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Eastern Accents’ most exciting launch at High Point Market was far and away our Ayla handpainted bed. The first of its kind, it is adorned with an expertly painted string of delicate florals, all done by hand and made to order. The botanical motif dances across Ayla’s crescent silhouette, inspired by the blue-and-white botanical print of our new Beatrice bedding collection. Its arched headboard and contoured legs create a clean, transitional look—perfect for showcasing the softly painted branches and foliage. Ayla’s classic botanical design is available as a fully upholstered handmade bed, or as a headboard only. Join us as we dive into the design and production process of this innovative new introduction.
The design process
Eastern Accents has long been making painted pillows, from modern art to animals to monograms. A handpainted bed has been a dream of our designers for a while, and this spring we finally made it a reality. Inspired by tranquil English countryside design and our top-selling Amberlynn set, the Beatrice collection is elegant and airy, with a color palette of soft blues and clean whites. Coordinating with this exquisite bedding collection is our Ayla handmade bed, featuring handpainted branches and foliage to match Beatrice's botanical print. But Ayla can coordinate with many bedding styles: its feminine charm and stunning artisanship make it an instant classic.
Designer Sujeidy created this delicately detailed bedding collection while painter Ella developed the coordinating painted design to match Beatrice’s feature fabric, Cotswolds Azure. This classically feminine floral pattern appears in Beatrice’s pillows, bedscarf, and curtain panels. Printed on lightweight 100% linen, Cotswolds Azure features foliage and branches, while varying shades of blue create inviting depth. Slightly abstract, the pattern can be used in any direction and was easy to adapt into an individual motif.
Ella was careful to create a well-balanced design to span across the headboard. While not perfectly symmetrical, the painting is proportionate on each side, maintaining an organic, botanical feel. She then modified the motif for every bed size. You may notice the pattern on Ayla’s Twin headboard has fewer blossoms than the King, but certainly no less style. The pattern on each size bed is roughly the same height, keeping the overall feel consistent from size to size.
Crescent-shaped Carmine is available as an upholstered bed, headboard, or platform bed —and is fully customizable in the fabric and finishing details of your choosing.Our team worked together to decide which bed was best for showcasing Ella’s expert brushstrokes. Eastern Accents’ catalog includes 19 different bed frames, each with their own shape and style. Sharp corners and 90 degree angles would have been too harsh for the gentle floral design, and ornate shapes would have competed with the painting for attention. Ultimately, our Carmine bed was picked as Ayla’s canvas. Chosen for its crescent silhouette, Carmine’s arched headboard is both feminine and clean — a perfect fit with the Beatrice bedding. Its contoured legs give an elegant finishing touch to the delicate design.
Handpainter Ella developed this design after studying the print in our new Beatrice collection.History in the making
Like all Eastern Accents furniture, the Ayla bed is made to order in our Chicago factory. Because it is a handmade bed, we can ensure the highest quality craftsmanship.
The first step in production is cutting all the necessary fabric. All cuts are planned and measured to ensure a perfect fit. Once fabric pieces are cut, the headboard piece is brought to Ella for painting. She carefully places a stencil for the design to make sure the placement is perfect on the bed. After custom-mixing acrylic paint, she can bring Ayla’s branches to life!
All furniture pieces are bench-made in our factory by skilled carpenters.
Pictured with wood stain "Chalk", Ayla's legs can be customized in a variety of colors, and even Lucite!After the paint has dried, Ayla is ready for assembly! Our upholstery department is made up of small teams that individually handle woodworking, upholstery, and finishing details. First the frame is built, then our upholsterers line each piece with high-quality upholstery batting, stitch the fabric in place, and attach the solid wood feet. Afterwards, the handmade bed is meticulously checked over, and Ella can be called in for any needed paint touch-ups. Truly a collaborative effort, our furniture department works together to create Ayla — along with many other beautiful, one of a kind, American-made furniture pieces.
We couldn’t be happier with the results of our very first upholstered, handpainted bed, so keep an eye out for similar launches in the future. Until then, we have a wide variety of other handpainted soft goods and upholstered furniture for you to explore!
