The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: The most utterly stylish four poster beds on the market right now
Four-poster beds are the cornerstone of any good childhood interior-design-related dream. Alexandra Fraser explores some of the most opulent on the market right now.


As previously, unoriginally stated, my childhood dream was to go to sleep every night in a four poster bed. When I first found eBay on our shared computer, the first thing I looked up was four posters – it took a few years and one divorce (no worries – we can joke about it now) before I finally got my dream, but one day I came home to mahogany and blue silk curtains. Huzzah.
Yes, that is my actual childhood bed. Yes, my likes were in the single digits in 2013. Yes, I asked for forest wallpaper because I loved Twilight. No, I don't need your judgement.
After two weeks and one terrifying moment staged and directed by my wonderful brothers, I stopped drawing the curtains, but the room within a room never lost its magic for me. Four posters are now back in a big way – here are some of the best around right now.
First off the batt is this classic wooden number. Gorgeous detailing on the balcony, it's everything you could ever want in a four-poster bed without curtains.
Chamberlayne bed, 5ft 6in wide, £16,800, Max Rollitt, www.maxrollitt.com
Next, we move to the other end of the spectrum. As flamboyant as Liberace-themed week on Project Runway, it's one of a kind. With feathers.
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The non-balcony life is for some people. I'm not one of them, but if I were, I'd love this number, even if I'd have to pick my pillow off the floor behind the bed every morning.
It comes in brown, too!
Venetian four-poster bed, king size, £6,056, And So To Bed, www.andsotobed.co.uk
Now, this is a bit of me. Shiny mirror bed, gorgeous lines, definitely wouldn't fit in the box room of my Brixton flat but hey, that's what living rooms are for, right?
Beatrice bed, 5ft, £6,268, Julian Chichester, www.julianchichester.com
Only two posts? Madness.
Credit: City of London Distillery
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