Tufted headboards were all the rage when I was growing up in Ireland in the 60's and 70's.
Nice to see they're still popular!

Keeping an upholstered headboard clean . . . lovely to look at but no thanks.

One of the best decisions I ever made was to choose a thickly padded upholstered headboard with a slipcover. It's warm, comfortable to sit up against and you can WASH THE SLIPCOVER.

I would never, ever have an upholstered bed. After a year or two, trust me, that thing will be gross and there's no way to really wash or treat it to avoid that. Unless you can take the cover off and either launder or dry clean it.

Surfjack--where did you get the upholstered headboard with slipcover?

I love tufted headboards, but I agree with the earlier comments re cleanliness.

@LSAB, I got it from Williams Sonoma Home. I later found out it was almost the exact dimensions (and probably virtually the same exact product) as the Lewis headboard from Pottery Barn. Unlike PB, mine was upholstered in a belgian linen and they sold extra slipcovers for it.

Since then, I've made several additional slipcovers for it and I change them out on a whim or seasonally.

It's held up nicely...no dents in the padding even after years of nightly leaning up on it while reading and it's very thick, maybe four inches deep.

@LSAB, Shoot, I forgot to mention that the PB headboard is covered in a neutral cotton twill that looks like muslin, so you really do need to buy a slipcover for that one if you went with that headboard. The big/only real difference was that mine was upholstered with a real finished fabric. Hope that helps! ;)

Thanks, surfjack!

How does leather hold up vs. fabric? Is it any easier to clean or less likely to show wear and tear over time?

I've been eyeing the West Elm tufted one - in fact I have several swatches taped above my bed right now as I try to determine the best color. But the comments about getting dirty over the years give me pause...

I'm a little curious: What are you all doing that your upholstered head board gets so filthy? Your sofa is what can get really dirty, do you slip cover that too? We have 3 cats and a 5 year old microfiber sofa that still looks brand new minus some scratch marks.

I guess if you are leaning up against it for long periods every night your hair might leech some oils onto it, but that is what scotch guard is for. I plan on either making or buying one of these and part of the process will be scotch guarding it.

@jess13, I did get slipcovered sofas for that reason, too, yes. They are so fitted that you'd never know they are actually slipcovers but I wash them twice a year.

We are actually a very neat, clean couple (maybe to a fault) and yet we still end up with oil marks on a headboard after about six months to a year. In fairness, mostly on my husband's side, but hey....

Nobody has to be filthy or doing something wrong. Just being human will make a headboard a mess after a while. Scotch Guard won't really protect against that sort of thing for long.

And then there's also those little whoops moments, like the time I got my hair dyed a darker than normal color and realized some residual color on my scalp rubbed off onto my white headboard. You can be sure I was happy that I had that slipcover to take off and wash.

LOL. So people don't know how to clean their sofas either?

The dirtiest thought I have about tufted headboards is that they may help prevent head injuried :P