Sleeping in a Canopy

No bedroom fixture tells decadence or luxury as thoroughly as canopy beds do. As a matter of fact, in a lot of paintings and photos, mature petite maidens in diaphanous fabrics and boot-clad men are normally shown sprawled composedly in four-poster canopy beds. Including Marie Antoinette is depicted as an extravagantly gowned young queen, endlessly lounging in a canopy bed, with attendants in tow.

Canopy beds aren't a newbie to the furniture scene. In fact, they've been in use for as long as people have been sleeping in beds. The wooden canopy bed typically has 4 posts at each of the four corners. From mattress level, these posts jut out four feet high or more. Frilly fabrics are hung across the top space between the posts. A durable swath of cloth is used to give the image of a ceiling. The exact cloth could also be draped directly above the bed.

Odd Bedfellows
Though the canopy bed is closely related to comfortability and stature, its origins are strongly entrenched in a far less glamorous history. In fact, at the period of the Middle Ages, brass canopy beds weren't fixtures a person would associate with luxurious living. People then lived in thatched roofs. They were residences to burrowing mice, worms, and other insects, all having the nasty attitude of dropping on sleeping people. To solve the predicament, posts were put up on every bed's four corners. Then, a fabric was draped upon the posts to drive wayward insects away. Clearly, elegance and canopy were not related during the Middle Ages.

Canopy for Privacy
Royalties as well as affluent landlords didn't have to endure similar struggle with pests. They used iron canopy beds for a completely different purpose. In early European homes, the nobleman slept in the Great Hall together with his family as well as his servants. The only thing that was marvelous about the Great Hall is the size. In truth, it's nothing but a huge space of square-like proportions. Iron canopy beds offered noblemen some semblance of privacy. Years after, it became a must for castles to provide separate sleeping quarters. The canopy beds saw continued utilization, not more on privacy, but for the warmth they give.

Canopy Beds Today
Throughout the years, canopy beds changed from sleeping haven for the ordinary man to fancy bedsteads for the well-heeled. Presently, it has been a widely embraced furniture of themed as well as elegantly adorned bedrooms. Makers offer a seemingly unlimited number of alternatives, from metal canopy beds to the ones made of wood as well as cast iron.

Design and material aren't the only variations in canopy beds. Variation in the bed's size is another significant alteration. Canopy beds nowadays no longer come in a single size. They may range from canopy twin beds to those that can contain as many as 4 people! The canopy itself could be made of any make from muslin to chintz.

Absolutely, the canopy bed has gone a long way from its sad beginnings. It has transformed so dramatically, in fact, whether you're a commoner or a royalty, a businessman or the least of assistants, there is a canopy bed that's made simply right for you.