A bed fit for an emperor | REVIEW

Last week we moved back into our bedroom after almost four months ‘camping out’ in our converted attic. In those four months we have ripped out fitted wardrobes, a fitted bed and a fitted dresser, ripped out an en-suite (unexpectedly), created a small walk in wardrobe with a new opening, rewired, replastered, painted, touched up and sanded until our hands (and feet) could take no more. Our carpet was fitted last Friday and we immediately assembled our new bed, and breathed a sigh of relief – feeling worn out but very pleased.

Our belongings and clothes have been spread out around the house, plus our washing baskets, new bed and mattress had been taking over most of Otto’s bedroom, so it has been fantastic to get some normality back. Simple tasks like finding my contact lenses, pyjamas, a particular pair of trousers, or a pair of earrings have taken up a lot of time each day, because these items are constantly on the move as we renovate. Otto’s room now seems huge, and his books and toys are accessible once again, which is so nice for him.

We decided sometime last year that we wanted to get a bigger bed once we moved into our new home, which probably seems ridiculous as I am 5’6″ and Jared a modest 5’7″ – so let me explain. Every morning all three boys like to come and cuddle in our bed, and it is something I have come to love and hate in equal measure. Elbows in my face, arguing about who is next to who (I am not a popular choice in case you were wondering), screaming that somebody is falling off the bed and upset that there isn’t enough room for everyone – but when we get it right, it is really quite wonderful. It’s a tradition that we want to encourage and continue, but minus the squabbling – not to mention that we will have a fourth joining us in September.

A further reason is that neither Jared, or I sleep if we have one of the boys in our bed (which doesn’t happen often), and this is something we wanted to try and solve too. I have such fond memories of sleeping in between my mum and dad whenever I got scared, and I want the boys to feel that they are welcome if they ever want to join us – without me getting aggressive (!), or one of us having to decamp.

After doing a vast amount of research we decided on an emperor sized bed, which is 7′ x 7′. Anything bigger became very expensive, and far more restrictive when choosing bedding and a mattress. We found a bed from The English Bed Company that we loved, and visited the factory close to Manchester to look at fabrics and details, before making our final decision. We did end up spending more money on our bed that we wanted to, but once we considered how much time we spend in bed, and the fact that (hopefully) we won’t ever need to buy another – it was justifiable.

We’ve been in our bedroom less than a week, so we haven’t got very far with details. We have fitted a blind, purchased a side table that I instantly loved from Debenhams and new bedding too. The loose colour scheme we are going for is white, natural and grey – very relaxed, lots of linen and hopefully quite cosy (more on that another time). Our new duvet is also from Debenhams and I must admit that I was surprised to discover that they sold an emperor sized duvet. We went for a 10.5 tog, ‘feels like down’ Jasper Conran one and we are so happy with it, plus it is machine washable and suitable for tumble drying. Lots of the reviews commented that the duvet was ‘noisy’, but I love nothing more than a nice crunchy duvet that feels like it is floating on top of me.

Pure heaven!

E xx

This post is written in collaboration with Debenhams, but all thoughts and feelings are my own.