Bouclé wool, corduroy or suede: which fabric for a cloud bed?

On a cloud bed the fabric is not a finish: it covers everything. It decides whether the bed reads soft or graphic, warm or crisp. Here are the three families we use, and what really separates them.

Bouclé wool

This is the fabric people associate with the cloud bed. An irregular surface made of small tight loops, that catches light instead of bouncing it back.

The look: matt, alive, never flat. The texture breaks up large surfaces, which stops the bigger sizes reading as a block.

The feel: dry and soft at once. It does not slip.

Worth knowing: it is the most forgiving fabric. The texture hides marks and the dent where people sit. It is also the one we offer in the widest range of shades.

Corduroy velvet

Regular parallel ribs running the full height of the headboard.

The look: the most structured of the three. The ribs draw vertical lines that stretch the headboard and give it visual hold.

The feel: smoother than bouclé, with the even relief of the ribs under your palm.

Worth knowing: it holds a line better in a room that is already very soft, where everything is rounded. It is the contrast choice.

Suede velvet

A dense matt surface, close to suede.

The look: the deepest. Colour reads more saturated than on the other two, and shifts slightly with the angle of the light.

The feel: the softest, with that slight nap direction you know from suede.

Worth knowing: it is the fabric that does most for dark shades and strong colours.

How to choose without regretting it

Three questions usually settle it.

Is the room already soft? Lots of textile, rugs, heavy curtains: corduroy will put a line back in. A crisp, mineral room calls for bouclé instead.

Will the bed be used during the day? If people sit on it, if children climb on it, bouclé forgives more.

Is the shade dark? Deep colours read better in suede.

The only real test

A fabric cannot be chosen on a screen. Two photos of the same beige give two different colours from one phone to the next.

The ten fabrics are laid out side by side at our depot near Brussels, by appointment, next to the beds. That is where you actually see the difference between two beiges: under the same light, at the same moment, within reach.