Dodgy Divans Part II

Dodgy Divans Part II
So, seeing as we’re on the subject of divans I might as well get the rest of the moans out of the way. In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose!
The flaw in the plan
Once, as a child, my parents bought me a brand-new bed, yes, a divan. It was a divan with a difference, the top section lifted open on some sort of sprung mechanism which meant that the entire bottom half of the bed could be used as storage. This was just great, providing you were happy for your ten-year-old son to empty his mattress and bedclothes over the floor every time he wanted to get something out!
A major ‘drawer’ back (groan)
So, we learnt from the flip-top bed experience and moved on. The next step was a more sedate approach involving drawers in a divan base, no more mattress slippage! This time, we found that, not only was the space severely limited, but also, the drawer bottoms were flimsy and generally collapsed once a few blankets had been put in – then they were impossible to open, even when you had managed to claw you way through the fabric hell-hole known as a valance (though I think I’ve already bemoaned valances in a previous post)
Let’s take a look at what we could have done (say in the style of Jim Bowen)
Let’s imagine what life would have been like with a lovely wooden bed. Firstly, we could have done away with any need for flip-top or sliding drawer contraptions. As a child, under the bed would have been a great place to stash a giant bag of lego (which I’m reliably told happens every night at legoland, Windsor). But secondly, there is also a great  ‘grown-up’ solution for neat freaks like me. A couple of beautiful wooden underbed drawers on castors would have been perfect. The bottoms are made out of decent timber, which means they don’t sag and collapse. They slide out easily avoiding the flip-top/drawer collapse/valance issues, and finally, they look great. Not only that, if you ever decide to change your bed and if you buy an akka wooden bed, we don’t see why you’d want to) you don’t have to change your storage at the same time. Simples.
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This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2010 at 7:55 am and is filed under Furniture Advice, Mattress, beds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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