Bed and Mattress Makers since 1979  

No VAT increase -  all prices held in January

Not all beds are made in the same way! Creaky headboards and unsteady bases are not usually covered by the maker’s guarantee. The methods we used to eliminate these problems are described on our Guarantee Page.

Mel and Julian were two carpenters plying their trade in the early days of Covent Garden’s Craft Market. Aware of the growing absence of affordable, locally produced furniture, they placed an advertisement in Time Out magazine depicting an elephant standing on a sturdy wooden base, trumpeting:

‘JUMBO’  5 ft Pine Beds - direct from the maker  for just  £59 !

Soon they were busy supplying all sizes of beds from a tiny Clerkenwell workshop, together with handmade natural filled mattresses from Don Gilbert’s nearby factory.

Thirty two years on, in a changing world of Internet sales and Far Eastern imports, we still offer value and personal service from our London workshops, and remain an antidote to the bland uniformity of High Street chain stores.

We are committed to making durable furniture, thus helping to eliminate unnecessary waste. Our wooden bed bases are made from selected Scandinavian and Russian Baltic pine or North American white oak, all of which are fully sustained and managed timbers. Designed for ease of construction and lasting stability, they can be transported and stored easily, and taken to places with restricted access.

The natural filled, traditional mattresses are now produced in our workshops by skilled local craftsmen.

Julian Litvinoff and Mel Fawcett started making beds in 1979

First ...  ‘bed and breakfast’

Our first showroom was a historic single story Grade 2 listed building in Clerkenwell.

It was too large for our needs because we were just making one bed at the time - the still popular and practical ‘Custom bed’.

To help pay the rent we opened a wholefood  café at the back of the shop.

The food proved so popular that at lunchtimes our customers would resort to sitting on the beds to eat their meals.

Due to this unexpected success we decided to move our showroom elsewhere, which allowed the café to grow and reach its full potential.

It  continued to flourish for twelve more years, before reverting to a showroom for a further six.

Camden Lock

By 1987 we had opened a beautiful new shop directly opposite Camden Lock. Mel had by then moved on to devote more time to his interests in travel and writing.  

Sales increased and we introduced our still unrivalled 'Lifetime Structural Guarantee’ on all bed frames.

We then started to make our own Mattresses, and were able to offer far better value, a more efficient service, and most importantly total quality control.

By 1997 this showroom was too small to display the large range of beds and mattresses we were producing.

The ‘Victorian’ shop front, (shown here) was designed and built in our workshops by Julian. The building was sadly demolished in 2008, after the Camden Market fire.

Shoreditch

In 1995 we had opened a shop in Shoreditch to be nearer our workshop.

This enabled us to display at least twenty beds and nine different mattresses.

We can also carry a wide range of furniture, handicrafts and accessories.

At our close by workshop there is a large car park with ample off street parking for all of our customers.

For those wishing to travel by public transport, the newly opened Hoxton Station is just a few minutes walk away.

As one of the last few remaining manufacturers in the area, we are proud to be working in a 200 year old local industry, supplying high quality affordable furniture direct from the workbench to the customer.

238 Grays Inn Road, Clerkenwell (1982)

Times have changed. Internet sites and superstores now offer standardised, less durable furniture and most production has moved abroad. This has virtually brought an end to a universally respected industry - now commemorated in the nearby Geffrye Museum.

Nonetheless, Shoreditch has since regenerated to become one of the most vibrant districts in London, with lively street markets, art galleries, loft apartments, bars and restaurants. It has attracted many new cutting edge enterprises, especially in the media and I.T.

We welcome this trend, but shall continue to offer a more traditional service - that of making durable handmade beds and mattresses, and supplying them direct to the public at ‘East End’ prices.

Like our predecessors, we are proud that our customers have the confidence to take our beds and mattresses to homes throughout the world because they cannot find their equal elsewhere.

London’s historic furniture making district

Hackney Road and Shoreditch were until recently the centre of a flourishing cabinet making industry famed for fine furniture produced in scores of local workshops and factories. Their products were exported throughout the world.

As recently as ten years ago, the public would flock there to snap up the bargains piled high on the pavements at ‘East End’ rather than ‘West End’ prices.

281 Hackney Road, Shoreditch  (today)