Why choose a solid wood bed?

The answer is that a well made, solid wood bed can last a life time as long as you look after it!

So how should I care for my wooden bed?

Firstly – please don’t drag it about from the corners, that may weaken the corner joints – get some help and lift it up if you want to move it. What else? It may seem obvious, but it’s best not to jump up and down on it. No matter how tempting it is for your children – that’s not what it was made for and is rather too much to expect of sprung beech slats! On the bright side, if they can’t resist, and over the years damage is done – you can always order replacement slats or a centre rail for your Natural Bed Company solid wood bed.

So the good news is – your solid wood bed should last a life time or longer. And if you move house and want to change the size or design of your bed, at least you can be confident that your current wooden bed will look good enough to sell or pass on to your children.

So why solid wood, why not use veneer?

Veneer is a clever idea, you get a lot of surface wood grain if you cut a block of wood into 2mm thick (thin?!) slices and stick them on to a board. That’s what veneer is after all – a nice surface stuck onto chipboard or mdf.

What’s wrong with veneered board?

Unfortunately, if you knock a veneered board, you might break off the veneer and see what’s underneath. It can’t then be easily or effectively repaired.

Also, take a look where the edges join and you’ll realise it doesn’t look right, you don’t see the end grain that you’d see with a solid piece of timber. With inexpensive veneered furniture the grain pattern repeats frequently – all the panels look the same, and each piece of furniture is identical. With solid wood each bed is unique, there is variation and ‘life’ to each section of timber – that’s what gives a solid wood bed its character.

Is it ever a good idea to use veneer?

Yes! Put it on mdf and sandwich it between solid wood legs and it makes a stable panel, possibly for use on the side or the back of a chest of drawers. It’ll stay perfectly flat and keep it’s shape and it’s not in a position where it can knocked and damaged. That’s a good use!

So why else should I buy a solid wood bed?

When you assemble a bed from Natural Bed Company you’ll see that we use traditional, secure fixings, like screws, washers and bolts. Much more satisfying and confidence inspiring than the, admittedly very clever, funny little fittings that you get with some flat-pack furniture. Mass producers have done a brilliant job at refining assembly procedures, reducing the time and costs of production. But for our beds we prefer the traditional methods that you can use with a solid wood bed and wherever possible a craftsman in our workshop will make the bed from start to finish. A sense of ownership of the production of that item helps ensure we maintain the high level of quality we are so proud of.

Trees are wonderful, we love them, it just seems right that we make something wonderful from them. Something beautiful. Something unique.

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