We spend about one-third of our lives in bed - and that's only when we're asleep. Consider all of the other things we do there - snuggle, lounge, convalesce, tickle the kids, curl up with a book, take breakfast on a tray on a lazy weekend.
The bed is perhaps the most important furniture purchase you will ever make. It is the focal point of your bedroom and also the birthplace of your dreams. The following tips and facts from the experts at Dukewood & Co. will help you choose a bed that uniquely suits you, and that you will love for years to come.

Four-Poster Bed: A bed with posts at each corner. When these posts are tall and of equal height, they can support a canopy.

Pencil Post Bed: Similar to a four-poster bed, it is a bed with tall, tapered posts of equal height, and was widely popular from about 1690 to 1850.

Sleigh Bed: A bed resembling the shape of a sleigh, with a high, scrolled headboard and a slightly lower, scrolled footboard. A mid-19th century favourite, this American Empire-style bed continues to delight today.

Through time, the bed has assumed many forms, from a rough, crude slab to a decadent symbol of power and wealth. In Ancient Greece, beds were available only to the upper classes, although at first there was little luxury to be found in these plain wooden structures. Later, Alexander the Great introduced comfort to the bedchamber importing it from the opulent realms of Persia. Privileged Romans followed suit, enjoying splendidly decorated beds.

The bed lost some of its extravagance during the Middle Ages in Europe, then regained it during Charlemagne's reign, in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. Gradually, the bed once more became a grand emblem of wealth, and embellishments such as the canopy made their debut.

In Renaissance times, the very rich took pride not only in a bed's lavishness but also in its grandeur. Sheer size was the aim here, although no bed could top the 12-foot-square, 7-foot-high Grand Bed of Ware, which remains on view in London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

At the other end of the spectrum, compactness and practicality were key in Colonial America, where settlers saved space with beds that folded away to resemble cupboards or mantels. Four-poster beds were also popular during this time, and those who could not afford the elaborate version chose the simple, graceful pencil post bed.

The brass bed and the cast-iron bed grew in popularity during the Industrial Revolution, when people preferred them to beds made of wood that was thought to house bugs.

The 20th Century marked the origin of such utilitarian sleepers as the sofa bed, the bunk bed, and the spare, basic futon. Yet the classic, enduring styles - the four-poster, the canopy, and the sleigh bed - continue to be cherished in the present day.

Keep these tips in mind as you prepare to purchase a four-poster bed.