Beds and Mattresses since 1979
020 7739 3480
Quality and Value direct from the makers
Showrooms: 281 Hackney Road, London E2 8NA
Parking: The Yard, Yorkton Street, London E2 8NH
Open: Mon - Fri 10 - 6 Sat 10 - 5 Sun 10.30 - 4.00
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 use 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. They were increasingly aware of the growing absence of affordable, locally produced furniture, so they placed an advertisement in Time Out magazine with an elephant wearing a saddle cloth proclaiming:
‘JUMBO’ 5 ft Pine Beds - Only £59 !
Before long we were busy making and supplying all sizes of beds from a tiny Clerkenwell workshop, together with handmade, natural filled mattresses specially commissioned from Don Gilbert’s nearby factory.
More than thirty years on, despite the influx of Far Eastern imports, we are able to provide a superior personal service, and supply customers direct from our London workshops, thereby incurring considerable time and cost savings. We aim to provide a refreshing alternative to the bland uniformity available from most High Street chain stores and furniture import web sites.
We make durable furniture that will not need to be replaced in a few short years. All of our bed bases are constructed from responsibly managed Baltic pine and American white oak, and have a lifetime guarantee.
Our traditional, natural filled mattresses are hand made by highly skilled local craftsmen in our own workshops.
Julian Litvinoff and Mel Fawcett started making beds in 1979
First ... ‘bed and breakfast’
Our first showroom was a single story Grade 2 listed building in Clerkenwell.
It was too large for our needs because we were only 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 building.
It 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 moved our showroom to Camden Town, and allowed the café to grow and reach its full potential.
It continued to flourish for twelve more years, before reverting back to a bed showroom for a further six.
Camden Lock
By 1985 we had opened a shop directly opposite Camden Lock. Mel had by then moved on to devote more time to his interest in travel and writing.
Sales increased and we introduced our still unrivalled 'Lifetime Structural Guarantee’ on all bed frames.
At this point we decided to make our own Mattresses, and thus were able to offer better value, more efficient service, and most importantly, strict quality control.
By 1997 the showroom was too small to display the full range of beds and mattresses that we were by then producing.
The ‘Victorian’ shop front, was in fact built in our workshops by Julian. In 2008 the building was badly damaged by fire, and had to be demolished.
Shoreditch
In 1995 we opened our current showroom next to our workshops in Shoreditch.
This enabled us to display at least twenty beds and nine different mattresses, and also provide free car parking* for our customers.
As one of the last remaining manufacturers in the area, (see below) we are proud to continue a 200 year old local tradition - that of supplying high quality, affordable furniture direct from the workbench to the customer.
We also display an eclectic range of handicrafts and accessories from ethical sources.
*For those travelling by public transport, the newly opened Hoxton Station is just a few minutes away.
238 Grays Inn Road, Clerkenwell (1982)
After the Internet and superstores began to offer standardised, imported furniture, production sadly drifted away and virtually brought to an end a universally respected industry, which is now commemorated in the nearby Geffrye Museum.
Shoreditch has since regenerated and is again 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 industries and enterprises, especially in the creative fields.
We welcome this trend, but shall continue to offer a far more traditional local service - that of making durable handmade beds and mattresses, and supplying them direct to the public at ‘East’ rather than ‘West End’ prices.
Like our predecessors, our customers take our beds and mattresses to faraway homes because they know they can depend on them and because they cannot find better elsewhere.
London’s historic furniture making district
Hackney Road in Shoreditch was for around 200 years the centre of a flourishing cabinet making industry. Their products were exported throughout the world, and the public would flock to snap up the bargains piled high on the pavements at ‘East End’ rather than ‘West End’ prices.
281 Hackney Road, Shoreditch (today)
