53 headboard designs to enhance every kind of bed
The right headboard can go a long way towards tying a whole bedroom scheme together, making it look perfectly considered and well finished. Not only can the right headboard design introduce pops of colour and pattern to more muted schemes, they can act as the unifying element to bring a riot of textiles together in a pleasingly cohesive way.
Form and function are both key when it comes to choosing or creating headboard designs as you’re very likely to spend at least some time with your head resting against it, drinking a morning cup of tea or reading a book. From that point of view, an upholstered headboard – where a fabric of your choosing covers a lovely padded foam form – is the most comfortable. But that doesn’t mean we’re against the likes of rattan headboards or even cane as they can bring a touch of cool modernity to a room – and you can simply prop a pillow (we recommend a large square one) behind you for reclining purposes.
How to fit a headboard
There are two ways to fit a headboard: attach it the bed or attach it to the wall. The former is by far the easier option, but attaching it to the wall ensures no gaps and potential noise as you move around in bed and the headboard hits the wall. If you’re fitting it to the bed itself, the headboard needs to have legs, which will have a cut-out section that slots onto adjacent knobs on the bed – it really is very straightforward and can work well when there’s no skirting board between the bed and the wall to create a gap. If you’re attaching it to the wall, you’ll need French cleat brackets, a drill and a lot of patience to measure everything correctly. For seasoned DIYers, it is fairly simple and YouTube has plenty of videos to guide you. For renters, a headboard attached to the bed is definitely preferable.
Christopher Horwood1/52Inside food writer Melissa Hemsley's Victorian townhouse in north London house that she shares with partner Henry, they have opted for a matchy-matchy approach which has resulted in a delightful and satisfying cohesion. The bedroom is painted a pretty pink in ‘Powder’ by Paint & Paper Library. While the bedding and matching headboard are from Coco and Wolf.
Paul Massey2/52In the smaller of two spare rooms in architect and designer Giles Vincent's west London town house has a day bed upholstered in a striking discontinued Galbraith & Paul fabric. The bed's headboard wraps beneath the window, padding the whole side of the bed, and making a deliciously cosy nook.
Sarah Griggs3/52A border in a toning or contrasting fabric can be the perfect way to enhance your headboard. Designer Charlotte Smiley had The Headboard Workshop cover this one for the main bedroom of her own home in west London in Robert Kime’s ‘Avebury’ with a trim in ‘Forenza’ cotton velvet in radicchio from Romo.
Simon Brown4/52The main bedroom of this 18th century dairy house in Dorset with interiors by Henriette von Stockhausen of VSP interiors, the bed has a headboard in Guy Goodfellow's Fez Weave.
Simon Brown5/52In the daughters' bedroom, Henriette has matched the wallpaper and the headboards which are both in Marthe Armitage's much-loved ‘Chestnut’ patterns in a calming sea green.
Jake Curtis6/52In the first floor bedroom of Jessica Summer's victorian house in west London, the hand-forged iron bed made to Jessica's design is fitted out with a headboard in ‘Adhira’ by Alison Gee and drapes made from Waris Vianni's ‘Fournier’ linen in the lagoon colourway.
Dean Hearne7/52The main bedroom in Serena Williams Ellis's house in Notting Hill features an 18th Century English four poster bed which Serena bought at auction. The headboard fabric is an old Hungarian heavy linen grain sack that Serena found in an antique market.
Christopher Horwood8/52To create a timeless country-house feel, look to Cindy Leveson’s London flat for inspiration. In the main bedroom, she has used the same floral fabric – Colefax and Fowler’s ‘Lincoln’ – on the headboard, bed canopy, valance and curtains, combining it with blue ‘Sudbury Park’ wallpaper, also from Colefax and Fowler. It is very charming and shows how well this aesthetic can work even on a smaller scale.
Chris Snook9/52Twin beds that can be joined or separated as needed can be an excellent option for a versatile spare room. In this bedroom of a 16th-century cottage in West Sussex, Holly Vaughan of Vaughan Design had these headboards upholstered by John Haswell in fabric from Gaston y Daniel with a rope trim from Samuel & Sons for a design that works just as well together as it does apart. It’s also important to think about the backdrop for your headboard – here, Tess Newall’s ‘Herbarium’ wallcovering sets the perfect tone and is a charming nod to the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside.
Helen Cathcart10/52In the principal bedroom of this house in Chelsea designed by Jack Smith of NOMAD, the bed features a patterned scalloped headboard, a popular shape that brings a bit of variety.
Mark Anthony Fox11/52the master bedroom of this London pied-à-terre designed by interiors legend Veere Grenney, the walls, headboard and bed curtain are all covered in ‘Tree of Life’ by Michael Smith. The result is an injection of country house style and Regency flair into this city flat.
