Buttons, scrolls and a rolled footboard: the Penhurst Upholstered Bed explained

A sleigh bed is a shape with a long memory, and the Penhurst Upholstered Bed takes the softest reading of it. The headboard scrolls back, a rolled footboard answers it at the other end, and both are deeply buttoned with crystal buttons. There is no storage in the base, which is the point: the Penhurst is bought for its outline, and an outline is best left uninterrupted by a lifting lid.

What the sleigh shape does to a room

Two curved ends make a bed look like a piece of furniture standing in a room rather than a mattress against a wall. It also means the bed reads from the foot as well as the head, so the Penhurst suits a room you walk into side-on, or one where the bed cannot be centred on the wall it is nearest. The trade is length, and the figures below show it clearly.

The deep buttoning with crystal buttons is the detail that carries the style. Buttoning pulls the cloth into regular hollows, which catches light down the whole face of the headboard. In a plush velvet that effect is strong; in a flatter cloth such as Naples or Coniston it is quieter and more tailored. It is worth deciding which of those two rooms you want before you choose the fabric.

Frame, not divan

The Penhurst is built as a frame. The mattress sits down inside an upholstered surround, with the side rails and foot end finished in the same cloth as the headboard. Nothing lifts and nothing pulls out, so the bed sits low and the surround hides the mattress edge. If you need the space under the bed, the same design exists as an ottoman with a lifting platform, and that is the version to compare rather than trying to make a frame store things.

Five sizes, measured across the finished bed

• Single 3FT: 99 cm wide by 231 cm long
• Small Double 4FT: 127 cm wide by 231 cm long
• Double 4FT6: 144 cm wide by 231 cm long
• King 5FT: 158 cm wide by 240 cm long
• Super King 6FT: 189 cm wide by 240 cm long

Note the lengths. A Double Penhurst is 231 cm from the back of the headboard to the front of the footboard, and a King is 240 cm. That is a good deal more than the mattress, because both scrolled ends take up room. If your bedroom is longer than it is wide the Penhurst will look as though it was drawn for it; if the wall you are working with is short, measure the floor from skirting to skirting before you settle on a size. The product page has a size guide with the bed drawn from the side and from above, every size at the same scale.

A tall headboard is included with the bed, so the headboard height is not something you have to add on.

Choosing from the 26 colourways

The Penhurst is upholstered to order in any of 26 colourways: eight plush velvets, seven Coniston shades, six Naples, four chenilles and a silver Linoso. Every part finished in cloth is done in the cloth you choose, so the headboard, the surround and the footboard all match without you having to coordinate anything. Our own habit is to recommend ordering fabric samples first and looking at them in the actual room, in daylight and under the lamp you use at night, because a mink and a silver can swap places entirely between the two.

Where to look next

The Penhurst sits in our upholstered beds, alongside the other frames that have no storage in the base. Customers who start here often end up comparing it with divan beds, which trade the shaped surround for a storage box, and the choice usually comes down to whether the room has anywhere else to put bedding. We sell beds in Scotland and well beyond it, and this is the conversation we have most often, so it is worth asking rather than guessing.

Ordering, delivery and the mattress

The bed is made to order in the size, cloth and headboard you choose. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond it. Mattresses are sold separately so you can match the tension to the person sleeping on it rather than take whatever is bundled in. Sizes, cloths and the full size guide are on the Penhurst product page, and there is a question form on it if anything here is unclear.