Aside of the need to look ultrafeminine and intimidating, a canopy is a good thing for a woman to have. From the inconvenient itching to the zika, women should not be getting bitten by too many mosquitoes. Our immune system goes up and down every month, which makes us very vulnerable. Even a bad bout of common staph infection can become a battle for our lives. So a canopy with mosquito netting provides a nice physical barrier between yourself and buzzing Death.
A canopy with curtains or netting also adds a bit more privacy to your bed. Especially if you need to have guests to get your needs met, it’s nice to have yet one more boundary before they get to the most intimate area of your residence. It’s not quite a gate with warning lights and a security guard or something, but it’s a symbol that says, “Hey, this is a special place not everybody gets to be.”
Nowadays, except for the functional mosquito nets used in high risk areas, most adult women aren’t bothering about a canopy. This is a shame, in my opinion. So now that I’m living in a place where flakes aren’t falling off the ceiling, I’m getting one. I’ve opted for the tent version. You can see something like it here. I think it is the best solution for the relatively small room. My room is fairly big because it has an attached office space, but the bed space is somewhat minimal. A big honking four poster canopy would be too much and I would end up bumping into it too much. The tent version takes no additional floor space, and won’t hurt to bump into.
I noticed when I was looking at this apartment that there is a hook on the ceiling. It’s likely that whoever lived here before had a hanging loop type canopy. This is a good enough option if someone isn’t doing a lot of acrobatic maneuvering in their bed, as is the above the headboard (arc or corona) version.
If you want to roll your own with these, all you need is a curtain rod. To make the loop one, form the rod into a circle. Then you can hang it up with a rope and then arrange some tulle fabric around it. For the above the headboard version, just hang a curtain rod on the wall, and use some long lengths of tulle as curtains.
Just remember that it shouldn’t have any holes big enough for flying insects to get through. It also needs to be long enough to hang over all sides of the bed. Keep it closed both during the day and at night because even though you might not see the mosquitoes, they will get in there during the day and then hide until night. Your bed has your scent, and that is how they find us.
Ah, another advantage of the tent style canopy arrangement is that if like me, you hate air conditioning until the super hot days, and prefer a fan, the tent won’t flap around. Also the little spaces in the fabric are held open to allow air to pass through. So you can be protected but comfortable.
Another alternative, if you don’t want to take up floor space or have something directly attached to your bed, but you like the four-post style, is to install four hooks in the ceiling. This will mean that your bed will have to stay in the same place to stay under it, but it will work just fine.
I would go farther though, and perhaps install tracks in the ceiling, at least along the side of the bed you normally approach from. This way you can open and close it like a curtain. Just don’t forget that you still need a top part. If you don’t have one, the little bugs will fly in at the ceiling level.
…and look, they must know I am talking about them because one just flew by now. Until my canopy arrives, I’m depending on the Spira tabs.
