Seems to me that the thing to change would be the headboard. I would think about painting it, depending on your decor. My first thought is a brown=black, and then create a padded panel inside the trim moulding of the bed, in a more modern fabric, perhaps something that picks up the horizontal lines of the nightstands.

Or, a bit simpler if you sew, would be to create a slipcover for the headboard, again in a more modern fabric that works with the nightstands.

I would leave the nightstands alone, if you like the look of them and you are up for a change from the more country feel of the old room.

I think the painted white look is not so hot....so I'm not going to encourage you to do that. :0) Yep...a padded headboard would pull the look together.

Thanks for the ideas. You know, I've thought about that and I'm not sure what I want to do. This is one of those things where I saved forever and looked for a long time and then spent more than I wanted to (on the headboard). And I think part of me just has a tough time throwing in the towel on it already. I love the concept of it (I'm a sucker for woven cane) but it's the arch that's throwing me I think. I'm just not sure I'm ready to part with the original headboard yet and do something to it that I can't undo.

But I'm sort of indecisive like that.

I'm also of the opinion that I would do something with the headboard before I would mess with the nightstands.

I would paint the headboard the same color as the trim in the room (white?), so it would give the feel of blending in as a piece of architecture. With it white, it would be a blank canvas and maybe you could visualize it a pretty complementing color to the room later on.

I think the color of the headboard wood looks a little dated, but the shape and form is simple and classic. That's my reasoning for painting.

I would not paint the nightstands. I think the effect would be weird, and the shadows created would contrast too much right on the furniture. Nightstands would appear to be black and white because of the shadows created...they would not just look white (hope that makes sense).

I like the nightstands, but they do have a complexity to them. I would be careful with adding cane or something on the doors. It wouldn't take much hacking to make them look like an overdone craft project.

Also, I think the nightstands in their current color are great. With a white or very neutral blended headboard, you could really play off the darker wood nightstands with some decor pieces elsewhere in the room.
Gayle

I understand about not wanting to touch your headboard. It would probably help a lot to see the bed in the new room, and it might be something you want to live with before you paint the nightstand even. How about a fitted tablecloth with a cane pattern over the nightstand?

I would wait till you get everything together in the new room before making any decisions. I prefer having a bit of difference in woods in a room instead of everything matching and I do not like painted wood at all - just me. You could easily pull this off with say candlesticks containing both wood tones on a table with a lamp and a chair, artwork over the night stands, rugs that pull in colors you have, or even new bedding with throw pillows that direct your eyes to them. Once you get everything set up, you might like it. I vote for wait and see how it looks....

Thanks, everyone. Wait and see, it is. Once we're back in there (oh please, please, please let that be within the next couple weeks), I'll post some pictures and then you guys can have at it! :)

I can see your pieces working fine together, style-wise, if the colors can happily co-exist. On my monitor they don't at present... What about staining the nightstands darker? In our bedroom we have a platform bed (Ikea Malm) in brown/black and nightstands in some blonde wood (birch I think). We bought these together and specifically mis-matched the finishes for a more organic look (although the style is the same). In the same room we have a Danish mid-century chair that's yellowed blonde wood with a dark brown leather seat. It all looks great together, IMHO.

Sand down the headboard and stain it to match the headboard. It's not hard to do.
What kind of wood is the headboard?
Joann

I'm not sure what the wood is, some kind of hardwood. I know it's not teak but it looks like it. It' extremely heavy. The whole middle section is all woven cane so I'm not sure how I'd go about re-staining that, but anything is possible, I'm sure.

The caning may just take the darker stain. Try a piece in the back close to the bottom where it is not visable.
On a cane chair that we re-stained, I applied the darker stain to the cane and it took.