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When Sacha Strebe, the editorial director at EyeSwoon, and her husband, Troy, were living in their old L.A. rental, they searched high and low for a bed frame that aligned with their European–meets–wabi-sabi vision for the space. However, nothing out there seemed quite right, so after Troy sketched up a design, they tasked their good friend Omar Call with building their dream 8’5”-by-8’9” bed out of birchwood.
Because the custom piece was a serious investment (it cost around $4,000 to make), when the couple decided to move in May 2023, there was no way they were getting rid of it—even if their new, narrow bedroom was nearly the exact width of the bed frame.
“When my husband took me to see the house, we brought a tape measure with us to check if the frame would fit,” Sacha recalls. “I was really nervous that it would be too big, but to our surprise, it was perfect.”
Getting it into the room was the hard part. While they had designed the bed so that it would come apart in five pieces, each one of those components was still seriously heavy. It required at least two people to arrange and assemble it. “Thankfully we don’t plan to move again anytime soon,” she says.
You’d think sticking an XL bed in a teeny bedroom would be a waste of square footage and make the whole space feel cramped, but it actually had the opposite effect. “It made the room feel bigger and less awkward. It looks like it was made for the space,” admits Sacha. And because the frame’s sides are a generous 14 inches thick, the couple can walk down them when they need to get out or want to adjust the UV shade.
The chunky frame has also inspired Sacha to get creative with her styling: The headboard and sides double as nightstands. “Typically I have the latest book I’m reading, a fragrance (either a candle or potpourri), and a vessel,” she shares. When she wants a glass of water nearby, she just sets down a coaster first, careful not to damage the wax finish on the wood. “We added a wall lamp on my side, too, so I could easily reach over and switch it on when I’m reading at night,” she adds.
Making the bed is pretty easy, as she’s leaned into linen covers that look best when they’re casually draped over the mattress. She loves a heavyweight layer, often rotating between options from Cultiver and Bed Threads. “There is a nice, lived-in warmth and texture to linen that really suits the overall design of our bedroom,” says Sacha. A bedroom that’s basically all bed puts the emphasis where it should be: catching z’s.