ANTIQUE BEDROOM FURNITURE & DRESSINGS!

From the 1600s until the mid 1800s, elaborately draped tall post beds were found in virtually every American household that could afford them. Even where low-post beds were used, they were commonly enclosed by curtains that hung from a cord attached to the ceiling with hooks or rings. 

Parlors frequently doubled as bedrooms in early America, and the need for curtains and privacy lasted until the revolutionary period when second-story "chambers" became the only rooms commonly used for sleeping. 

The beds that were used in those early parlors were prominently displayed, and it was important that they favorably reflected the economic status of a household. Indeed, they were by far the most elaborate-and complicated pieces of furniture in a house. Only the mattress was actually known as the bed; the wooden bedstead, whether tall-post or low-post, was called a frame. The hangings - which typically included a tester or canopy cloth to cover the top of the frame; a headcloth hung against the wall to insulate against cold; head curtains and foot curtains that could be pulled around to enclose the bed; a coverlet; valances; and bases (dust ruffles) were known as furniture.  

Homeowners often hired a professional upholsterer to furnish their beds, but if necessary, they also made their own hangings. Because the hangings required fifty to sixty yards of fabric, they were by far the most valued and expensive part of the bed.