Begin with the bed: inside And So To Bed
Why a beautiful bedroom starts with the bed, and how And So To Bed has spent fifty years making it count.
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There is a moment in decorating a bedroom when everything begins to make sense. The proportions settle. The bedside tables suddenly look right. The fabric, the lighting and the furniture feel connected, as though they were chosen together. More often than not, the bed is responsible.
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Get the dealIt is the largest piece of furniture in most bedrooms, and the one everything else is arranged around. Yet beds are often chosen late in a project, somewhere between the paint colours and the curtains, as though one king-size frame were much like another.
And So To Bed takes the opposite view. Its collection makes the case for the bed as furniture in the fullest sense: something with scale, material, line and character, as able to set the mood of a room as an antique chest, a fireplace or a beautiful piece of upholstery. Beneath it sits a second, less visible decision, the mattress, which the company treats with equal seriousness.
The bed is where the room should begin
The most convincing bedrooms have a clear hierarchy, and the bed usually sits at the top of it.
A bed in proportion with the room gives everything around it something to relate to. A tall headboard brings height to an empty wall. Upholstery introduces colour and texture on a scale no cushion can. Timber warms a scheme, polished brass catches the light, and a four poster creates architecture where there was none.
Scale matters most in rooms with character. High ceilings can dwarf a modest bed, and a generous Georgian or Victorian bedroom can leave an ordinary king-size looking stranded in too much floor. In a smaller room the reverse applies: height and visual weight need judging carefully, so the bed anchors the space without crowding it.
The measure, in the end, is whether the bed belongs to the room. That is the question And So To Bed’s collection is built to answer.
A collection rooted in antique beds
The character of the range goes back to how the company began. And So To Bed was founded in 1976 as a specialist in fine antique beds. When demand outgrew the supply of genuine pieces, it began making its own designs based on traditional beds, and opened its first shop on the King’s Road in Chelsea, still its flagship showroom.
That beginning runs through the collection today. There are Victorian brass bedsteads, the curving French lit bateau, carved and gilded frames, Baroque details and Gothic four posters, alongside quieter shapes for contemporary rooms.
Because these designs come from furniture history, they suit the houses that history built. A well-proportioned brass bed sits naturally against original floorboards and tall sash windows. A carved wooden frame gives a large bedroom the substance it needs. A French silhouette brings curve and detail to a room that would otherwise feel too square. And unlike a genuine antique, each can be made in the size the room calls for.
The best rooms rarely look as though every object came from one collection. They do look as though the pieces understand one another.
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Join freeWhen a bed becomes a piece of furniture
The range itself spans upholstered beds, wooden frames, brass, nickel and cast iron bedsteads, sleigh beds, four posters, divans, ottoman storage beds and adjustable beds. The company describes its beds as handmade and hand finished, and much of the collection is made to order.
That turns the choice into a decorating decision. An upholstered bed can pick up a curtain fabric or the colours of a wallpaper. A painted finish can soften a room full of natural timber. A tall headboard can correct the proportions of a high wall. In a generous principal bedroom, an Emperor or Large Emperor bed can look far better balanced than a conventional king-size.
Around the beds, And So To Bed makes the furniture that completes the room: bedside chests, chests of drawers, dressing tables, wardrobes, mirrors, chairs and lighting, in collections that draw on Georgian and Louis XV styles as well as more eclectic designs. The advantage lies less in buying a matching suite than in treating the bed and the furniture around it as one visual problem, with the same care given to scale and to the tone of wood or metal.
Discover And So To Bed’s beds and furniture
Bespoke, when the room comes first
Luxury is an overused word in interiors. Choice is often the more meaningful measure, and a good made-to-order service lets the room decide the furniture.
And So To Bed makes beds, mattresses and bed linen in Emperor and Large Emperor sizes, and other sizes can be made to order. Upholstered beds can be made in its own fabrics, with swatches sent to you at home, or in a fabric you supply, provided it meets the UK’s fire safety regulations for upholstered furniture. Wooden beds can be made in a choice of painted finishes.
This flexibility earns its keep where the standard answer is nearly right. A bedroom so generous that a super king still looks lost. A designer who has specified the curtains and wallcovering and wants the bed to sit quietly within that palette. An older house with an alcove of its own particular width.
Bespoke is most convincing when it solves something. Here, it often does.
A beautiful bed is only half the decision
There is an irony at the centre of buying a bed. Everything that makes the frame beautiful can be inspected: the proportions, the stitching, the carving, the finish. The part that matters most for sleep is hidden under the bedding.
And So To Bed gives the mattress the same weight as the frame, and brings together three genuinely different approaches to comfort.
Vispring, the British maker most closely linked with the company, builds pocket-sprung mattresses, and several And So To Bed showrooms are dedicated to it. TEMPUR moulds closely to the body with its own pressure-relieving material. Aireloom, from California, pairs pocket springs with memory foam and is sold in the UK only by And So To Bed. Alongside them sits the company’s own Pure Luxe hybrid.
