstand. I am a heavy nightstand-user, between glasses going on and off, and books piling up for reading. Kevin ditto, plus earplugs.

  5. Sounds like what is in order is a large round bed with a multi-shelf furniture tower sticking up in the middle. Maybe even rotatable so all parts are accessible. Maybe disguise it as a fountain. Add a projection TV on top and watch the ceiling screen. It would replace any thoughts of mirrors up there. This arrangement would eliminate a headboard and nightstands. And the curtains would be continuous all around. Umm… this isn’t a Queen Anne fit is it? (hee,hee)

  6. Another boring practical note:

    We needed a ceiling mounting for our shower curtain, as the area was too large to be enclosed any other way. Shower curtains are very light, but all the experts were in agreement that you’d need a mid-pole bracing, so I’m not sure you’d be able to get away without the middle supports without eventual sagging. What I don’t know is how long “eventual” is.

    What we did find, however, was a company that made custom-shapped fittings that bolt directly into the ceiling so you can move the curtain anywhere you want it to go along the track. It wasn’t too expensive to have made and it works very well. This would work for you, I think, because you could get a u-shaped fitting and then sweep all the drapes to whereever you want them whenever you want them. The fitting would be unobtrusive, but it wouldn’t be period. If you’re interested, I can have my record-keeping husband dig out the company name. It might have been this company, but I’m not sure.

    http://www.ceilingshowerrod.com/custom_tracks.htm

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