As someone who once renovated a six-bedroom house, I've bought a lot of beds. And as editor of Livingetc, I've tried out many, many more, in showrooms across the UK and beyond. I've seen them made in factories, I've met the sheep used for wool to stuff mattresses, and I've even designed a bed as part of a capsule Livingetc collection (more on that below).
So, basically, I know where to buy a bed. This list of my 13 favorite stockists, in no particular order other than alphabetical, covers all bases. Budget-friendly or blow-the-budget, big headboards or slender frames, there is something for everyone here who wants a beautiful modern bedroom. Sweet dreams!
1. Button & Sprung
The Wisteria bed, above, is shown here in a Colefax and Fowler heritage print.
Why does Button and Sprung make my list? It's impressive to see handmade bed frames sold at this price point, starting at £795 for a design that wasn't just churned out by machines in a factory. Better than that, the mattresses here are super comfortable (it's what I sleep on myself), with only natural fillings, thick and springy. It feels a lot like getting into a hotel bed every night - you know that feeling of having to climb up, slightly?
And because each bed is handmade, the material it comes in is customizable.
The tall arch of the bedhead is giving off major hotel vibes. Imagine being brought tea while propped up against that on a weekend morning?
2. Dusk
Dusk's Hebden is a more classic offering from this modern home brand.
You can rely on DUSK as a repository of affordable, good-quality furniture — its beds being a prime example. There are so many to choose from, some more fashion-forward than the classic Hebden, above, which I've chosen because this sort of quilted, large headboard is always in demand.
For beds that tend to cost around £300, you can rely on the fact they'll feel and look more expensive in the flesh — this is the best budget offering there is.
Hard to believe this bed is less than £200 and yet the pinstripes feel both on-trend and like they'll never go out of style. The rounded edges and slim frame is appealing, too.
3. Gallotti&Radice
This Italian brand has a sleek, but playful design style.
It wasn't that long ago that the luxe Italian brand Gallotti&Radice specialized in glass, and only glass, but in recent years it has successfully parleyed into all forms of furniture and lighting.
Known for modern organic shapes, soft colors, and its showroom being a highlight of any trip I take to Milan, Italy, or London's Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, its beds are so elegant and chic. The Lilas, above, has a soft arch to its back, which is fairly minimalist but no less comfortable for its pared-back design. A total treat to sink into each night.
More angular than many of the shapes we're used to seeing at Gallotti&Radice, the sharp corners of the headboard still manage to enclose you in just the most nurturing of ways.
4. Hästens
Designer Anna Carin is a big fan of the Swedish bed makers.
There is no mistaking a Hästens bed — the Scandinavian design brand's iconic blue and white checked frames are instantly recognizable. However, did you know they also come in several other colors? I particularly like the slightly festive red version.
Just as notorious is the pricing. Hästens beds are not cheap and the 2000T goes for somewhere north of £24,000. But the designer Ini Archibong once told me he saved and saved, and it was the best thing he ever bought, so comfortable was it to sleep on. Having been into the London showroom and hopped on every model I can see his point. An investment, sure, but in something you'll spend at least a third of your life in.
Billed as 'a most accomodating bed' this easily turns into an S shape if you want to lie with your head and feet in the air, or more of a relaxed L shape if you just want to sit up. Truly dreamy to fix to how you want it at any given time.
5. Heal's
Heal's is a luxury retailer, but also has some beds at a reasonable price point.
Heal's has been a design favorite for years — decades, no, centuries in fact (it was founded in 1810). Typically, its products err slightly mid-century, and certainly have that trans-modern feel about them that means they last and last.
It also collaborates with some incredible designers — the Wallis bed, above, was a partnership between Heal's and the very sought-after designer Russell Pinch. And as such, it's your chance to get your hands on his work for a fraction of what main-line Pinch beds cost.
The British brand ercol goes hand-in-hand with Heal's - they both have the same appreciation for craft, durability and a distinctive mid-century-style shape. As a prime ercol stockist, it's no surprise seeing this bed as one of the many to choose from at Heal's.
6. Hyem
The Walford bed, above, can be finished with rattan or an oak burr.
Hyem is the furniture design brand from London-based studio Lind + Almond, relaunching in 2025 under the new name. "Every Hyem piece begins with a material and a nostalgic reference. Made by hand, it is crafted to be treasured for generations. We respect the process, ensuring our furniture embodies depth, permanence, and integrity," Pernille Lind, co-founder of Hyem, tells us.
It's a curated range, but includes three beds, specializing in natural materials like rattan and characterful oak burr. The Sanders Bed was designed bespoke for award-winning Copenhagen hotel Sanders, while the Valverde bed, pictured at the start of the article, has a beautiful Art Deco inspiration. They're not for the budget-limited, with the beds starting from around £7,000.
Originally designed for a private home, the Valverde can be finished in rattan or oak burr.
7. Julian Chichester
Julian Chichester's Bobbin bed, above, offers immediate appeal with its turned wood posts.
Furniture making at Julian Chichester is more than just a craft, it's a love affair, with Julian himself painstakingly overseeing the development of each piece for over 35 years. Some take years to come to fruition, with many trips to the place where the artisans in Vietnam make the finished product. It's why they all become instant classics.
