As love is in the air this month what with Valentine’s Day and UK Marriage Week we thought it would be a great idea to give you a short history of the bedroom plus some Valentines looks that don’t have to be temporary.
In medieval times, most people didn’t even have a bedroom. Instead, if you were part of a large household (a servant) you would sleep in the ‘great hall’ of the home with all the other staff and their families.romantic bedroom
Rushes would be laid out on the floor around a great fire and people would sleep on a sack stuffed with hay giving rise to the term “hitting the sack”. Their pillow? A large log!
The master of the household and his family would sleep communally in a ‘chamber’ above the great hall, which was considered a mark of high status. But it wasn’t used exclusively for sleeping. This room doubled up as somewhere that would be used for parties and an office.
Beds were very expensive so the master of the house and his family would also have slept on sacks filled with hay. By the 16th century, the middle classes had come into being so more people could afford beds, although they were still expensive.
There was a full rigmarole in getting the bed ready to be slept on including tightening up the strings that crisscrossed the bed frame, which provided the base for the straw mattress. If you’ve ever heard the expression “sleep tight” this is where it comes from.
If you want to find out more Dr Lucy Worsley, curator of historic places in the UK, can fill you in.
Thankfully, we are now blessed with pocket-sprung mattresses and wonderful bedsteads – the latter makes an excellent structure for hanging fairy lights on to give your room a romantic feel, or you could make your own fairy-light ‘headboard’.
We found some excellent heart-shaped window decorations such as willow hearts, (pictured), that would look good all year adorning your bedroom window.
You can also create a great atmosphere with candles and don’t forget to browse round your local superstore for inexpensive bed linen like the one we found with a valentines feel.
If you are good at arts and crafts try your hand at making some heart bunting. All you need is red and pink coloured card, thin ribbon in a contrasting colour and a hole punch.
If you have children why not get them involved. Download a heart template from the internet to get your heart shapes then cut around them.
Once you’ve enough shapes for your bunting, using the hole punch make two holes at the top of the heart on either side and thread through the ribbon to complete.
Last of all, break open the bubbly and a box of chocolates. Enjoy.
