At Natural Bed Company, we’re always looking for creative and sustainable ways to make beautiful wooden bed bases. We’re excited to announce that we’re working with local British timber supplier, Albion Timber, on a range of solid English Oak bed bases. Find out more information on the timber and its supplier below.
English Oak is a beautiful and timeless timber. It is perfect in both contemporary and traditional schemes, minimal or maximalist styles!
Compared with American Oak (which we use as standard for all of our wooden beds), English Oak is much more characterful. American Oak is grown and harvested on a larger scale, producing a fairly uniform timber. Growing, harvesting and replenishing English Oak is a much smaller operation, resulting in a more natural look. English Oak is a very dense and hardwearing timber, often used for outdoor projects over American Oak.
The colour is a beautiful golden shade, ranging from pale straw to deep honey browns. This timber features a strong grain and “Cats Paw” clusters of knots peppered throughout. This “Pippy” Oak is the result of the open nature of our woodlands. The easy light penetration encourages a quick growth of buds on the main tree trunks. These growths penetrate deep into the heart wood of the tree, and when cut they appear as ‘cat’s paws’ or patches of burr on the board. The grain swirls around the knots and clusters, create beautiful wild patterns and figures. These natural variations are highly prized by furniture makers for truly unique pieces! These pips make stunning timber for special projects.
Albion Timber is a specialist hardwood timber merchant based in the North of England – in Sheffield to be precise! All of their British timber is responsibly sourced from local forests and estates. Additionally, they ensure good management practices are implemented, as promoted by Woodland Heritage.
Not only is this beautiful Oak grown in UK soil, it largely comes from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. We can’t get much more local than that! We love that Albion Timber look after the full process. From buying the round logs, getting them milled and drying the sections. The wood is then finally prepared for us to turn into these beautiful beds in our Sheffield Workshop.
Visiting Albion Timber, surrounded by idyllic Yorkshire farmland and fields, we had the opportunity to browse their full range of timbers and learn about the process from start to finish. David kindly answered all of our questions, demonstrating his deep knowledge of both english and international timbers and his passion for locally made, quality furniture. If you’re on the lookout for some beautiful timber for a project of your own (big or small), we’d highly recommend getting in touch with Albion Timber.
To match the classic look and heritage of English Oak, we’ve created a limited run of Camden and Chiswick beds in this special timber. Both beds are beautiful, handmade pieces with shaped legs and soft curves to the edges – a nod to mid-century design. The Camden is slightly more detailed and traditional in it’s headboard design. Comparatively, the Chiswick features a much larger and simpler headboard panel, leaning slightly more minimal in its shape.
Our workshop team have handcrafted a small number of Double, King or Super-King size beds. Made with solid English Oak, these beds are truly one of a kind. Creating an heirloom piece of furniture for an extra special focal point in your bedroom. Finished in our ‘natural’ look lacquer, allowing you to appreciate the myriad of colours and subtle variations in tone of natural timber. Retaining a very subtle, soft sheen for minimal maintenance.
We hope you’ve found this information on our new English Oak bed bases interesting! Of course, if you have any further questions about this limited edition collection, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our sales team.