Are you looking to order one of our upholstered bed bases? Here at Natural Bed Company, our upholstered beds range from low and minimalist to striking four posters. In this blog, I will guide you through our most frequently asked questions and provide you with some key information regarding our range…
We currently offer four ranges of fabrics (across two different manufacturers) with our upholstered beds; Parquet, Amatheon, Poole and Vaquero. However, we do sometimes get requests for customers to use their own material (COM). Whilst we are always open to using COM, there are things to keep in mind when choosing a fabric outside of our chosen ranges…
Any fabrics we use must fall in line with UK Fire Safety Regulations. This means that the fabric provided must be FR treated to a domestic standard. This does not apply to pure wool fabrics, as they are naturally fire retardant. If you are trying to avoid chemical FR treatments, we would recommend looking into a pure wool option! If you have found a fabric that is not pure wool but would still like to avoid any chemical treatment, we can request our upholsterer use a pure wool inter-liner. Please contact us for a quote if this is something you require.
Unfortunately, some fabrics can be unsuitable for use with our bed bases! For example, those with deep piles or more open weaves can be much more difficult to work with. Due to this, our upholsterer will always need to see a sample of a fabric before it can be approved. The sample would also need to be FR treated (unless it is pure wool!). If you would like to provide us with a sample of a fabric that you are considering, please get in touch.
With patterned fabrics, there is usually a preference for the pattern to go up/down on the headboard panel. Due to the fact that the fabric wraps around the panel horizontally, this may mean that the pattern goes from side to side instead. It is possible for us to wrap the fabric vertically. However, this will result in seams a third of the way in on both sides of the headboard or central seam.
In instances where a manufacturer of the customers choosing is supplying the fabric, we will provide a quote for the bed with the fabric cost removed. As mentioned above, we will need to see a sample. Once approved by our upholsterer, we will advise on how much fabric is required and the address to which it needs to be sent to. We are not able to order the fabric on a customers behalf in these instances.
It is worth noting that our own fabric suppliers – Abraham Moon & Sons and Warwick’s – offer many other ranges from the ones we use. If you do like one of our manufacturers other ranges, we will provide a full quote for the use of said fabric once it has been approved for use. We will also order the sample(s), along with the fabric required for the bed base.
At present, we do ask that the fabric is confirmed at the point of ordering. Due to the short length of our current lead time, we do need to allow enough time for the fabric to be delivered to us and be sent on to our upholsterer.
Another reason we require immediate confirmation is because we cannot always guarantee what our fabric suppliers stock levels are. While some colour-ways and fabrics can be restocked quite quickly, others do have lead in times once they go out of stock. Due to this, we would recommend confirming your fabric at the point of ordering. In instances where the fabric is out of stock, we will be able to advise and reach a resolution sooner if your fabric is confirmed earlier.
They can. Although the fabrics we use are hard-wearing and should last you many years, you may still find that you want a change in colour or fabric type!
If you are thinking of changing up the look of your headboard, please contact us for a quote. The quote will include the cost of the fabric (if you are choosing a fabric from our own suppliers), the re-upholstering of the headboard, plus the cost of delivery of the headboard panel to our workshop and redelivery to you once the service is completed. If you do wish to remove delivery costs entirely, it may be worth looking into upholsterers local to you. A local upholsterer may be able to perform this service for you.
Lead-in times for reupholstery will vary depending on how busy our upholsterers are at the point of enquiring.
Please note: we only offer the reupholstery service for NBC-made beds.
Due to the hard-wearing nature and durability of our chosen fabrics, this makes them very low maintenance!
The fabrics do not require any kind of extensive cleaning. As you would for your sofa, we recommend general spot cleaning. Please take care not to use any harsh cleaning chemicals when spot cleaning. A gentle vacuuming of the headboard can also be done to help stop dust accumulating.
The mattress gap is the space between the slats of our bed bases and the bottom of the headboard panel. This is where your mattress will fit once placed on to the bed base. As standard, we make this gap large enough to accommodate mattresses up to 20cm deep. However, if you have a mattress that is deeper than this, we can easily customise the gap! For more extensive information on prices and why a mattress gap alteration may be needed on upholstered bed bases, please see our blog post: What is a Mattress Gap?
Before we can confirm a mattress gap alteration, we will need to know the depth of your mattress. The best way in which to measure the depth of the mattress is from the bottom of the mattress to the top seam, and not to the loft height. The loft height is the section of mattress above the upper seam, where the top padding of the mattress can be found (please see the first photo below for reference). This padding does tend to taper up and away from the headboard when placed on a bed. Due to this, if you measure to the loft height, a slight gap may be visible.
If you have bought but not received the mattress that you will be using with your bed base, you can enquire with the manufacturer about the depth. However, many mattress manufacturers will provide either the seam to seam or the base to loft height. You will find that some mattresses have a lot of padding on both the top and bottom, so measuring seam to seam is not ideal. Due to this, measuring from the base of the mattress to the top seam is the simplest way of checking the depth!
Please note that the above information is not always applicable. For example, foam mattresses usually have a much flatter surface and underside. This makes the process of measuring them simpler, as you do not need to account for padding and tapering.
As we hand-make all of our bed bases to order, there are a number of possible customisations! From making the base taller or smaller to adding a footboard, there are many alterations we can do to suit a bed – upholstered or not – to your needs.
The main alteration specific to upholstered beds is the removal of the headboard buttons. Not all of our designs feature buttons, but we can easily reduce – or completely remove – the buttons from any of our designs. This alteration does not effect the price.
For more extensive information on customising our bed bases, please see our blog: Custom Bed Base: Info & FAQ’s. Please do let us know if you have a specific customisation in mind, as we are always happy to advise!
I hope that this post has helped to answer some of your questions about our upholstered bed bases! If you have any questions that have not been answered here, please contact us via phone, email, or by popping into our Sheffield showroom.