CHOOSING THE PERFECT UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD

Choosing an upholstered headboard or platform bed for a bedroom in your home is a way to update your room and add an instant and beautiful focal point to your room. Here's what to think about to choose the perfect upholstered headboard.

Today I’m singing the praises of upholstered headboards! They are so super attractive, on-trend, and actually becoming quite the classic! And many headboards are inexpensive. Let’s talk about how an upholstered or padded headboard can change the look of a bedroom in your home.

Now is a great time to take stock of the items in your home you might want to get to freshen up a room! One of the best and most economical ways to update a bedroom is with an upholstered headboard or platform bed.

These beds are just beautiful and will create that sanctuary look we all want in our bedrooms!

We have had an upholstered bed in our master bedroom for almost five years and we just love it!

At the end of this post are my favorite upholstered headboards and platform beds!

Have you ever thought an upholstered headboard would be a great addition to the bedroom furniture in your home?

They are so popular right now for so many reasons!

Two of the bedrooms at Tanglewood have padded headboards and we love them.

WHAT IS AN UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD

An upholstered headboard is usually made from a wood product or solid wood frame that is covered with foam and soft batting and then covered in upholstery fabric.

The material can be plain or tufted using upholstered buttons. This tufting tends to add a pretty diamond shape to the headboard.

They can also be embellished with cording or nailheads for a designer look.

We love our upholstered tufted headboard for its soft designer look and the way it is a big impact focal point in our bedroom.

WHY WE CHOSE AN UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD

I think the biggest reason we replaced our rice carved four-poster bed with an upholstered headboard was that after a couple decades we were tired of that matchy-matchy look of our bedroom furniture and wanted to update our bedroom. We decided to try an upholstered bed and it completely changed the look of our bedroom!

Adding an upholstered bed to our room also gave us permission to break up our matchy-matchy furniture and replace it over time with pieces that gave our room a fresh look!

If you want to update your bedroom start with an upholstered headboard!

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE BENEFITS

There are many reasons to choose a gorgeous padded headboard for your bedroom…

POCKETBOOK FRIENDLY

The price for an upholstered headboard can be quite reasonable to very expensive!

But in reality, you can find oodles and tons of gorgeous headboards that fall in the $250 to $500 dollar range. And that is a whole lot of decor bang for a great price!

The headboard we have now cost about $300.00! You can see it HERE. It has worn so well, I highly recommend it!

ON TREND BUT NOT TRENDY

Padded headboards are an updated look but they don’t look too trendy!

Really upholstered headboards have been around for centuries! And they have been making big statements and style impressions in bedrooms for a long, long time!

Upholstered headboards are a classic!

CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLOR

Because these headboards come in so many styles and many colors they will work with almost any decor!

Right now, neutrals or moody blues and grays are very popular. And there are tons of upholstered beds in these colors on the market!

However, if you look you can find a headboard in just about any other color too! Recently I saw a deep emerald green velvet upholstered bed that was very tailored and had gold nailheads. Oh, it was so beautiful!

The bed in one of our guest bedrooms is a heathery gray/blue. It has a lower profile than the headboard in our master bedroom but has pretty tufting and covered buttons.

Both of the beds are queen size but upholstered beds come in many sizes from twin to king!

BEAUTIFUL FABRICS FOR UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARDS

One of the things I love about upholstered beds is the variety they come in. There are so many beautiful fabrics like linen and even velvets. And easy to clean fabrics that look like linen and velvet too!

Here are a few more fabrics you can find on one of these headboards…

  • leather
  • cotton
  • polyester
  • any performance fabric used for upholstery

TUFTED, NAILHEADS, WINGBACK AND MORE

Let’s talk about nailheads! It’s a detail I particularly love to see on an upholstered bed. They outline the shape of the headboard beautifully!

Many upholstered beds have wingbacks. Think of the wingbacks as in wingback chairs but for a bed. They add extra detail to an upholstered bed.

