Joe,
Welcome to the conversation....You are correct the nightstands are lighter in feeling . There is a couple of differences though...the bed must support people as well as itself. Also the mass of the legs will be somewhat hidden by the nightstands. The sleigh back visually need the mass of the legs to justify the curved back. The front of the bed is actually very much like the nightstands...it is light...metal legs...floats over the ground with cantilevers. In this room you approach the foot of the bed and view it on the nightstands....one of the most important aspects of a design is where the object is viewed from and how it is seen ...upward, downward, oblique angle. So as the bed will be viewedin the room there appear to be strong visual connections. The heavyness of the legs is related to the back which is for comfort and will give the design a timeless character since it is taken from traditional sources. Your point is well taken...I may just lighten the leg profile.
A little side bar: during the construction of the bath cabinet...I kept a ladder nearby at all times. The reason was to view the cabinet and door alignment as it will be view in the room. I was constantly on the ladder to make sure the curves and proportions were very good from the angle they would be viewed in the room. As an architect if you approach a home from a higher street...the design of the roof may be more important than the wall elevations that are typically shown and labored over in the drawings,