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Upholstered beds, platform looks build on leather, sleigh bed trend

By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, October 28, 2001

HIGH POINT — Upholstered beds and platform looks caught buyers' eyes in case goods showrooms at market, with both looks playing on the popularity of leather panel beds and sleigh beds.

The new product, however, took the style features — flexibility and texture for leather beds and the low fronts of sleigh beds — a step further.

A case in point is the upholstered panel bed in Hickory White's American Portfolio collection.

"Our customer is at a level where they want choices, and this bed is available in all our fabrics, all our leathers," said Jay Paschall, director of wood product development. "It can be much more masculine or feminine depending on the choice."

The bed from E.J. Victor's Frenchie collection, an addition to its Carol Hicks Bolton offerings, comes in any combination of Bolton fabrics and E.J. Victor finishes.

"With the softness in the bedroom from linens and shams, the next step is to offer an upholstered bed," said John Jokinen, president. "We have a unique opportunity because we have an upholstery division. This bed in particular takes a good bit of technique with all the stitching."

Jeffco, which also makes both upholstery and case goods, has been making high-end upholstered beds for 10 years. Introductions here included a grand upholstered bed with sweeping Art Deco-inspired shapes.

"The bedroom is becoming a true living area," said Jeffrey Gaynor, president of Jeffco. "There you'll find pieces like love seats and game tables, and an upholstered bed fits right in to that type of use. It's luxurious, it's sexy, and it's comfortable."

Platform beds — sometimes called island beds to indicate they accept full bedding and box springs — showed up this October in more mainstream showrooms than ever before. Long a staple of contemporary houses, platform looks also have stepped into traditional settings.

"The platform doesn't take up much room, and it has no footboard to block the sight lines," said Geoff Beaston, president of Fine Furniture Design & Marketing. "It gives you a lot of fashion with a lot of function. American consumers want the style, but they want it straightforward."

Platform beds appeal to the same consumer that made sleigh beds such a hot item, said Kevin O'Connor, president of Legacy Classic. "You have an over-45 customer at retail that is buying poster beds," he said. "Then you have a younger customer who's been going for the sleigh bed."

The problems O'Connor sees with sleigh beds are their expense and the amount of space that sweeping headboards and fronts take up.

"The younger customer likes the sleigh, but sometimes they don't live in large homes," he said. "Platform beds give you the silhouette of the sleigh, but you don't have that big footboard. It's easy to set up and has a clean line of sight."

Stickley's Louis Philippe-style La Rochelle featured a platform-style bed in solid cherry. Amini Audi, executive vice president, said it's too soon to say the sleigh bed is gone, but the company chose a platform look because it's a natural fit for La Rochelle's pure interpretation of Louis Philippe.

"This bed is essentially a sleigh bed form," she said. "We'll continue to see the sleigh bed be very popular."

The platform configuration hit mainstream showrooms at all price points in a big way this market. Shown here is a promotional offering from Pilliod.

Case goods market directions

BUYER'S MARKET Consumers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of big values from domestic and import sources. Many resources are extending market specials.
LOCKED AND LOADED More case goods exhibitors plan to get at least part of their introductions to retailers before the end of the year, some as soon as November.
SPREADING THE WORD Retailers who didn't attend market will get a fuller presentation of introductions from reps equipped with higher-quality, comprehensive sales materials.

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