12 Ways to Celebrate a Fabulous Patterned Headboard
These extravagant bedroom textiles are events unto themselves. Let the revelry begin
I'm advocating breaking one of my design rules. Well, I don't really believe in strict design rules, but generally I try to keep big investment pieces (like beds) neutral, solid and classic, and bring in prints, patterns, bolder colors and trendy fabrics via less permanent items like rugs, throw pillows, duvet covers and window treatments.
However, these gorgeous patterned headboards have been screaming for my attention, and I cannot ignore them any longer. Would you sleep beneath a patterned headboard? If so, what kind of textile or pattern would you use? Let me know in the Comments section!
However, these gorgeous patterned headboards have been screaming for my attention, and I cannot ignore them any longer. Would you sleep beneath a patterned headboard? If so, what kind of textile or pattern would you use? Let me know in the Comments section!
Go bold and go for height — dynamic fabrics and exaggerated verticality on a headboard can change the entire feeling of a room. These brilliant textiles add to the Moroccan style of this home, and the wall behind them painted up to chair-rail height tricks the eye, distorting how we perceive the colors and proportions.
Extend the headboard to new heights to show off a beautiful fabric on it and your shams. It would have been a design travesty not to show off this beautiful suzani fabric.
Match a sham or another pillow to the headboard. This will give the bedscape a continuous look vertically, like these damask-pattern shams do.
To tie a larger area to the bed, extend the headboard behind nightstands. A bold trellis pattern grounds this bed with the appropriate scale.
You don't have to use fabric to execute this idea. At the Upward Bound House, interior designer Vanessa De Vargas used wallpaper to create the look of an extended headboard.
You can also use a special traditional fabric. Design Sponge blogger Grace Bonney helped educate the masses about traditional Mexican Otomi embroidery with her famous DIY headboard.
Shop Otomi textiles
Shop Otomi textiles
Repeat the pattern on twin or triplet beds. Here, an electric paisley pattern repeated on three beds and window treatments enlivens the room.
Use remnants for a unique patchwork design. Creative decorator Cherie Marcel didn't let her fabric samples go to waste; instead, she used them to fashion a fabulous headboard.
Allow the patterned headboard to be the star of the bedscape. Keep the duvet and shams solid and with minimal detailing, like this hotel-style bedding, and use a minimal amount of coordinating throw pillows.
Coordinate with a bed skirt or a bed platform to create continuity.
Pay attention to the way the pattern relates to the headboard's shape. Here the vertical stripes emphasize the point at the top of the headboard. Note the way the stripes on the bed skirt and the headboard align.
If you don’t have a headboard, create the illusion of one by hanging a quilt on the wall above the bed. It can cozy up a room and create interesting proportions with dramatic height.
Browse more headboard designs
Browse more headboard designs