Carpe Diem Beds: I Review Sweden's Most Luxurious Bed Brand

Advertisement: This post is part of a sponsored collaboration with Carpe Diem Beds. As usual, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

While our previous bed frame was a bit old and wobbly, the mattress was relatively new and I didn’t consider our marital bed to be a problem. Having not ever suffered any injuries, I thought that waking up with lower back pain was just the result of previously carrying a baby for 12 months. The ‘dead legs’ that stopped me from getting to sleep was just the result of getting older. Shoulder pain in the morning was a consequence of writing hunched over a laptop. I was wrong on all counts - it was our bed after all. I can confirm that after sleeping on a Carpe Diem Beds bed for the past two months I no longer suffer from any of these issues. Instead, I feel relaxed and ‘light’ when I wake. So, just who are Carpe Diem Beds? And how have they created a bed that has transformed my life?

Known as Sweden’s most luxurious bed brand, Carpe Diem Beds have just launched in the UK (their UK showroom in London’s Marylebone is a luxury experience in itself). Founded by a chiropractor who wanted to design a bed that makes you feel like you were ‘floating’, Carpe Diem Beds have developed some of the most innovative bed technology on the market - including a mattress pocket system that will protect the body when it is sleeping. In true Swedish fashion, just because it works well doesn’t mean that’s an excuse for it to look bad. Each bed is handmade using some of the finest raw materials available on the market such as slow-growth Nordic pine, Talalay latex and organic cotton, then upholstered in the finest of fabrics (which include opulent velvets and suedes from Designer’s Guild and Romo).

My dog absolutely adores the high-quality Carpe Diem Beds faux fur throw, which comes in both white and brown.

From start to finish, Carpe Diem Beds offer a truly bespoke experience that enables the customer to create a bed that benefits them. Select your bed base (four continental and two adjustable options are available), your headboard, the legs (from a whopping 17 options) and your upholstery. As someone who is very particular about interior details, this greatly appealed to me: our bedroom is already decorated and I wanted our new bed to perfectly fit into the existing design scheme. My husband, on the other hand, only cares about function over fashion and was delighted to discover that he could choose his own level of firmness on his side of the bed. As a musician, he spent years sleeping on a tour bus that had ruined his back and he now requires a firm surface to sleep on (there have been constant squabbles in the past when choosing a mattress as I preferred a much softer bed). Carpe Diem Beds allow your bed to be ‘split’ down the middle (there is no gap or divide - the mattress is one whole piece but is ‘secretly’ separated): I have a ‘medium’ level of firmness on my side, while he chose ‘firm’.

*Carpe Diem Beds give you the option to have a different level of firmness and support than your sleeping partner, without a gap or a divide down the middle of the mattress.*

We selected the Kornö bed as I preferred the lower bed height level. Equipped with a J-Pocket spring system, the Kornö consists of two layers of steel pocket springs atop a Visco Elastic Bottom Layer (designed in collaboration with the Spinal Unit at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg to reduce the pressure on the body and stimulates blood circulation). We also added a washable mattress topper due to often being invaded in the early hours by our child and dog who tend to spill drinks and leave muddy paws.

I was obsessed with the Tornö headboard (a giant 180cm high padded board that wrapped around the tip of the bed), but it was just too large for our room. I was therefore delighted to learn that Carpe Diem Beds had just released the Low Tornö: a shorter 145cm version that still created a huge impact.

Being someone who adores colour, I entered the showroom expecting to order our bed in a bolder hue. Carpe Diem Beds has racks of huge cuts of fabric rather than tiny square samples, so you really get a feel for the fabric. I was drawn to the quality of the Designer’s Guild Zaragoza Eggshell in an off-white beige and surprised myself by picking this neutral. However, as someone who changes the decor of a room as much as I change my socks, this light shade had an ageless quality that would work with any decor transitions. To add colour, Carpe Diem Beds made me some huge headboard cover pillows in Romo’s Asuri Mulberry and a throw pillow in DG Zaragoza Pebble. I selected single Lod Bed Legs in black to match the off-white fabric to create a modern, monochrome scheme; the slender design of the Lod Legs felt more weightless and balanced out the dominance of the headboard.

At this point, I think it is important to talk about the price point of a Carpe Diem Beds bed, as they are very much at the higher end of the market. Buying a Carpe Diem Beds bed should be approached as an investment - we spend 50% of our life in bed and Carpe Diem Beds design their beds to be an integral part of your life that will last a lifetime. Every Carpe Diem Beds continental bed comes with a 25-year warranty on springs and bed frames and a focus on superior quality and timeless design.

As I previously mentioned, we’ve now been sleeping in our Kornö for two months. Carpe Diem Beds advises that it can take up to three months for your body to adjust to the bed as it is so different to anything else available in the industry, but I felt the benefits instantly. Getting into the bed for the first time, my body responded and I felt comfort instantly - I felt supported and I quickly unwound from the day. My back and my legs felt aligned and level, and I now sleep a lot deeper than I did before. My husband feels the same - as someone who is quite critical, he couldn’t be happier with our new Kornö. He feels less tension in his shoulders and has been able to reduce the amount of daily stretching exercises he needs to carry out due to muscle injury.

Carpe Diem Beds also sell a whole range of luxurious bedroom accessories.

Carpe Diem Beds plan to expand its showrooms throughout the UK, but for now, you can explore the bed range online and use their 3D configurator to see how your choice of bed would look before it’s made. Alternatively, you can casually drop into their Wigmore Street store, or book a private, specialist consultation to have all your questions answered by a Carpe Diem Beds expert.