According to Alessandra Wood, a design historian based in San Francisco, canopy beds date back to medieval times, whereas the half-tester style took form during the early Renaissance. After waning in popularity, half-testers made a comeback during the Victorian era as an elevated-yet-economic alternative to the typical canopy.
“In wealthy homes, servants would sleep in the main bedroom, so the full canopy offered privacy for the sleeper,” Wood explains. “It was an extremely expensive bed as upholstery fabric could account for over 80% of the total cost.” Though half-tester beds didn’t offer the privacy of a full canopy, Wood says they offered a similar look for less. “It likely emerged as a less-expensive option to have lavish designs outside the main bedroom in the house where privacy was less essential,” she says.
Today, affordability remains a big draw for the half-tester: Texas-based designer Cathy Kincaid Hudson says, between labor and materials, this partial setup can cost “less than half” the price of a traditional canopy bed.
Photo: Tria Giovan / Courtesy of Cathy Kincaid
Photo: Nathan Schroder / Courtesy of Cathy Kincaid
While the half-tester beds of yesteryear offered the illusion of luxury, today’s versions can solely be the showstopper of your personal space. “If it lacks character, a beautifully proportioned tester will help a dull bedroom come to life,” says Philip Hooper, joint managing director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. “Frivolous and whimsical, introducing a tester is like building a folly within a room.”
Similar to traditional-tinged trends like hand-painted murals and pattern-drenching, half-tester beds harken back to a simpler time. “There’s a growing appreciation of the classic English aesthetic and the feeling of comfort and nostalgia it evokes,” explains Tiffany Duggan, founder of a London-based studio called Studio Duggan. “There is little more welcoming than a traditionally decorated bedroom, with its enveloping and inviting layers.”
Meanwhile, Hudson believes the return of the half-tester bed is yet another symptom of the ever-enduring grandmillennial. “My clients, who are in their 30s and mid-40s, are going back to the designs of the 1980s,” Hudson says, referring to the decade’s fascination with pastel palettes and Laura Ashley-approved frills. “They’re asking me to do things I haven’t done in 30 years. They’re all in when it comes to beautiful dress maker details, wonderful trims, English drapery designs, so [half-testers] are right up their alley.”
These draped displays might be influenced by the past, but it’s possible to modernize them for the 21st century. “Half-tester beds can straddle the line of luxury furnishings,” says Chauncey Boothby, an interior designer based in Norwalk, Connecticut. “They can be beautifully tailored and traditional, or created in a simpler, sleeker version in a way that lends itself to more modern interiors.”
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