Whatever general look and feel you want for your bedroom, the ideal headboard can provide you all the rest and comfort you deserve. Headboards can stand alone or work just as well with a base. With roots dating as far back as ancient Egypt and Greece, this pivotal bedroom piece can radically alter your bedroom’s comfort and design. Whether you choose iron, timber or upholstered, a well-designed and well-made headboard can grow to be a beautiful heirloom for many generations to come.
Murphy & Co.. Design
Headboard history. The pictorial history of the headboard begins with the Egyptian pharaohs. Headboards carved in ebony, silver and gold (clearly more for display than comfort) are depicted in many early drawings.
Next were the Greeks and Romans. More practical in their approach, they made a basic wooden platform using a headboard to protect themselves from cold drafts. The headboard allowed them to eat and even interact around the bed, making the bedroom the main entertaining area in the house.
Together with the Middle Ages came the canopy and fourposter designs. More complicated and elaborate, the bed became the most expensive and important piece of furniture in both wealthy and poor houses.
The Tudor reproduction headboard and base shown here are simply decorated and perfect examples of the era, yet they fit comfortably at a 21st-century setting.
Elizabeth Dinkel
Canopy with headboard. In the 13th century that the canopy, or tester, was born from necessity and then popular for its own grandeur. The canopy was suspended from the ceiling beams using ropes, and fabric was then draped over to act as insulation from the bitter winter cold.
When gentry traveled between their town and country houses, they often took beds. Portable beds were called trussing beds. Staff was delegated to dismantle, transport and then build them.
The canopy headboard shown is a modern take on a medieval design. The scallop edging on the canopy harmonizes with the timber fretwork on the headboard. The amount of fabric and the detail in the duplex layout make this a more expensive style. If you locate an inexpensive fabric that you like either side of, then you won’t have to line it, which can keep costs down.
Summerour Architects
Fourposter with headboard. The 15th century saw the creation of the fourposter bed. With or without draping fabric, this design became the rock star of the furniture world, with only the really wealthy owning this type of status symbol.
Ash, mahogany and oak were only some of the timbers used in this time period. With reproduction furniture, the harder the timber species, the more expensive the bit will normally be. More intricate designs tend to increase the overall price, also.
This Juliet-style reproduction fourposter with canopy and headboard includes delicate gold-painted details, giving the space a worldly, sophisticated feel.
Sealy Design Inc..
Upholstered headboard. Upholstered headboards (or stuffers, as they were originally known) became popular during the 17th century, as the demand for comfort increased and draping fabric on canopy beds died out. The bedroom became more personal in this time, and the necessity to show off had transferred to other rooms in the house.
The choice of fabric is as critical as the design of an upholstered headboard. Oils from skin and hair can easily damage and blot a headboard. Leather is an extremely durable fabric but can be spendy. Some vinyl fabrics seem equally as great and can cost much less.
The design of the button-tufted, upholstered headboard shown believes both genders in this bedroom and includes a sophisticated and elegant look.
jodi foster design + planning
Iron Seat. The beauty, strength and worth of the iron headboard and base are all cherished by all those who have one. At the later part of the 19th century, artisans hand poured and glistening iron bed frames. When World War I started, they ceased, as the iron was needed to make weapons. The end of this war saw handmade items replaced with assembly line solutions.
New iron headboards now be available in many different powder-coated colors and finishes. If custom is important to you, then that is the thing to do. Make sure your headboard is made of cold-rolled steel, as it has a greater tensile strength and won’t dent like hot-rolled steel.
Antique iron headboards are not cheap, however they do come with a real sense of history. A new iron headboard is similar in cost to some normal timber headboard and base that do not have lots of carving detail.
Brian Watford Interiors
Combination Seat. Regardless of the style or shape, a headboard can help anchor your room’s design. Begin with the headboard if you want inspiration for the rest of the room’s furnishings. By taking ideas from the past, blending different materials and modern methods, you can achieve stunning results.
This wood-framed headboard and base with shagreen panels and bone trimming carries a couple of ancient design ideas (some previously mentioned) and creates a smart, contemporary look for this particular bedroom.