As you may already be aware, all Natural Bed Company beds are made by hand to order. Our talented team of woodworkers and craftspeople work hard to make each bed beautiful and unique. A homegrown company based in Sheffield, Yorkshire, we have both our showroom and workshop nestled in the city centre landscape. In this blog, we’ll share some behind the scenes info about the Natural Bed Company workshop and team!
Natural Bed Company has been around much longer than many of our customers realise. The company started in the 1970s and has gone through many changes since then. Our founders – Peter & Kay – opened a shop at Nether Green called Freewheelin’. They made waterbeds from roofing joists salvaged from demolition yards and sold local hand thrown pottery, Indian bedspreads and framed art posters. As the business deverloped so did the designs and the range of Indian textiles and homewares expanded.
In the late eighties they opened The Futon Shop which over the years grew into the Natural Bed Company. Here Peter designed many of the contemporary wooden beds that we still sell today! Peter & Kay handed over the reigns to Caro & Paula in 2018. Since then further bed designs have been added along with lots of new bedding and homewares – this time with a more contemporary, Scandinavian style.
Some of our workshop staff are true company veterans and have been with us since it all started. We’re quite a small team here, and many of our members are part of the furniture!
All the furniture we make is crafted at our workshop. We make all the beds and a selection of bedside tables to compliment them. You can find all our beds just here, and you can also find all the bedside tables and drawers we make just here. Each of our beds and bedside tables are crafted by hand and made to order from sustainably certified timbers.
Our workshop team includes a full cast of woodworkers, plus a dedicated packing and lacquering department. Every one of our items visit each department in turn, ensuring quality and precision. Our workshop is overseen by workshop manager, Nigel and assistant workshop manager, Jim.
What about upholstery? For upholstered beds, we also work with two local upholstery companies; Oakbrook Upholstery and Mews Upholstery. These are also Sheffield-based businesses and make all the headboards for our upholstered beds.
When you order a bed from Natural Bed Company, it is first processed by our sales team at our showroom. Then, the timber is ordered per bed by our workshop manager. When the timber arrives, it is then cut to size and shape. Each section of the bed is cut and crafted by one of our talented woodworkers. Once the wood has been shaped, it then goes to our spray department, where it is lacquered and sometimes stained – depending on your choice.
Next, it is packed with care and attention in our dedicated packing department. When it makes its way to you, you’ll receive a card signed by the member of our team who made your bed specifically, as an extra personal touch!
We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes at our workshop. If you ever have any questions about our beds, how they’re made or the customisations available, don’t hesitate to get in touch!