We all have one, we all go to them at any time during the
day, and some people go to them when they feel scared. They make us feel safe.
We go to them with our other half. What am I talking about?
Yes of course I am talking about beds. Yes we all think
of them as just a mattress a headboard and a base – where drawers or empty
space (mostly for clutter to be found). Little do we know that designers have
done their jobs and designed and manufactured the object that we treasure so
much and look forward to so much at the end of each day.
Designers have tirelessly incorporated innovation into
beds for decades. For those fortunate enough to have a ‘little bit’ of money to
splash out on a really nice bed, here are some that my take your fancy:
# 1 – The Magnetic Floating Bed
It has taken six years of research in order for Dutch
Architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars to develop this magnetically levitating
bed. There are enough magnets to support 900kg / 1,984lbs – the equivalent of a
fully grown giraffe. To ensure the bed does not float away from any hard wind
or and weird movements (ahem), it is supported by four steel cables that
connect into your walls.
This is definitely an eye-catching feature in the bedroom,
but you would have to fork out €1.2 million / $1.53 million / £1.04 million in
order to own one yourself. Also you would need to have a pretty large bedroom
to fully appreciate the effectiveness of this illusion. It is safe to say, you
will not find it in any local mattress store.
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| Courtesy of www.h-eich.com |
# 2 – The Cosmovoide Bed
It has been scientifically proven that we all spend approximately
one third of our lives in bed asleep. Therefore we would ideally like to be
sleeping in a nice bed as possible. How about spending $60,000 / £38,200 / €45,300
to ensure your comfort is attained. It is, I would agree a much more reasonable
price in comparison to the Magnetic Floating Bed, but still, it is rather
expensive.
For all that money, you do however get wrapped up in a
cosy ‘cosmic’ harmony in this luxury bed that is shaped like an egg, whilst
suspended by hammock-like springs, with a telephone, theatre / DVD set-up, a
television at the foot of the bed along with several rainbow coloured lights to
emphasize the relaxed atmosphere once one is ‘inside’.
Do not be alarmed the bed itself can be customized, according to its French manufacturer’s – therefore you won’t be stuck with the
rather garish looking yellow suede external colour you see in the picture.
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| Courtesy of www.bornrich.com |
# 3 – The Rocking Bed
When babies are rocked or cradled, they always seem to
fall asleep. Why does this technique have to stop once we get too old for our
parents to pick us up? Manuel Kloker has designed, a patented ‘rocking frame’.
It is essentially a bed that rocks back and forth similar to that of a rocking
chair.
I suppose you will be able to alter the orientation of
your lying position to depend whether you are ‘rocked’ forward-and-back or
side-to-side. I personally may find this a novelty that interest would
disappear rather rapidly as some days, I just want to lay there on my bed and
not having to worry about having a roller-coaster ride to sleep.
This is available, on average, about $6,800 / £5,130 / €6,070
but that may increase or decrease depending on the size you order. This bed does
come without a mattress, so add that onto the already extraordinarily high
bottom line.
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| Courtesy of www.toxel.com |
# 4 – The 'Scoop' Bed
I thought this was an ‘interesting’ name for a bed myself
too.
As apartments and houses are being built smaller and
smaller these days, space saving devices are becoming an essential part of
furniture hunting. Saba Italia’s designer Guido Rosati, designed the ‘Scoop’, which is an innovative answer for the demand of space
saving furniture combining both the bed with the sofa.
When connected together, the feature looks like a
circular bed – a different design in itself. However, the bed can be pulled
apart resulting in two stylish sofas.
A great surprise for your guests.
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| Courtesy of www.i-cdn.apartmenttheraphy.com |
# 5 – The Computer Bed
Another space-saving innovation for you. This is an ideal
solution for student accommodation, guestrooms that you want to use an office, or
for apartments that are on the small size, making intelligent use of the space
under the bed.
This was invented by Lino son Francesco, a European
designer, using gas and hydraulic pistons to enable the computer table doubling
up as a bed. The design is available in a variety of different woods with
prices starting at $3,650 / £2,326 / €2,750
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| Courtesy of www.i1.wp.com |
# 6 – The Ceiling Bed
Now this is the bed that in my opinion tops the chart for
not only innovation, but for saving space also. Using only 4 square metres of
your apartment, the ‘BedUp’ model is stored in the ceiling during the day. When
the bed is required, it can come down as a manner of a lift system and stops at
a height that you have previously programmed. Therefore you won’t have to clear
any furniture that is underneath it.
When it is raised the option of having lighting embedded
into the base of the bed which will also provide a fantastic light feature when
the bed is down.
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| Courtesy of www.i2.wp.com |
All of these designs and features may seem a little
far-fetched or slightly out of most of our price range. One designer, Robin
Dodwell, who I am proud to call my good friend, is a product designer who
specializes in innovation, idea generation and excellent problem solving
solutions. He has designed a few beds of his own. Feel free to check out his
own design page at Robin Dodwell Design.
As one can imagine, designers have created so many bed
designs and features, obviously the more elaborate, intricate or fancy the
design is, the bigger the price tag. The designs featured in JB Design Blog can
be seen as possibilities for the rich, but hopefully would provide inspiration
to the designers out there to invent cheaper, flexible more effective and less
costly beds to suit the average bed user.
