What Is A Sleigh Bed

The term Sleigh refers to the design of the bed, it has a headboard that is considerably larger than the footboard, the overall design of these two parts are what make it that little bit special. Both the head and footboard are curved with the top part rolling slightly outwards, when you look at the shape of the bed it resembles the old-fashioned horse drawn sleigh, hence of course the appropriate name.

The original design of the Sleigh bed originated in France and was inspired by the court of Emperor Napoleon. At this time antique Roman forms were being unearthed in many parts of Europe and these provided inspiration for furniture makers, the fashion became known as the Empire style. In France the Sleigh bed started off quite small made only for one person, it looked very similar to what we now know as a day bed and similar to what we see commonly in historical period houses.

The Sleigh bed fell into the heart of America in the early 1800's, this was during the American Empire period as the Victorian style came into vogue. The first Sleigh beds had mahogany veneers and sometimes the rolls of the headboard and footboard curved inwards not outwards. Since then the Sleigh bed has held a special place in the hearts of American craftsmen, through the last century it's concentration was mainly in the east of the Mississippi river but due to the growth of media coverage in the last ten years, Sleigh beds have been brought to a much wider audience. With their ever growing popularity this style of bed has now become a favourite universally.