Wingbacks can be very plain or quite ornate. And they can also be very modern and slimmed down too!

There seems to be something for everyone when it comes to upholstered headboards and platform beds.

PLATFORM UPHOLSTERED BEDS

If you like upholstered headboards you might consider a platform bed which is an upholstered headboard and a bed frame all in one. These are such luxurious beds! No need for a dust ruffle because the sides and bottom are most often made in the same padded upholstery fabric as the headboard. So pretty!

We are thinking about trading our upholstered headboard for a platform bed. You can see it Here.

Sometimes these pretty platform beds have storage drawers in the sides and/or the bottom of the bed.

A mattress usually sits inside the platform bed on slats supported by the sides of the bed. Make sure to check, some platform beds use a mattress only, and some call for a box spring too.

And many platform beds can support an adjustable base like we have. Just read the specification about the bed and it should tell you if an adjustable base will work with the bed you are looking at.

HOW I CLEAN MY UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD

Depending on the fabric all upholstered headboards will clean up differently. Both of our headboards are a linen material so I vacuum it with my soft brush attachment and have it professionally cleaned and protected with Scotchgard about once a year.

In between vacuuming I give it a once over with a Swiffer duster.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARDS

I’ve done a little window shopping and picked out some great headboards in a variety of price ranges. Choosing to move to an upholstered headboard or even a platform bed is a very pretty and savvy way to update a bedroom!

Click the image below to see some of my favorite headboards…

And here are a few of my favorite platform beds….

Think about adding an updated look to a bedroom in your home with an upholstered headboard!

You might also like…

HOW TO DECORATE A NIGHTSTAND

HOW KNOWING ABOUT VISUAL WEIGHT WILL HELP YOU CREATE BEAUTIFUL ROOMS

HOW TO MIX DECORATING STYLES

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34 Comments

  1. I recently added an upholstered padded headboard to my spare bedroom and what a game changer! It’s a beautiful addition and elevates the room to feel more like a luxury suite! I’m currently working on my master bedroom and will be adding an upholstered headboard so this post is timely!

    Yvonne, where did you find the Tabasco baskets hung above your bed? I’ve been hunting for a round set of three for weeks now.

  2. Sometimes a small change can make a big difference.The headboard you are considering will look lovely in your bedroom.

    1. Thanks, Doreen. Yes a few changes every year can keep your home updated and fresh.

  3. Cecilia from Georgia says:

    I must tell you how much this post helped me this morning! I was about to hit the furniture stores to buy a new bed and dreaded having to make a decision between so many types of headboards! My ancient bed is also a Rice-bed style and so beautiful…but dark and to tell the truth…I’m tired of it. So, I will sit right here with my coffee, in the safety of my home, and shop! Thanks for sharing the links to make it even easier! I need a new mattress too but that’s a shopping trip for another day! God Bless you and your family throughout the new year.

    1. I had a rice-carved bed and just loved it. But when we moved it was too big for our bedroom! And that’s how I came to know and love upholstered beds.

  4. Kay Shumate says:

    I love your bed skirt with the comforter from Ballard’s. Can you share where it’s from? And is it burlap? Ballard’s still Carrie’s the comforter & shames but wasn’t able to find the bed skirt.
    Love your bedroom.

  5. Hello! Please share the resource where i can locate your open weave bedskirt? I love it, and would love to purchase one. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
    Happy New Year, and thank you for all you do for us.

  6. Carolyn Childers says:

    I have had an upholstered headboard for 50 years, can you believe it. It has been reupholstered several times. Have always loved it. It has a wooden frame, which I like. So comfy when you are sitting up in bed or reading in bed. Best wishes in the New Year, Carolyn

  7. Absolutely gorgeous. Don’t know which I love the best! I always wanted a bed like any of these in your post, but hated the thought of my husband oily hair ruining the gorgeous headboard. I have to face it, I would not be cleaning it as often as I would need to clean it. In our home, we have to stick to wood and/or iron

    Happy holidays, and thank for sharing

    1. We prop ourselves up on pillows. I don’t think our heads ever really touch our upholstered bed.

  8. Jane Powell says:

    Yes, bedskirt info please. I love it too.
    Also would like to know how to use a bed skirt with an adjustable bed???? We have a split king and I’ve tried several things but nothing that works well and looks right. Thanks, Yvonne and have a great 2022!

