I have a horrible habit of always being one or two projects ahead of myself. Even though I'm currently focusing on pulling together the living room (specifically, window treatments and built-ins -- update to come, I promise!), I can't help but find myself obsessing over my next project: the master bedroom. Once we complete the living room, I'll be tacking our master bedroom, the size and shape of which is so drastically different from our old master bedroom as to require almost an entirely new approach. While we're currently making do with a queen bed I bought in law school, the first item on my wish list is for a king sized mattress -- and an upholstered bed (or at least headboard) to go with it.
I've long been a fan of upholstered beds for their comfort as well as for the opportunity they create to bring in more pattern and color. Enough with the heavy, dark wood furniture suites; let's bring in some softness and color with fabric...and maybe a little sparkle with some fabulous nailhead trim! The bedroom above, designed by Christina Murphy, is a great example of the feeling I hope to crate in my master bedroom redesign. The room is luxurious and glamorous, but still comfortable and restful. The colors and patterns are interesting, without overwhelming the space. I particularly love how Christina pulled the orange and robin's egg blue from the fabric used on the headboard and bedskirt (and I love it when those match!) and use repeated them in the bedding's trim.
Melissa Rufty of MMR Interiors
The art deco shape of this headboard is extremely sophisticated, especially for a young girl's room. But its shape and neutral color ensures that it will transition easily from young girl's room to preteen to teen and beyond. Just swap out the curtain fabric, accent wall and bedding and you've got a whole new look with just a few simple changes.
This might just be the perfect summer bed. I absolutely love the coral bedding with the neutral, textured grasscloth bed. The nailhead trim and sophisticated shape ensure that the bed looks like it belongs more in a Bahamanian plantation home rather than a humble beach shack. Note too the fabulous Baker Studio Marrakech side table with the coral underside: be still my beating heart.
This room reminds me of nothing so much as a modern take on the roaring '20s. There's just something about the lilac velvet and the fur paired with the dark blue walls and gilt frames that makes me think a flapper should be sleeping there. The bed's tufting and sloped arms feel like the bed version of a fainting couch.
While the shape of this headboard is fairly simple, the gorgeously patterned fabric (which looks like a cross between a suzani print and traditional chintz) completely makes up for it -- as does the coronet bed drapes. Sure, it's a lot of look (and a lot of fabric) but it would definitely satisfy any childhood fantasy about a princess bed -- albeit in a more sophisticated manner.
Love the shape of this headboard -- it's subtle, but really beautiful. The chalky gray is so rich with the lilac side table and soft blues on the bed.
Another great shape in another all-purpose color. The contrast piping really helps pick out the details in the headboard, the curvaceousness of which is mimicked beautifully in the trim on the shams. I also love that Lindsey didn't go matchy-matchy here as the predominate colors in the bedding are black, white and rust while the headboard is the lovely chocolate brown.
The more angular lines, brown fabric and brass hardware on this headboard feel much more masculine to me than most of the rest of these headboards, which is great for couples. My favorite bit about this room though is the fantastic trim on the coral euro shams. I think if I had seen that trim on its on in a fabric store, I would have dismissed it as '70s-tastic. And yet, Melissa Warner makes it look so fresh and modern in this room. It just goes to show you that it's often more about context than the thing itself.
Another beautiful bedroom from Melissa Warner at Massucco Warner Miller. The shape of this bed reminds me of those large, overscaled leather beds from Restoration Hardware. The sort of armchair-turned-bed look that can so often read as heavy and masculine. Here though, Warner keeps it light with a buttery ivory leather and it looks magnificent against the metallic golden wallpaper and the coral accents.
This silvery grey cotton velvet looks so absolutely delicious on this upholstered sleigh bed. The kind of fabric you just can't keep your hands off of. The velvet's texture is also beautifully countered with the silk duvet and pillows. Velvet and silk together sounds positively decadent, and it is, but the tailored, paired back styling keeps the bedroom from drifting into the boudoir. Besides, if there's any place in a home more appropriate than a bed for pure, tactile pleasure, I don't know where that is.
Even a solid-colored headboard can make a tremendous statement against a high contrast wall. The higher the headboard, the better in my opinion. This room is also a great example of how black walls can actually make a room look bigger and brighter than it really is.
Like everyone else in blogland, I went ga-ga over Mary McDonald's pagoda headboard in her guest house (featured in domino back in 2008). My only criticism is that the moon on the wall looks rather like an off-centered moon atop the headboard itself -- and I find it distracting. I think Mary would've been best advised to scrap the wall art altogether (or keep it to the figures on either side of the bed). That said though, this still ranks high on my all-time favorite bedrooms.
I went ga-ga for the shape of this headboard when I first saw it last year. Perhaps my favorite element though is that this bed is both upholstered and spare and architectural. Truly the best of both worlds.
So here's a shot of my absolute favorite upholstered bed. It's Annie Selke's Salado bed and the headboard version is available through Horchow. Of course, I'm not too keen on the price (especially for just the headboard and that you can't pick the fabric!) so I think I'm going to try and have the shape copied in the fabric of my choice. Right now, I'm leaning towards Windsor Smith's crisp, fresh seersucker.
