Beds are the true star of a bedroom. They must create instant wow factor and an immediate romantic flavor to the space, says Martyn Lawrence Bullard, a British interior designer.Some would go further to consider their beds as the star of their homes. After all, you spend more than a third of your life in bed, so you might as well make it fabulous.Throughout history, beds have been used to show kudos. Noblemen and women had their emblems richly embroidered on the hangings and used their beds as a comfortable place to socialize and receive guests. Take Queen Annes 15-foot-high velvet-embroidered state bed, which once was housed in Windsor Castle. Or an extravagant 300kg pure silver bed made in 1882 by French silversmiths Christofle for an Indian maharaja. It included four life-sized statues of voluptuous women, mechanically driven to fan and wink at the beds occupant.Now, the humble bed is making a comeback. As the demand for bespoke products soars, furniture makers report a jump in the commissions for fantastical and futuristic beds.A customer of UK luxury beds manufacturer, Savoir Beds, recently purchased a chteau in France. But he wasnt able to decide which view to wake up to: the scenery from a window, or the open fireplace on the other side of the room.Savoir Beds found a solution; a 600,000 round wooden bed that rotates 360 degrees at the touch of a button, tailored with the help of bespoke British furniture maker Silverlining. The panoramic bed also includes built-in speakers, a fridge and fixed lighting.Others want their beds to transport them to another world, says Lawrence Bullard. While working on the interior of hip-hop star Kid Rocks Malibu estate, Bullard created a Balinese colonial four-poster bed, with sultry white drapes hung high from a wood-paneled ceiling. I like to scale up my beds, make them tall, dramatic, with some exotic flair. This adds glamour and passion to even the smallest of rooms, says the celebrity interior designer.In todays health-obsessed, fast-paced times, people are also willing to spend more on a high-end bed to improve their quality of sleep. A bed is an asset that should last longer than a car, say experts. Ten hours a night used to be the average amount people slept before the light bulb was invented in 1880. The average these days is less than seven hours on a weeknight, according to the US National Sleep Foundation. And for some of the worlds busiest, most successful people, four hours is the norm.For a jittery world that refuses to rest, Swedish bed maker Hstens is the go-to name for the most sleep-easy beds. Each bed is hand-stitched and layered with all-natural materials, including a mixture of horsetail hair thats been hand-teased to achieve a ventilating structure, cotton and wool. Its most luxurious bed range, the Vividus, will set you back about US$152,000 a piece.Some believe the shape of a bed affects quality of sleep as well. The founders of Lomme (Light Over Matter Mind Evolution) created a bed with streamlined curves, giving sleepers greater soundproof coverage. The organic egg-shaped bed costs about US$30,000 but options include additional therapeutic features such as a light system (US$1,000) for a selection of different interior shades, as well as various sound systems (up to US$44,000).Esther Szpilman, founder of Lomme, says: The motivation force for someone to buy a Lomme bed could be for improving sleep or simply the form itself. The shape was designed this way, so it gives a feeling of protection, like a mothers womb. During exhibitions of our beds at shows, children love it and dont want to get out. We are planning to produce a special childrens version in the future.Others want beds that resemble works of art. Self-taught Irish designer and architect Joseph Walsh has created a limited-edition Enignum canopy bed, a free-form sculptural work made by gluing pliant slats of ash into a nebulous shape. Walsh and his team hand-carved the structure to achieve smooth curves, creating an arty piece that also functions perfectly as a bed.Walsh says: Throughout my journey of making furniture, I have to consider the practical aspect of user experience as it is important that the piece is not only a pleasure to look at or touch, but to live with as well.Over the series of eight Enignum beds he has created, the most notable is the tall one realized for the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at their Chatsworth house.This bed stretched over 6m high.Whether discreetly hidden or the pice de rsistance of your home, a personalized creation that doubles as a comfortable place to lay ones head is certainly something to dream of.SEE ALSO:This is what it's like to sleep on the world's most expensive bedJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: This earthquake-proof bed is the stuff of nightmares
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