Bedroom Design

January 16, 2005 4:47 PM

What is pushing bedroom design from tall beds, box springs and mattress, to the 4 inches off the floor platform beds? Is it cost, maybe style that moves from space conscious Tokyo/New York, or an architect's fad? Something else?
posted by orange clock to home & garden (17 comments total)

I think there's an increasing trend toward the minimalist aesthetic of the modern/contemporary architecture movement in both interior architecture and furniture design. While I myself am much more attracted to the humanistic styles of the American Arts & Crafts movement, I can see the attraction of a pared-down style; the elimination of wasted space, the squaring off of the grid - to even the smallest details in a room or home - and the move to make all space usable and accessible is certainly appealing.
posted by luriete at 5:10 PM on January 16, 2005

the move to make all space usable and accessible is certainly appealing

But the space under a bed is useful, for storage and such, while the space over a bed is not.
posted by SPrintF at 5:38 PM on January 16, 2005

Platform beds are popular because (1) the continual rise of the Ikea aesthetic (2) beds are now regarded as furniture "to be seen" rather than an end in themselves (3) they look really cool! (I just bought one myself and it looks great!).

Minimalism/functionalist is also a big part of it. Personally, I didn't want a huge (WMD) bed that would dominate the rest of the room but rather something that would fit well with all the other stuff I do in my bedroom (computer area, sitting/reading area, dressing area w/ tall mirror). Most bedrooms are no longer just for beds and sleeping, I imagine. I had a big bed as a kid and my bedroom always felt stuffy and jam packed (partly because it was)--I wanted to avoid that.
posted by nixerman at 5:51 PM on January 16, 2005

Also, as far as I know, most matresses these days don't really need box springs - better design? Futuristic, nasa-inspired innerspring design? But it seems like that might be a part of it.
posted by sluggo at 6:01 PM on January 16, 2005

nixerman: So, where would one buy a platform bed? (FWIW, theren't not an IKEA within driving distance from here, in case that would be the go-to answer.)
posted by Alex Handcoding at 6:48 PM on January 16, 2005

Any furniture store will have them. Try this for a look.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:04 PM on January 16, 2005

Alex, I'd say try West Elm if you want something slightly more upmarket than IKEA, and Design Within Reach if money is no object.
posted by mathowie at 8:26 PM on January 16, 2005

I bought a great bed with just a really good mattress, no box spring, from Room & Board. I wonder how well their catalog operation does; I know I was skeptical until I tried one out in the store! But it's the best bed I've ever owned (at the moment it's in storage and I miss it terribly). But clearly mattress technology and a clean-design aesthetic are making the box spring obsolete; and the platform bed saves money.
posted by dhartung at 11:16 PM on January 16, 2005

Part of it is a perception issue, I guess. Rooms are getting smaller for (mainly) economic reasons, and a low, minimalist bed doesn't take such a chunk out a room, making it feel slightly bigger than it is.
posted by benzo8 at 11:53 PM on January 16, 2005

some beds double as couches, and if it is too high off the floor it makes a lousy couch.
posted by sophist at 3:32 AM on January 17, 2005

I combined both asthetics. I have a small flat (apartment) but with 11' ceilings and wanted to use the bedroom space better (dining, office etc) so I had a mezannine level built just over door height (running the width of the room (13') & 6' deep) and put a Tempur matress directly on that. It didn't cost much as the structure was made from scaffold that a friend was given.

You enter the room under the mez. level thru a short corridor which has a walk-in wardrobe on one side & a smaller cupboard (closet) on the other.

A double drop-leaf table & fold up chairs make for the dining experience & a built-in desk with shelves above (all the way to the ceiling) handles the office.

A lot more space for me & my crap and it looks good. You get used to sleeping nearer the ceiling ;-)
posted by i_cola at 4:37 AM on January 17, 2005

Rooms are getting smaller

They're getting smaller in terms of square footage, not smaller in height. Also you'd think that if the room is so much smaller people would mind losing that under the bed storage option. Seems purely a matter of aesthetics and mattress technology eliminating the box spring to me. I'd never go for a platform bed though - I take a 32" leg in jeans and I hate low furniture.
posted by orange swan at 5:17 AM on January 17, 2005

It's just a fad.
posted by xammerboy at 7:07 AM on January 17, 2005

I may be ignorant of the real product here, but a shorter bed could be made by replacing the boxspring with a board such as is used on bunkbeds/daybeds with the under-the-bed storage remaining exactly the same, so there's really no loss there.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:50 AM on January 17, 2005

I bought a West Elm low platform bed. It's been sitting in the box for over a month, I'm finally moving Wednesday. I hope it's not as bad as the ultra-cheap one that keeps breaking (search on Apartment Therapy, post-coital).

But the reason I was attracted to minimilism is that I don't have the money to do anything else right. Ideally I'd a large enough space to fill my interior like the uber-rich in Eyes Wide Shut, but rather than fake it at a big box retailer I'd like to draw attention from the bed itself. I find that minimilism attracts the eye to the art on the wall and the room fits together better.

And as others said, I ordered a queen and will be living in a small room and I don't want the bed to overtake the space. I believe the idea of the bed being the centerpiece is beginning to end as more people live in their bedrooms (computer, tv, etc.) as oppose to fully utilizing the entire house/apartment.
posted by geoff. at 9:28 AM on January 17, 2005

My bedroom is freakin' huge, and I'm thinking of doing a platform bed. They're sleek, moco, and I can build it myself.

How to Build a Platform Bed:

1. Purchase some 2x12 timber. Use them to build the base.
2. Purchase some solid-core doors. You can pick them up cheap at a demolition-reseller.
3. Lay doors on base.
4. Veneer the top and sides, to give the appearance of a single slab. You don't need to veneer the part that will be under the mattress.
5. Place mattress.
6. Profit!
posted by five fresh fish at 9:41 AM on January 17, 2005

a platform bed sounds not good. That'd take away some fun sex options.
posted by u.n. owen at 2:24 PM on January 17, 2005