    1. I had to cut the bottom of the bedskirt to accommodate the bar at the end of our adjustable bed. Then I sewed the raw ends so they would not frey. Hope this helps.

  9. Where do you hide the bed pillows?

  10. Mary Dilday says:

    Love the beautiful headboards! We’ve hung on to our Ethan Allen suite for 37 years. It is full size, but since money has been tight for this pastor’s family we bought extenders to fake a queen size bed. Now the footboard is leaning and it’s definitely time to do something else.

    Now since we’ve downsized our only space for the bed is unfortunately in front of a single double-sash window. Would you recommend a headboard like those you’ve shown that would cover up a good portion of the window or would something wooden with slats to see thru be a better fit?

    Really would appreciate any help you could provide. Many thanks!

    MARY DILDAY

    1. Hi Mary, thank you and your husband for your service to our Lord and His flock! I would go with a pretty upholstered headboard and enjoy it! Just look for one that is not so tall.

  11. Jan barton says:

    Where did you buy your bed spread and shams?

  12. FYI I would advise you to read the reviews. Measure carefully as sometimes the headboard looks higher on the site than it is. Sometimes they are wider than your bed so you can see the medal legs. For instance, a queen bed is 60” wide, whereas many headboards are 66”. Or the bolts don’t line up. I speak from experience. Sending a bed back is very expensive.

  13. Yvonne, would you please share the name of your coverlet and where you purchased it? It is elegant and classic. Thanks and Happy New Year!

  14. I designed and purchased my own upholstered headboard about five years ago, and though I do like it – it needs help. I wish I could send you a photo for you to critique. Add offer suggestions.

  15. Love this post – I have been planning for a queen sized upholstered bed for our guest room. I particularly love the platform beds that do not require box springs. We have a sleigh bed in our master bedroom and we recently bought a new box spring and mattress. These things are huge and extremely heavy and hard to move. When the delivery men put the box spring in place they gouged the wood on the footboard. Grrrrrr. We will be downsizing soon and like the idea of having a new platform bed that will make things easier. I stopped using dust ruffles years ago. I find that they are dust catchers and hard to take on and off to clean. With allergies these things are dust traps, and I also like the more streamlined appearance without a ruffle. Thanks for this informative post. Happy New Year!

  16. Yvonne,
    Thank you for your lovely and informative posts. I have learned so very much. We moved into a new home a year ago and i have utilized many, many posts in setting up several rooms as i learn to downsize in our new space downtown.
    I was able to find the bedskirt, so thank you anyway- i know you have been ill and it is the holidays, so much going on.
    Thank you as well for speaking about our faith. These are challenging times. We have many friends and family reeling after the Boulder fire, so my energies will now be with them- so much need.
    God Bless you in 2022.

  17. Barbara Ann Bishop says:

    I am interested in information re the bedding shown,,,,,

  18. Jina sheppard says:

    Been wrestling with the new bed decision for a few months. My concern is my average height ceiling, 8 feet, and the height of most of these beds…I won’t know till I get the bed into the room. Love your content.

  19. JACK & POLLY says:

    Love your bedroom, where did you get the pillows on your bed? LOVE THEM!!

  20. Heidi Cherney says:

    Hello,

    Your guest bedroom is so beautiful and dreamy! Perfection! Would you mind sharing where you purchased the pictures on either side of the bed and the baskets above the bed?
    Thanks so much!

  21. Heather Barbour says:

    Hello! I would love to know what the paint color is in this room.