Dean Hearne12/52For a more pared-back, contemporary approach, take your cue from this example in an innovative newbuild house in Suffolk. A Natural Bed Company ‘Shetland’ bed with a headboard in Moon’s ‘Parquet’ wool in chestnut feels perfectly in keeping with the Douglas fir panelling that lines the room – and much of the house. A Pierre Frey linen throw and a striped quilt by Caroline Marcq in Mark Alexander’s ‘Polo’ linen complete the earthy, textured look.
Christopher Horwood13/52In designer Tamsin Saunders’ own home in Richmond, her eldest daughter Freya’s bed has a headboard covered in Svenskt Tenn’s ‘Mirakel’, which helps to bring the whole scheme together. The fabric’s vivid colours echoed by a group of Chinese watercolours that hang above the bed and a one of the painted lamps that artist Freya sells through her business, Black Lion Workshops.
Mark Anthony Fox14/52If you’ve got an attic bedroom with low or sloping ceilings, you can still make a headboard work. In fact, it can inspire a much more interesting and inventive design. Mother and daughter design duo Laura and Gracy Berkeley-Hawkes devised this special winged headboard to bring the bed out from under the sloping ceiling of this bedroom of a Cotswold barn conversion. They had it made by Lorfords Contemporary and covered in ‘Conway’ in cocoa by Designers Guild for a wonderfully warm and cocooning feel.
Rebecca Reid15/52Extending the headboard along the wall alongside a single bed is an excellent idea in a children’s bedroom or a multi-functional spare room with a daybed. In this Marylebone flat designed by Tom Bartlett of Waterworks, the wraparound design is upholstered in Christopher Farr Cloth’s ‘Belge’ in green, which is complemented by the valance in Etro’s ‘Balta’.
Dean Hearne16/52Set designer Tattie Isles’ magical Dorset cottage is filled with characterful touches. Here, a suzani that she picked up for just £40 from Facebook Marketplace and a quilt from Projektityyny bring softness, colour and pattern to the simple rattan headboard. The walls are painted in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Jonquil’.
Astrid Templier17/52Matching the headboard to your curtains or blinds can help to create a wonderfully coherent and impactful scheme, especially in a smaller bedroom. In this room in a Herne Hill house decorated by Pandora Taylor, the headboard and roman blind are in Beata Heuman’s ‘Palm Drop’ fabric in sky blue/plaster, which tones perfectly with walls painted in ‘Selvedge’ by Farrow & Ball. The metal bed frame is from Original Bed Co.
Boz Gagovski18/52Carlos Garcia’s ‘Anatolia’ fabric is a current favourite of ours, and we love how rich and luxurious it looks on this headboard, against a backdrop of a Jean Monro wallpaper. The combination is the work of Brandon Schubert, who decorated this 16th-century cottage in Wiltshire.
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Christopher Horwood19/52If you are working with a four-poster bed with drapes, or indeed a bed canopy, you may not want to introduce patterned fabrics everywhere. The plain headboard works well against an antique crewelwork textile in this 17th-century Huguenot weavers' house in Spitalfields, decorated by Rachel Allen.
Dean Hearne20/52Having lighted on his ideal house in the wild Devon countryside, Tom Cox of HÁM Interiors set about making it into a warm and welcoming place to get away, filled with the distinctive art and antiques he has grown up with. The main bedroom has a headboard in ‘Delgado’ by Colefax and Fowler. A custom ‘Cabin’ sign artwork hangs above the bed, and a ‘Harrison’ side table (both by Studio HÁM) stands alongside.
Dean Hearne21/52This custom headboard in the main bedroom of the cottage next door to Tom Cox’s main house is covered in ‘Cheyenne’ by Güell Lamadrid, and the Vaughan ‘Oban Rise & Fall’ light has a shade in the same fabric.
Mark Anthony Fox22/52Instead of a traditional headboard, a piece of tongue and groove panelling can be very smart, especially when there are plenty of other patterns in the room to compete. In this Cotswold house by Emma Burns, Cole & Son’s ‘Sweet Pea’ wallpaper provides plenty of visual interest, so that the panelling makes for a calming look around the bed.
Simon Brown23/52Wavy headboards are definitely having a moment, as seen in this Notting Hill townhouse with interiors by Studio Vero. We love the cheerful orange fabric on this one. This is another clever example of twin beds that can be joined together to make a double when needed.
Alexander James24/52Studio Peake brings a fresh spirit to this Arts & Crafts house in Surrey. With its low ceilings and dark beams, the Surreu house was looking rather sad and neglected, until interior designer Sarah Peake brought a new, energetic spirit to its rooms using a bold palette and pretty prints. A headboard in Namay Samay’s ‘Sitaron’ and Vanderhurd and Wicklewood cushions balance Antoinette Poisson’s ‘Jaipur’ wallpaper in the spare room.
