Reed Kamler and the team at Thuma, makers of a platform bed frame dubbed The Bed, believe that simplicity is the truest form of sophistication. Thuma launched in late 2018 and built their brand closely focused on celebrating the simple things in life. That ethos fell right in line with the minimalism aesthetic that was being adopted by more and more people across the globe. Their product reflected not only simplicity on the outside, but also a distinctly simple set-up process that feels as friendly and low-key as setting up a game board or a croquet course, both of which are seeped in anticipation of a satisfying activity. In the case of The Bed, the activity is rest, sleep and an enhancement to one’s bedroom with storage space and a great looking bed with a small footprint.

Considering the benefits of mindfulness, minimalism and relaxation, the team spent two years exploring the design process and “taking a moment” throughout the undertaking to step back and experience the product’s build process themselves. Those thoughtful moments also included spending time with the bed once built. Their slow and considered process payed off. Since the platform bed was introduced to the public, Thuma has enjoyed reviews of 4.9/5 stars, incredible word of mouth and unexpected demand. They’ve managed to sell out four times and counting.

While configuring the perfect platform bed frame was a design adventure, keeping the centerpiece of every bedroom as intuitive to put together and as easy to ship and receive always remained top of mind. When Thuma invited us to experience the process, we gladly accepted and we’re sharing some photos from delivery and assembly below. In the meantime, read on for some interesting conversation about the brand, the product and the problem the team set out to solve with co-founder Reed Kamler + some shots of the studio manufacturing process and of The Bed set up and ready to be enjoyed. –Caitlin

How did the whole bed-in-a-box movement influence Thuma? Did it spark the creation of your product or was it already in the works?

Bed frames had always caused us problems, and it’d been something I had been trying to solve just for me personally in each apartment I had lived. They were not only a hassle to buy, and assemble, but once you did finally get your bedroom together, the bed frame was constantly causing issues. Whether mattresses were sagging and moving out of place, slats breaking, or the constant squeaks and creaks, the day-to-day experience with this product we all use just wasn’t an enjoyable one. Not to mention it was a nightmare all over again whenever it came time to move. And I started taking notice of how our friends and roommates in cities across the country were experiencing these same problems.

And what ended up becoming clear was that, whether you went really low-end and cheap, or high-end and expensive, this simple product that we all interact with on a daily basis has always been designed as either an afterthought, or a piece solely focused on aesthetic. There really wasn’t any thought to function or lifestyle, truly no thoughtful design or innovation had taken place in a way that spoke to us.

How did the whole bed-in-a-box movement influence Thuma? Did it spark the creation of your product or was it already in the works? (continued)

My co-founder and I were working with a lot of young retail companies at the time, and so we had a front row seat to these young brands, the good and the bad. The bed-in-a-box mattress companies in the space were absolutely a part of that, and they were able to see this incredible adoption to shopping in a specific category in a new way that hadn’t been seen before. But for our team, we’d never had much trouble sleeping, or with mattresses in general…

So for us, it was definitely inspiring, but really solidified the idea that there were problems that people feel everyday that could be solved by creating something like the perfect platform bed frame. And what drew us to bed frames as the starting point for the brand was the opportunity to bring elevated design, quality craftsmanship, and modern convenience all together in a way that hadn’t been done before in the category, while celebrating the best times in the bedroom at the same time.

How long was the design process for the bed frame? / What is your favorite aspect of the Thuma product?

We spent two years designing The Bed by Thuma, and during the design process drew inspiration from modern architecture, minimalism, and luxury interior design. We really took our time, and after thousands of hours testing, trashing, improving, and refining, we created what we believe to be the perfect platform bed frame.

The Bed is modern, minimalist, handcrafted in small-batch, limited productions, made of upcycled and eco-friendly materials, and is full of subtle lifestyle-enhancing details. It’s also incredibly strong, naturally noise-minimizing, ships free to our customer’s doors within 1-5 business days, and is able to be assembled in 5-ish minutes, without tools. We truly do stand by the quality of our product and back that up with our lifetime warranty.

There seems to be a lot of opportunity to expand The Pillow Board cover line-up. Any plans?

Yes, absolutely. We will soon be (this summer!) releasing the option to add-on additional PillowBoard covers to The Bed, with more colors and design options in the works. Each PillowBoard cover is interchangeable and washable, so it’s a fun and simple way to keep things fresh or change-up the aesthetic.

Is there a backstory about the name Thuma?

It’s a family name that has been passed down from my grandfather who crafted timeless furniture pieces out of beautiful wood. All of these pieces were meticulously detailed and unique, and they all came together using precise joinery, without the crutch of metal hardware. Once he completed them in his workshop, he found these pieces permanent homes by gifting them to family and friends. Decades old now, these pieces are still enjoyed today, which is truly a testament to their design, quality, and longevity that we’re looking to replicate with the pieces we create at Thuma, so our name represents that same attention to detail, craftsmanship, and appreciation for lounge & leisure that he had.

What’s next… ?

We do have more thoughtfully designed, lifestyle-enhancing bedroom essentials in the works, with more updates to come very soon — if it’s of interest, the best way to stay up to date on what we’re working on is by subscribing to our newsletter at thuma.co. (P.S. Signing up for the Thuma newsletter means you’ll receive a $25 credit towards The Bed!)

Image above: Apollo relaxes on the newly built Thuma bed frame in my bedroom.

Image above: This door hanger comes with every Thuma frame. The flip side says “let’s get together.”

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Thuma. Read more about Thuma’s The Bed and its simple set-up right here. Thanks for supporting our sponsors like Thuma who help us bring you free and original content every weekday! All words are our own and we personally tested this product prior to producing this post.

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