We at sofa.com have been learning all about beds recently. Here are three of our historical favourites:

1. The Great Bed of Ware

This bed is famous because of its size. Measuring 11 feet by 9 feet, the four poster could sleep up to 15 people at once. The bed was built by a Hertfordshire carpenter from the town of Ware in about 1590 and was originally housed in the White Hart Inn. The bed moved between pubs in Ware until it was bought by William Henry Teale in 1870, who installed it in his pleasure garden. The bed was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1931, where it lives to this day.

The bed is illustrated with many intricate carvings of swans, lions and satyrs. Traces of the original paint show just how dramatic this bed would have looked when it was first built. As well as this ornamentation, the bed is covered with the graffiti of its occupants over the years.

(Image via VeronikaB)

2. John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed

In 1969, during the Vietnam War, Lennon and Ono held two week-long ‘bed-ins’ to peacefully protest violence. During the first of these protests, they co-wrote and recorded the song, Give Peace a Chance, from their honeymoon suite in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. The second bed-in was meant to take place in New York, but Lennon was not allowed to enter the country due to a 1968 cannabis conviction. The location of the protest was moved to the Bahamas, but after one night in the heat, it was moved again, this time to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

The hotel remains in Montreal and fans still make the pilgrimage to stay the night in the famous bed.

3. James Graham’s Celestial Bed

James Graham was a sexologist who lived in the 18th Century. In 1781 he opened the Temple of Health in London, the main feature of which was a ‘Celestial Bed‘. The bed was huge (12 feet by 9 feet) and had a mirrored canopy bedecked with fresh flowers and pair of turtle doves. The bed was reputed to cure impotence.

The mattress, filled with oats, flowers and the tails of “fine English stallions”, had a specially designed frame to align its occupiers in the best position to conceive. Any movement caused the contraption to breath out “celestial sounds” from concealed organ pipes. The more vigourous the mattress’ movements, the more energetic the music.

Graham believed electricity could cure all ills, and so the headboard of his creation was loaded with a magnetic fluid “calculated to give the necessary degree of strength and exertion to the nerves”. The headboard also contained a clockwork tableau of the god of marriage, Hymen, and the inscription “Be fruitful. Multiply and Replenish the Earth”.

A night in the Celestial Bed would set you back £50. Check out this brilliant interpretation on Tim Hunkin’s site (shown and linked to above).

Does your living room look like this?

Via

I’m falling asleep just looking at it. Wow. That is boring.

There are many people out there who claim an all-white room looks “crisp” and “clean”. Well, I’m here to put an end to these absurdities. Your home should make people feel happy to be there, not worried that they if they put their glass of milk down, they may never be able to find it again.

So it’s a great idea to incorporate some colour. Now, you could take the easy way out and just buy a bright pillow or two, maybe a new rug, or some flowers and call it a day. But why not get a little crazy? Why not blow people’s minds with a loud and proud sofa?

Here’s a few I’ve found for inspiration. Please, don’t adjust your screen settings; the sofas really are that vibrant.

Like a bowl of limes on your coffee table… but BETTER!

Love chesterfield sofas? Well, everyone says you have to go GREEN nowadays. You know, save the environment and all. I think the best place to start would be with some green furniture. How about a nice lime green sofa courtesy of Distinctive Chesterfields? Voila!

Via

You’ll never feel blue again

This sofa, from Plastic Fantastic, is coated with a soft rubber. So, you see, it serves a double purpose: waterproof AND colourful.

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Reddy or not

[Side note: How good am I at lame puns?]

Your living room just got a little bit sexier with this sofa smack dab in the middle of your floor. Hello, bachelor pad!

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Sitting pretty in pink

For the girly girl in all of us, here’s a bright pink sofa to match your nail polish and barbie dolls. OR, if you want to get a little punk rock, paint everything else in the room black.

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Orange you glad I picked this sofa?

You guys, I think I’ve found the ultimate colour burst for all of your guests to enjoy. Not only is this a sofa, and not only is it orange…. well, just click the link below the image to find out what happens next.

