Master Bedroom With Striped Upholstered Headboard

The wall behind the bed runs up in tall fluted panelling, carried well above the headboard rather than stopping at picture height. Drawing the vertical grooves that far up makes the ceiling feel higher than it measures, which is the main trick in this room. The fluting also catches light in soft lines across the day. It is a lot of carpentry for one wall, so it earns its place only as the wall you see first on walking in.

The window carries two layers, a sheer behind and a dusty-pink block-print floral curtain in front. The sheer keeps daytime glare down while still letting light through, and the printed layer draws across for privacy and to block the sun fully. Block-print fabric has a hand-made softness that a machine print does not, with slight shifts in the motif. On a big window like this the printed layer needs enough width to gather properly, so budget extra fabric for the fullness.

The bedside tables are low wooden units with a stone top and a couple of drawers each. Keeping them low sits them below the mattress line so they never crowd the headboard, and the stone top shrugs off a water glass or a warm cup. A carved wooden disc and small cups dress the surface. Wood with a stone top is a practical pairing beside a bed, though a light stone will ring-mark if a wet glass sits on it for long.

The bed is dressed in a textured cream and grey cover with a crewel floral runner laid across the foot. Crewel is wool embroidery worked in a chain stitch, which gives the flowers a raised, slightly rough surface you can feel. Floral cushions in cream and pink tie the runner back to the curtains. It is a soft, layered look rather than a crisp hotel one, so it wants straightening and the odd wash more often than a plain single-fabric bed.

Much of it does, with edits. The panelled headboard works at any width because you simply drop a panel or two. The tall wall panelling is the part to watch, since carrying it high in a low room can feel heavy, so a half-height version keeps the effect without pressing down on the space. Choose one slim bedside table over a pair if the walls sit close to the mattress in a tighter room.

Treat it like any good fabric. Vacuum the panels every week or two with a soft brush head to keep dust out of the weave, working top to bottom. Blot spills straight away rather than rubbing them in. For the area behind the pillows, where hair oil builds up, a light upholstery cleaner now and then keeps the maroon even. A dark block print like this forgives the odd mark, which is part of why it suits the head of a bed.

The upholstery and the wall panelling are the two big lines here, not the bed frame. A multi-panel headboard uses more fabric and more hand-finishing than a single slab, and the solid walnut beam is a real timber cost on its own. Carrying fluted panelling high up the wall adds board and labour by the square foot. Fabric grade, the choice of real wood or a veneer, and how high the panelling runs decide the final figure.