That's beautiful! I love how you used the spindles to make the arm rests! And the decorative one on the bottom front of it. That's just absolutely charming! Perfect spot for it,the table and bench just go together. And great job on the stenciling,too.

I have never given a thought about whether my bedding matches my headboard (natural pine). Of course, it doesn't. Ivory and white would be fine with me.

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

Put a 3" thick foam cushion on it.