What is a Bed Sample?
A bed sample, or fabric swatch, is a small piece of upholstery material provided by furniture companies to help customers make informed decisions when purchasing a bed. These samples allow you to assess the colour, texture, and quality of the fabric to ensure it complements your room's décor. They also provide an opportunity to feel the material and evaluate its durability, comfort, and how easy it is to maintain. By examining the fabric in different lighting conditions, you can get a true sense of how it will look in your space. Bed samples are invaluable tools for making sure your chosen bed fits your aesthetic and meets your long-term needs for functionality and upkeep.
Why Should You Order A Sample?
1) Test it in your light
Ordering a sample allows you to see the true colours and texture of the material in your own space and lighting. Certain materials like grey fabrics can have subtle undertones, such as pinkish hues, which may appear differently depending on the light. Ordering a sample will give you a more accurate representation than a computer screen, helping you ensure that the material complements your personal lighting and existing décor.
Our top tip is to check the sample in your own warm light environment, as well as in natural light and by the window, so you can make an informed decision about how the furniture will look during the day, as well as through the seasonally. With lighter days in the summer and darker days in winter, be sure to choose materials you like in both daylight and with your existing evening lighting. Our homes are all unique, as is the amount of natural light a room receives, which is why we suggest sitting with this over a few days and in different areas of your room to make sure you’re happy with the colour.

2) Coordinate your space
Avoid mismatched tones by comparing samples to your existing furniture, walls, and accessories. This allows you to ensure the colours harmonise and don’t contrast. By physically placing the sample next to your furniture, you can check that the material complements the tones and textures already in your space, ensuring a seamless and cohesive look that ties the room together.

3) Feel the texture & quality
By ordering a French Bedroom sample, you can experience the feel of our luxurious materials first-hand, allowing you to test their durability and appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into each of our pieces. Every material we use in our high-quality, timeless furniture is unique, with its own distinct characteristics. Whether you’re drawn to the rich, dark wood of our Gustavian Dark Upholstered Bed or the sumptuous texture of our Love Story Blue Velvet Bed, sampling the material is essential to ensure it’s the perfect fit for your forever bed. It not only gives you a tangible sense of the fabric’s texture and quality, but also allows you to appreciate the effort and attention to detail that goes into crafting our cherished furniture pieces.

4) Make confident decisions
We want this to be your dream piece and for you to love it as much as we do. Ordering a sample is an easy, low-risk way to bring your vision to life with confidence. Our French Beds are more than just a purchase; they're an investment, and we hope they will one day become treasured family heirlooms. That's why we want to ensure you're completely happy with your choice. While we offer a satisfying returns policy (you can read more about it here), save the hassle of returns by making informed, confident decisions from the start, by experiencing a sample of your French bed first.
5) Create a Care Plan
A key benefit of ordering a sample is that it allows you to test how the materials on your bed will respond to care and cleaning. While we don’t recommend using chemicals on your French furniture, a sample gives you the opportunity to practice stain removal, ensuring you’re prepared for any future spills or accidents with your French bed.
Creative Ways To Recycle Your Samples
At French Bedroom, we embrace the idea of recycling samples. Since our samples are made from various materials, like wood, they can easily be repurposed as coasters or table mats. Our fabric samples are perfect for creating patchwork quilts, repairing clothes, or even crafting a pocket square or hanky! In fact, our founder, Georgia Metcalfe, creatively decorated her Christmas tree with leftover samples, as shown in the photo below.
Samples offer a world of possibilities, but their most important role is to help you feel confident and excited about your purchase. These tiny samples have a big job! They give you the peace of mind that your chosen bed will not only complement your style but also serve your needs for years to come. Discover elevated wood finishes and delightfully durable fabrics by ordering a sample with us, and begin your journey to finding the perfect bed that will help you create one's own French Bedroom.