From the start of the 20th century to the present day, beds have evolved through a number of different types and forms. Here is an overview of some of the key developments and enhancements in the comfort, versatility and practicality of the modern bed.

In the late stages of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century, the box spring was invented and rose to prominence in mattress manufacturing, greatly improving the comfort of beds by distributing weight throughout the whole mattress.

Perhaps the first significant innovation in the early 20th century was developed by Dunlop in 1926. Latex foam was soon widely adopted as an excellent new material for bed mattresses and pillows and they continue to be popular today.

An improvement in innerspring mattress beds was made in the 1930s, when new encased coil mattresses were released, which provided superb cushioning while matching the contours of the sleeping person’s body.

The key development in the bed market in the 1940s was the inflatable air mattress bed, made from rubber coated fabric, which became very popular among homeowners. Today, they are most commonly used for short notice accommodation needs or for comfortable camping beds.

During the Swinging 60s, no self-respecting lothario was without a waterbed in their bedroom. Possessing genuine orthopaedic qualities, the waterbed was more than just a novelty and they can still be found in bed stores, complete with thermostats to regulate the temperature in accordance with the average human body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.

No lesser organisation than NASA created memory foam in the 1970s. While experiments with memory foam mattress beds were conducted throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was the Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress bed produced in 1992 that gained a strong foothold in the bed market.

During the 1980s a range of fully adjustable beds became widely available, including electronically adjustable beds, which were particularly popular among sleepers with physical ailments and were adopted by hospitals.

Arguably the most innovate type of beds to be introduced in the 21st century are highly practical storage beds. Either with a large draw built into the base or with a huge storage area contained within the base accessed by lifting the mattress up on a hinge, the storage bed allows items to be stored without taking up valuable bedroom space.