Beds jointed by hand in a workshop on Harvey Road, Bloemfontein

17 years on one bench in Bloemfontein 9 working days from order to delivery 2 sizes, each cut to the millimetre 25 years of guarantee on every frame

Ash, canvas and a spring tied by hand

A Kooi frame is jointed, not screwed. The rails go into the posts on a mortice and tenon, glued and then pegged through with a hardwood dowel, so the joint tightens under load instead of working loose the way a bolted corner does. The four bolts on the bed are there for one reason only: so you can take it apart the day you move house. The slats are ash because ash bends and comes back. We steam them to a shallow curve, set them seventy millimetres apart over a centre rail, and sit them in rubber cups instead of screwing them down, which is what stops the creaking that starts in most beds in year two. A hand-tied pocket spring means every coil sits in its own calico pocket and every pocket is stitched to the ones beside it by hand rather than glued into a sheet. The springs then move on their own. Somebody gets into bed at midnight, their side goes down and yours does not. There is no foam anywhere in ours — wool and cotton over the top, and that is the whole build.