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The home (and dog!) of Caitlin Williams and James Freeman, featured on Design*Sponge

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We love the look of artwork hung in place of a traditional headboard—it's warm and inviting but still chic and modern, and it's a great way to create a backdrop for your bed if all you've got is a basic mattress-store frame. Click through for a few different inspiring takes on this idea...

The trick seems to be to hang the artwork just at the right height, so it hovers just above your pillows. Of course you'll want to affix the canvas or frames with sturdy hardware, bolting them to the wall or using a picture rail to ensure your own safety in bed (and to prevent annoying wobbly frames).

Alternately, if the piece of art you're working with isn't especially precious, you can use it as an actual headboard, hanging it below the level of the pillows. This might work best with DIY artwork intended for this purpose, like the triptych pictured in the second photo above.

If you want to take the whole idea one step further, there's a studio in Canada that produces custom headboards that have the appearance of framed artworks (third photo). Contact One and Only Custom Headboards for information.

Anyone out there making this work at home? What was your successful approach?

(Images: Design*Sponge/Claire Bloomberg; Precious Style; One and Only Headboards; Livingetc (fourth, fifth, and sixth photos); Decorpad)