Japanese style futons, sofa-beds and bed bases – a taste of the Orient!

At Natural Bed Company we love the simple, bold and calm aesthetic of the Orient – clean lines and strong shapes, a restrained colour palette and lack of unnecessary decoration. It’s the perfect recipe for a contemporary, restful bedroom.
Inspired by this look we designed a collection of Japanese style futons, sofa-beds, and bed-bases – ideal to help you recreate this look at home.

Our Japanese Style Futon Mattresses

We hand make deep, comfortable futon mattresses using the finest quality fillings. Our futons are firm but with a soft surface layer to give them a relaxing, cosy feel. Our 7 layer mattress is about 6 inches thick.

The fillings we use are rebound poly-cotton, i-Fibre and pure wool. Rebound poly-cotton, a special blend of cotton and poly-cotton, is the thickest component and provides much of the support and weight. i-Fibre is a new technological innovation by which the fibres of the polyester are arranged vertically, rather than layered horizontally, so they act like springs and have less tendency to compress. This makes the futon firmer and gives it resilience. The pure wool is used for the outer layers of the futon because it has excellent thermal properties as a temperature regulator and is very ‘breathable’.

Our futons are still made in the traditional way with square boxed corners and a zip around three sides, so that we can add the filling one layer at a time and fit the filling closely into the corners. We use a long needle to pass several cotton ties through the futon to keep the filling layers in place. The ties give the futon mattress its distinctive, Japanese look.

Oriental Look Futon Sofa Beds

The Fiji and Tokyo sofa beds are the perfect choice for your Eastern inspired spare bedroom or lounge, should you need a stylish chair or sofa that becomes an extra occasional bed. The frames for the Fiji and Tokyo are constructed using simple pine slats and a strong pine base. The Tokyo is similar to the Fiji, but in addition has front feet and a reclining position option. Select pale sanded pine or a dark wenge finish (an espresso brown lacquer) for a bold, Japanese look.

These sofa-beds come with a 7-layer futon mattress. You can emphasise your Oriental look by choosing a fixed cover in black, terracotta, or calico (a pale cream shade), and complement the colour choice with ties in black or ivory.

We also offer the Cuba and Panama futon sofa beds – if you are looking for a more classic sofa-bed style.

The Kyoto Collection of Bed Frames

Our Kyoto collection includes the Kyoto, Kumo and Kobe bed frames – they are classic Japanese style beds available with or without a headboard.  The first bed we designed was the Kumo, a low bed that took its name from a Japanese word for cloud due to the ‘floating’ appearance it has when viewed from the front. The inset leg disappears beneath the mattress frame.

These beds are available in a range of timbers from sanded pine to solid walnut. Any of the timbers from our collection can be used within an Oriental bedroom scheme. We would recommend that you keep the bedding simple and stick to a limited number of colours e.g. black, cream and crimson, or beige and dark brown. Complete the look with a futon mattress – some customers have paired the Kyoto without a headboard with a futon mattress – when not dressed it makes a stylish day-bed, when dressed with bedding – a comfortable and elegant bed.

We also offer a range of platform beds that suit the Japanese style, take a look at the Ki, Kulu and Oregon beds. For more inspiration take a look at our Japanese Beds & Bedroom Design page.