Via (Check out this crazy orange sofa’s side job)

Are you part of the herd or are you willing to have some balls? Are you quietly mumbling “me too” or are you going to stand up ? Try new things, break from the heard and grow some kahunas. Dare to be different with these sofas made of unusual material:

Grass sofa

The grass sofa. The old preserve of the eco-warrior. Personally however I’d think this sofa would be pretty comfy as well – I mean the spongy grass and the soft earth. I love lying on grass at picnics or in the park, so having a sofa made out of nature’s carpet would be pretty cool. Downside? You’d have a sofa you have to water. And instead of spare change down the back of it you might find a few worms or slugs. Ah well, you win some you lose some.

Via (although you’ll need to register to access the archives and see the detail of the grass sofa)

Mac Sofa

So slightly less comfy than the sofa above but steeped in nostalgia and memories of a mis-spent youth, how about a sofa made entirely out of Mac 2’s. Pretty geek. Downside? If you’re brining a girl back to your place, you’re unlikely to get any action on this sofa (although how many people own a Mac 2 sofa and bring girls back regularly?)

Via (follow the link for pictures of a sofa made of mouse mats too!)

Sofa made of light

Ok, so it’s probably not actually made of light (as evidenced by the fact that it exists) but it looks pretty cool none the less. Far more likely to get chicks on this sofa, especially if there’s a mood setting on the light brightness. “Hang on baby, let me turn the light down a notch. And let me add a reddish tint to it as well”. Ok, so fiddling with the controls of your sofa isn’t likely to feature highly in any dating handbooks but perhaps some preset mood settings… Am I thinking about this too much?

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Sofa made of sand/snow

This one is pretty cool. It’s basically a padded sheet you can take anywhere and turn any (moldable) surface into a sofa. Sand and snow I think would be my two top picks. The beauty of course is that you can use pretty much anything you can think of. Downsides? Unless you have a sand pit in your house you’re going to have to travel a little way to make this one work. And there’s no TVs on the beach. Still, pretty neat.

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Diamond Sofa

Ok, so wile this one may not look like it’s made out of diamonds (and in truth, it’s not made out of diamonds) it’s called the diamond sofa and when finished will have 160 crystals of Swarovsky embedded in it. Frankly I’m not that impressed – I think having a sofa like this would scream “I have too much money and I don’t know how to make myself happy so I resort to buying expensive items in the hope that somehow my life will improve”. With a quiet whimper of “please like me” thrown in for good measure. I’ve included it in this list since it’s at least a little different.

Via. Or click here for the full site (it’s in frames)

Sofa Made of Comfy Balls

So this one looks a little bit like a bed rather than a sofa but using the little straps you can mold the shape to be pretty much anything you want. The peaceful sleep of the beautiful woman probably belies something which isn’t that comfy but I’m a sucker for marketing so until proven otherwise I’m calling this super comfy. The fact that she’s beautiful helps.

Via. (Including more info and evidence of the beautiful woman)

Sofa Made Out Of Pure Gaming Pleasure

For all the gaming fans out there, the sofa only really has one purpose; to sit on while playing Halo 3. For you people, you’ll be wanting the sofa made entirely out of PURE GAMING PLEASURE. This sofa plays surround sound from your console, rumbles in time with the music and generally is streamlined to be the ultimate sofa for playing games on. Drool away!

Via. Pyramat

Who doesn’t like the simpsons. Who? I started thinking about this as a joke but then it evolved into a serious thought process. I mean imagine being friends with someone who didn’t like the simpsons. shudder. It’s now policy to routinely only accept friends into my inner circle if they are hardcore simpsons afficionados. I mean, they might SEEM ok on the outside but there’ll be something wrong on the inside. Something seriously wrong…

Anyways, I’m now a few friends lighter (and better off for it!) so I had time to compile a collection of my favourite simpsons intros. If you don’t agree, scroll down to the bottom and you can watch every single intro. Ever. In order. I genuinely can’t imagine a better way to spend 7:13 of your life.

1) The Escher Intro.

Simple, elegant, mind f***king. I love it!

2) The evolution of Homer.

Who knew that the evolution of such a simple creature could take so long? Time to marvel in all God’s creations… Hold on, something doesn’t add up there.