Built so differently, two mattresses that each call themselves firm can feel nothing alike, and what suits one sleeper may not suit the person beside them. The Mattress Studio in each showroom exists for exactly this, and since 2019 the company has worked with the sleep specialist Dr Lindsay Browning, who offers consultations to customers with particular sleep problems. For a purchase meant to last many years, time spent lying down before spending anything is time well used.
Dressing the rest of the bedroom
A convincing bedroom is built in layers, and the bed is where they gather. Once its scale and style are set, the way it is dressed decides whether a substantial frame reads as grand or as welcoming.
Texture does much of that work. Crisp cotton against a velvet headboard, washed linen on a carved timber frame, a heavier throw folded across the foot of a brass bed: each contrast softens the furniture and gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Restraint matters just as much. A bed with strong character usually looks best dressed simply, in a short palette, so the line of the frame stays legible. A plainer upholstered bed can carry more pattern and more layers without losing its composure.
And So To Bed’s bedding is assembled for exactly this kind of layering: duvets and pillows from Brinkhaus and Bedfolk, bed linen from Yves Delorme, Reed Family Linen, Amalia Home Collection and Dormitory, with toppers, protectors and its own pieces alongside.
A beautifully proportioned bed in indifferent bedding rarely looks inviting. The aim is a set of relationships between pieces, more than a set of matches.
Precision is part of the pleasure
Specifying a bed for a particular room brings a responsibility to get the specification right, because made-to-order and upholstered pieces cannot usually be returned unless faulty.
Measure the route as well as the room: doorways, stair turns, landings and ceiling heights all matter before a large bed reaches its final position, especially in older houses, where generous bedrooms often sit above narrow staircases. Look at the fabric in the room, in daylight and lamplight, beside the pieces that are staying. And if the bedroom is part of a renovation or a move, work back from the date it needs to be finished, since a made-to-order bed and a stocked mattress run on different timetables.
A made-to-order bed is no place for “probably”. The practical details are set out in the questions below.
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Our view
The most persuasive thing about And So To Bed is the way it treats the bed as both furniture and function.
Its history gives the collection character: brass, carved timber, French curves and four posters that hold their own in rooms with real architectural presence. Its made-to-order service lets those designs answer the proportions, fabrics and finishes of a particular interior. And beneath it all lies the less visible decision that matters every night: the right mattress.
A beautiful bedroom does not need to match, but it does need to feel resolved. The bed should have the right scale for the wall behind it, the right visual weight for the furniture beside it and, once the lights are out, the comfort to justify all the care that went into choosing it.
Perhaps that is why the best place to begin a bedroom is the bed itself, before the paint chart or the pile of fabric samples. Begin with the bed, and let the room take shape around it.
See the latest And So To Bed cashback, offers and terms on The Online Shopping Expert (TOSE) before you order online.
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And So To Bed FAQs
Is And So To Bed the same as Vispring?
They are separate companies. Vispring makes beds and mattresses; And So To Bed is a bedroom specialist that sells Vispring alongside its own designs and other brands, and its showrooms include several dedicated Vispring showrooms.
Which mattress brands does And So To Bed sell?
Vispring, TEMPUR and Aireloom, which is exclusive to And So To Bed in the UK, together with its own Pure Luxe hybrid mattress.
Can I order a bed in a custom size or my own fabric?
Yes. Beds, mattresses and linen are available in Emperor (6ft 6in) and Large Emperor (7ft), with other sizes made to order. Upholstered beds can be made in a fabric you supply, provided it meets UK fire safety regulations for upholstered furniture.
Can I return a bespoke or upholstered bed?
And So To Bed’s terms state that upholstered items, and items ordered specifically for you, cannot be returned unless faulty. Mattresses cannot be returned once out of their packaging, and clearance and ex-display pieces are non-refundable unless damaged or not as described. Check the full returns policy before ordering.
How long does a made-to-order bed take?
Stocked items arrive relatively quickly. Mattresses and divans are typically the quickest of the made-to-order pieces, upholstered beds take longer, and wooden and brass beds and furniture take the longest. The estimate for each item is shown in the basket.
Does And So To Bed deliver and assemble the bed?
Delivery is by its own team on a white-glove basis, with assembly available. It also offers to take away and recycle your old bed and mattress, and can arrange a visit to check access before you order.
Does And So To Bed price match or offer finance?
It offers a price match guarantee on like-for-like products, and interest-free finance on larger orders, online and in its showrooms.
Can I earn cashback at And So To Bed?
Yes, on orders placed online after clicking through from TOSE. The And So To Bed brand page shows the current rate, offers and cashback terms. If you plan to use a discount code as well, check those terms first; our guide to whether online discount codes work explains why.
