A bit of bedside humour

A man goes into a hardware shops and says to the assistant "excuse me, but do you by any chance sell chamber pots?" "No sir," says the assistant. "Have you tried Boots?" "Yes, but it comes out of the laceholes." This ancient joke was funny back in the days when people had chamber pots but, like the pots, is now a relic of a bygone age.

So why this interest in such a subject? well it's just a reminder that bedsides were originally designed as a place for the more affluent and genteel to store their chamber pot, rather than simply pushing it under the bed. Antique bedside cabinets will usually have a large cupboard in place of the more common drawers of today and this is the reason why. Generally it was the wealthy who purchased such items, so these cabinets were made of better quality woods such as mahogany or oak.

Why size matters

One thing I've noticed recently when comparing various oak bedsides is that the dimensions can vary quite significantly. This is apparently one of the oldest tricks in the how-to-sell-furniture book, as revealed by someone who works for a major UK furniture supplier.

If a manufacturer is struggling to compete with a rival on the price of their product, they simply make the furniture just a little smaller and the cost saving is enough to make a difference to the selling price. This can be a particular problem when shopping online because most websites show the furniture against a plain background and not next to anything else. I remember once marvelling at the price of a pine bookcase - before seeing from the details that it was actually a photograph of a DVD rack!

So, don't forget to measure up the space you have available for your intended bedside cabinet and then find something which is as close as possible within your price bracket. Not all bedside cabinets are the same - even if it looks like they might be.

Why summer 2010 is the time to buy

If you're thinking of getting an oak bedside then buy now - here's why...

This morning we still don't know who the next government is going to be but you can be sure that whoever gets lumbered with the task is going to have their work cut out in balancing the books and clearing our massive national debt. What has this to do with oak bedsides?

Well good quality oak furniture has been available now for some years at affordable prices - but this year has already gone up in price by 10 to 20% - due to rising fuel oil costs for shipping and the weakness of the Pound amongst other things. When government austerity measures begin to bite we'll all have less money to spend and the furniture industry will react by supplying lower quality products in order to maintain (or perhaps reduce) prices and stay in business.

This means the choice of good quality, solid oak bedsides will become smaller and the prices of these items will rise. You'll still be able to buy something for around the same price, but it is unlikely to be as good. My advice therefore is (if you can afford it) buy once, buy good quality that will last, and buy as soon as possible.

French style Oak Bedsides

In case you hadn't spotted it, the latest furniture fashion is French style. Much of this is made of pine or MDF and completed in a painted or shabby chic fashion, but there are also some manufacturers offering French style furniture in oak with a wood (lacquered) finish.

One of the better ranges, that offers good quality oak bedsides in a French-style and at sensible prices is the (unimaginatively-named) French Style Oak range from Devonshire Pine. I guess they must have put all their creative effort into the furniture rather than the name, as it really is nicely styled, well made and well finished. Prices are around £120 or less for the nightstand and £140 for the bedside cabinet.

The Oak Bedside to not buy

A contemporary styled bedside is offered from most furniture retailers. The current offer in fashion is either with brushed metal handles or even with wooden handles.

The one on the right is from Heal's pretty standard offer from their Montanna Furniture Collection.

The Montana Bedside Table has been inspired by the best of both traditional and modern design. Created with a combination of oak solids and veneers, this Bedside Table has a drawer and handy shelf, it also accompanies the rest of the Montana range superbly.

All seems well until you check the price THREE HUNDRED AND NINTY FIVE POUNDS.

Two things spring to mind

1. This isn't even 100% solid oak, for that money if it was made from Gold the price would closer to what we'd be looking to pay
   
2. You can pick up a flat pack solid wood version from £50 and a 100% solid oak bedside would only cost £120 maxiumum
   

Should you wish to purchase here is the link to Heals Over Priced Oak Bedside

Stand by your bedsides!

Just thought I'd issue a friendly seasonal warning to all those who will be having friends or family coming to stay during the Christmas period. We all know how useful the bedside cabinet can be as somewhere to put lamps, books, clocks, spectacles and so on but I thought I'd mention an experience that happened in our house a few years ago.

This tale involved shall we say a more senior member of the family. Last thing at night they would remove their dentures and put them into a cup of Steradent denture cleaner. The trouble was that on this particular night they had filled their cup a little too much and, not having their spectacles on, didn't realise some of the contents had spilled onto the bedside cabinet.

By morning the denture cleaner had removed all the paintwork (did I mention our bedsides were painted?) right down to the woodwork. I have since used the same denture cleaner as an effective but gentle way to clean all kinds of furniture! My point is, just be careful to put a cover such as a neat lace doilie (with furniture protector underneath) on furniture if you think it might be 'at risk.'

By the way, talking of bedsides, I guess you'll have checked out the selection of bedsides on the website of RightPriceFurniture.

What about Pine Furniture?

At the weekend I was looking at some pine furniture and it was like meeting an old friend I hadn’t seen for some time. I’d forgotten just how new pine furniture can be so fresh and natural – add a few pebbles and some sisal rope and it feels like the seaside, but add a thick rug and a blazing log fire and it feels like a cabin in the mountains.

For a great choice of pine furniture in traditional and contemporary styles I’d look for pine furniture on Right Price furniture’s website. They have dozens of ranges of genuine solid pine furniture and Right Price Furniture is now one of the biggest and most trusted online furniture retailers in the UK.