3) Star wars Simpsons

In a springfield far, far away… The possiblity of a whole film like this just makes me salivate. (not official this one I’m afraid)

4) We’re the flintstones, we’re the flintstones!

Another cool crossover, this one’s official though!

5) Trippy intro.

You tell me there weren’t drugs used in the making of this. Honestly, what kind of example is this setting for our…erm……our….for our…….. WHOAH!

Not had enough of simpsons intros?! Well check out this bad boy. Every single simpsons intro. Ever. In Order. Seasons 1 – 10. (Warning, that’s 7:13 of your life down the drain)

People are different. Fact. No, I mean really different. What may appear a work of art to one is just a piece of junk to another. One persons Monet is another’s out of focus painting. Although some people have similar tastes and might even share many of the same likes and dislikes the sofa always sorts the milk from the cows.

Why is this? It’s because everyone’s sofa means something different. To some it’s a fashion statement, to some it’s a sanctuary, some people spend their life on the sofa while others only watch the 10 o’clock news on it. Hell, some people probably only screw on the sofa.

So here’s a few things you can learn from someone’s sofa:

The untouched, pristine, no-shoes-to-be-worn-while-on-the-carpet sofa.

You all know this sofa, and this household. It’s run by someone who would have told Hitler off for not brushing his teeth. The head of the house is most definitely female and the MOST IMPORTANT THING is law and order. Not for any purpose, simply so they can live an ‘ordered’ and ‘lawful’ life. No shoes worn inside the house, no food eaten on the sofa. In fact, all pleasure from eating has been removed from life due to the over-riding fear of dropping/spilling food on the carpet.

The multi-coloured throw over the sofa from Africa (but bought in Ikea).

This is the province of the stoner, the retired hippy, or student. The throw is bright and gaudy and is designed to show how multi-cultural the owner is. How terribly free spirited they are, and how in touch with other cultures they are. Note – the throw will probably be the one on special offer from Ikea. In reality, seeing the throw just reminds the owner how pathetically futile their existence is every time they look at it. Still, at least it brightens the room up.

The beat-up, ragged, mis-treated sofa. Burn marks and stains mandatory.

This is the REAL sofa that the traveller owns. It’s been slept on by any number of different types of people, many of them at the same time. There are burn marks from the joints that have been rolled and stains from all manner of substances, most illegal. This is the sofa Jack Kerouac would own. It is, however, not very comfortable.

The expensive, couture piece of art. I mean you can sit on it if you must.

But if you ARE doing to sit on it darling, please be sure to perch on the edge – allowing your back to touch the upright cushion is simply not allowed. Like everything in the owners life, the sofa is primarily for form rather than function. The same probably holds for the owners reproductive organs. Rarely used but well trimmed.

I once defeated [insert evil gaming villain here] with my hackmaster +8 sitting right here!

The refuge of the hardcore gamer, this sofa gets some serious use and it’s user is probably lugging a few extra pounds too. There’ll be a dent in the middle of the sofa and a wii remote and wires EVERYWHERE. Most likely you’ll also find crumbs and half-eaten packets of dorritos. Sit anyway you like, put your feet up, eat cookies, make crumbs JUST FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T CHANGE ANY OF THE GAME SETTINGS. Losing the owner 14hours work, erasing their custom button presses and over-writing their last 3 save points will earn you a place in their little black book. You don’t want to get in the little black book. Trust me.

I have just upgraded this blog to the latest version of wordpress.

It all seemed to go ok, but if you spot any monkey business, please let us know

This is simply an incredible advert, some guy raps about his shop and uploads it to youtube. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. Or the power of one stupid people and the youtube community:

it’s just like, it’s just like, a mini- mall !

Ok, so I’m guessing that you didn’t even know there was a furniture land speed record. There’s no reason for you to have known about this – it’s not something I imagine you’d be coming into contact with any time soon.

I’m also betting that you didn’t know that the CURRENT furniture land speed record is held by a sofa? No? Thought not.

Well, it’s now been broken by another, faster, better sofa. For those of you who like your relaxing done at high speeds, check out the video below:

The world record attempt was sponsored by Sofa.com. Their official page for the attempt here and their press release about it here.