There’s a romance to a four-poster bed, that stalwart of the grand country house and frequenter of fairy tales, that is hard to beat. Who wasn’t besotted with the muslin bed dressings on the set of Franco Zeffirelli’s exquisite (if now contentious) Romeo & Juliet, designed by the legendary Renzo Mongiardino? Who hasn’t at some point imagined themselves propped up on feather pillows and framed by hand-embroidered silk curtains at Houghton Hall? And yet a four poster isn’t always possible, or practical. If you often move house it is dull to take apart and put back together; other times, a four poster simply isn’t suited to the room and it’s layout. Yes it might technically fit, but it can be quite a significant space filler, and even if minimally dressed can create an actual physical block. Fortunately, there is a hack, of sorts, for those who desire a more decorative finish to their bed, whether due to maximalist proclivities, or to their having retained childhood dreams of grandeur.
The hack, of course, is a canopy, the demi bed-hangings referred to by Laura Ashley simply as ‘drapes’ in The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating (a vital acquisition for anyone who has a sewing machine, ability, and aspirations to 1980s hameau de la reine levels of frills and flounces), and a catch-all term encompassing half-testers, corona drapes, and more. For those who like their interiors to come with ancient grounding, know that the history of their existence stretches significantly further back than the late 20th century, for even a half-tester still fulfilled one of the vital jobs of a four poster: namely apprehending the mice and rats that fell out of the ceiling above. (In the very olden days of sod roofs and thatching – a far from weathertight arrangement, incidentally – rodents would burrow through the sod looking for a warm place to sleep.) Their lack of widespread adoption was because they were less good than four posters at retaining heat (not as vital in today’s landscape of central heating and insulation) or affording privacy (again, we’ve moved on from sleeping in the same room as forty of the local fieldhands.)
Arguably frivolous (though what is more luxurious than something entirely unnecessary?) there are however aesthetic benefits to the canopy that go beyond surface value. “They soften a room,” says Octavia Dickinson, who is an ardent fan, “and their height can help provide balance.”
So what do we need to think about?
Decide on style
The key is to consider what you’d like the result, or feeling, to be. If you simply want to bring in another pattern, then Octavia recommends fixing a curtain pole to the wall behind your bed and hanging a piece of fabric from it. It’s an approach that Joanna Plant has used in her own bedroom (at the top of the page), trimming the fabric to give it further emphasis. Alternatively, you can use more than one pole – as Gabby Deeming has done in her bedroom (above) - and extend the fabric further, whether right over the bed and down the other side, or just across the ceiling.
On the other hand, if you want something that feels cossetting as well as looking decorative, but is still very simple, Laura Ashley points out that the curtain pole could equally be fixed to the ceiling, and attached in the same direction as the bed, giving a tented effect. The fabric itself can be festooned with the addition of rows of gathers should you wish for a more elaborate look.
Corona drapes and half testers are a more significant undertaking. The former centre above the head of the bed and can be attached either to the ceiling or the wall, using a specially bought antique or contemporary coronet fitting. Or, they can be arranged on a circular or semi-cirular pole that is covered up by the fabric. Octavia explains that she prefers corona drapes to a half tester (see below) both on narrower beds, and on very wide beds – “It’s about which proportions are going to work better” – while Chris Pask, Director at Charlton Brown suggests “a corona topping has a degree of grandeur that feels most at home in a more traditional setting, think high ceilings and ornate cornices.”
A half-tester typically mirrors a four-poster in style, but there is less to it - literally - and “it can be less imposing on the room,” says Chris. Some beds come with the necessary structure in place, otherwise you can buy an add-on frame or have one made. Boxy-ish in shape, the half-tester does not have to be the full width of the bed, you can also play with depth – Charlotte and Angus Buchanan created a canopy that is the full length of their bed and the pelmet, making it hard or soft, gathered or pleated, scalloped or straight.
Height
This one can be tricky as it’s to do with proportion, and “there are no general rules,” says Chris. Having said that, “if in doubt, make it the same height as the curtain pole,” says Octavia, “unless the windows are very low. If I’d mirrored the height of the half tester to the curtains in Willlow Crossley’s bedroom, it would have felt very squat, so there it’s higher. I find it helps to sketch the room, so that you can visualise what it’s going to look like.”
Fabric choice and whether to match (or not)
This is obviously why most of us are going for it (there are just so many exquisite fabrics out there, who doesn’t want to live with them all?) First, know that you can incorporate either one or two fabrics, depending on your preference. Whether or not you want either fabric to match the curtains, the valance and the headboard (if indeed they match each other) is again down to personal choice, but remember that “you are going to look at them together, so there does need to be cohesion,” points out Octavia, “though I would probably go for different fabrics. If I were using two, I’d contrast the sizes of the pattern, or pattern and plain, and the weight – perhaps using a heavier fabric on the outside, and a voile on the inside.” (Octavia has designed a voile exactly for this purpose.)
Potentially worth keeping in mind is the quantity needed of each fabric, and the fact that you’re going to need more of the inner (re the outer, there’s no point in using it actually against the wall where you’re not going to see it) so “if you can find a less expensive fabric for that one, that is great,” suggests Octavia.
Helpful names to know
Essentially, canopies are curtains for your bed, and so the best place to start is with your curtain maker; if you don’t already have a relationship with one, there’s a helpful list here. Antiques shops, antiques markets, regional action houses, Etsy and eBay are all good sources for antique and vintage canopy coronets – in French they’re known as a ciel de lit, a fact which will potentially aid your search engine adventures.
If you are going to make a canopy yourself, Octavia recommends Hunter & Hyland as being able to help with the poles and other accessories that you will need. We recommend a decent sewing machine – and wish you luck.