At once modern and familiar, boundary-pushing and comfortable, the essence of the brand in one go.
This graphic take on the classic four poster form is a prime example of what Julian Chichester does so well - updating, tweaking and elevating classic shapes and ideas.
8. Loaf
Plump, comfortable, and timelessly classic is the MO of loaf.
Loaf has long cornered the market on a certain type of family home, one where people who like nice things live, but they also have a realistic outcome of how their little ones might treat those nice things. Loaf sits squarely in the mid-range of budget level, affordable and well priced for its comfortable and high-quality pieces.
It tends to be known as a place for the best sofas and loveseats, but beds like Loaf's The Bedfather, above, take all the extreme padding and softness is seating is known for and transfer that to the bedroom instead.
Having just talked about its padded beds, I've contrarily picked out the slender wooden Bagel as Loaf's hero. It's just so slimline, so slick, and is easy to get into smaller double rooms.
9. Love Your Home
The Hepworth Bed is part of the Livingetc collection.
Full disclaimer, I actually designed a bed for Love Your Home part of a Livingetc capsule collection that launched in 2019 and is still going strong today. So, of course, I'm a bit biased.
But the Hepworth bed, above, is featured here not just because I chose that enveloping headboard and its cocooning shape, but because it's timeless enough to still feel like I could have designed it today.
Cleverly, as well as selling several other covetable beds, Love Your Home also sells headboards in a variety of towering shapes, meaning you can jazz up your old divan with ease.
The Livingetc bed isn't the only stellar offering here, and the gentle curves of the Christabelle are a slightly more minimalist approach.
10. Naturalmat
Naturalmat is a great choice for people who prioritize sustainability.
Let me dazzle you with the ethics behind Naturalmat before I get onto the bits you'll actually feel. Firstly, the Devon-based brand buys organic wool from UK farmers to stuff its mattresses, helping those beleaguered sheep rearers. Naturalmat works with sustainable materials and processes, with solar panels powering its factory and zero plastic packaging, among other initiatives. And because of its Mattress for Life program, none of the brand's mattresses end up in landfill.
All of which means you can sleep more easily at night about your bed-buying choices. But what will really help you get your zeds is just how comfortable Naturalmat beds, like The Halstock, above are. I've tested every single one in the West London showroom, and fallen in love as I've fallen back on each design. Ranging from firm and dense to bouncy and springy, I was hard pressed to pick a favorite. It helps that the headboards are quilted, padded and restful to sit up against, too.
Ok, so while I did struggle to pick a favorite mattress, the organic curves of the Ebford headboard were a showstopper. So inviting, such a big statement, but in a soft and soothing way.
11. Poliform
This oversized headboard from Poliform captures one of the big bedroom trends of the year.
When the Brera bed, above, debuted on Poliform's Salone del Mobile stand in 2024, it was a standout of the whole show. I loved how deep its cushioned headboard were, how plump yet refined it seemed. Part of a Brera range which also includes an arched sofa, it's sleek, just like everything Poliform designs.
The brand is known for liveable luxury, and its beds are the height of this. They come in leather and upholstery, and are generally as understated as big beds with big frames can be. Impressively iconic.
This was in the middle of the London showroom the first time I ever visited. I remember standing behind it, leaning on it slightly, impressed at how smooth its curve was and how soft its leather was. I've fantasised about owning one ever since.
12. Porada
This Porada bed incorporates the brand's signature walnut wood.
Porada is known for many things: frames in smooth Canaletta walnut, leather that is the color of caramel and the texture of butterscotch, and a comfortable approach to elevated style. Beds are one of its specialties.
Take the Killian bed, above. Yes, that is Canalaetta walnut on the perfectly polished frame, and yes, the headboard is one and a half times the size of the bed. This is pure, unadulterated yet understated luxury, which is what Porada does so well.
More dreamy Canaletta walnut poking out of this soft white boucle frame, a low-slung form just made for flopping into.
13. Soho Home
Soho Home's beds aren't cheap. but they're modern classics.
As someone with two Soho Home beds in their own home, I had to include this brand here. It does impressively grand beds and it does impressively well — big shapes, big sizes (it goes up to Emperor, which is 2m x 2m and you can lie starfish and still not touch your partner) and big ideas.
I love my two beds, both discontinued, but both now heirlooms in their own right — and were I in the market for another I'd be looking at the wavy scallops of the Aubrey, above, next.
From the smoothly rounded ball feet to the symmetrical headboard and it's double curve - cocooning both sleepers individually, this bed is as smart and stylish as you'd expect from Soho Home.
FAQs
How Much Does a Good Bed cost?
A good bed doesn't have to cost more than around £700, and you can sometimes find decent ones for under £300. Brands such as Button and Sprung, Naturalmat and Heal's and Loaf all range from £700 to around £1,500 for a really good bed, with quality you can rely on (and perfect beds to lie in).
But if money is no object, then it's easy to spend over £25,000 on a bed, just look at Hastens, which is beloved for just how comfortable, thick, and luxe its beds are.
Ultimately, the best places to buy a bed are a mix of price points and styles, but they can all be counted on for how well made they are, how good they look, and how dreamy they are to sleep on.