This is the coolest style of bed ever. The head board and foot board rise straight up from each end of the mattress and curl over beyond the bed area like the front and back of horse-drawn sleighs did. Sometimes this is a slight curving out, but can also go into a full curl like the capital of Ionian columns.

Sleigh beds are usually made from very fine wood because the solid head and foot boards are the biggest feature of the bed. The curve is all the decoration these beds need. Some sleigh beds extend this feeling by curving the areas where the head and foot boards attach to the side boards, giving an even greater effect of being in a sleigh. Imagining yourself fleeing from a wolf pack in the Russian wilderness is so easy when lying in this bed.

There are sleigh beds whose head and foot boards are not solid wood, but rattan or leather covered. The romantic atmosphere engendered by the name has caused it to be used on any bed with a head board that flairs slightly. There are even sleigh day beds, where the frame on the two short sides has the flair. But, somehow, for me, the true sleight bed has wooden head, foot and side boards that form a box, into which the box spring an mattress is placed. Further, for me, the wood is dark, not pine-colored or painted white. Maybe the first sleigh bed I ever saw was like this, and that colors my perception of what constitutes a real sleigh bed.

The head board and foot board usually have short legs that lift them off of the carpet. These may be square in cross section, or the feet may be ball shaped. Like any bed with a foot board, the height of the regular occupant may be a problem. Foot boards leave very little room for the extra length a tall person needs in a bed unless the person sleeps from corner to corner, or slightly curled. So, if one or more of the occupants are tall, a sleigh bed may not be the optimum choice.

This style of bed is usually available in all sizes: twin, full, queen and king. Some sleigh beds come without a foot board, but you loose half the fun when you don’t have the foot board. And the point of a sleigh bed is the imagination and the romantic, fairy-tale quality they bring to a bedroom.

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