This look works well if you've got a studio that needs some separate zones or you're working with an open space and you want to "float" your bed in the middle of it. An oversized headboard that doubles as a divider can anchor the bed, creating a room-within-a-room.

In Jay's Chelsea apartment, a custom bookshelf is a headboard, a storage piece, and an entryway wall all-in-one. He cleverly incorporated closed storage on the bottom and open shelving on the top to give the piece weight as a headboard, but openness as a room divider.

A partition wall creates a very dramatic headboard in this image from Sunset Magazine. For other inspiring examples of partition wall headboards, see this post.

At the Aloft Hotel, a headboard serves triple functions: it's a closet, a headboard with built-in sidetables and lighting, and a partition wall.

Marie Claire Maison designers used two unfinished IKEA Rast chests to make this headboard. They painted the chests, cut a chipboard panel to cover one side, and upholstered the panel using batting, fabric and a staple gun. The final piece has storage on one side and an upholstered headboard on the other.

At the One Hotel in Cambodia, the bed rests on a platform that runs the length of the room, functioning as a sink/bathroom counter at one end and bedroom storage at the other end. A headboard divides the two areas, and a mirror mounted to the back of it defines the "bathroom" zone.
Photos: Jill Slater, Thomas J. Story / Sunset Magazine, Paul Johnson/Rockwell Group via Metropolis, Jerome Galland for Marie Claire Maison, The One Hotel





Comments (12)
At $30, those solid pine IKEA Rast chests are the steal of the century. Glad to see someone give them a little style. Shows what a talented person can do with even the simplest materials.
The last one is pretty cool...though I would be sure to wake up when he's washing his hands after doing his business in the middle of the night.
I love the color palette in the bedroom!
To clarify: The first photo with the yellow/orange & Greys & Charcoal. The red vase on the shelf is perfection.
watch your head for falling objects!
why do some people not think of this safety issue?
ComfortSeeker- Because some of us live where earthquakes are unheard of?
Haha, I'm thinking it's not earthquakes shakin' the beds...
Museum putty would definitely have to be your best friend if you had that much open storage above your head!
In the first example, unless one is referring to the pillar that the shelves are hanging out between as being custom, that's just a stack of ikea expedits and inserts.
Not in California!!
Hahaha, touche, andrealew.
I love the way these look, especially the first one, and was thinking of trying to do something similar to create a hiding place for our bikes. But as everyone mentioned, it seems a bit unstable-- I usually lean on the wall while reading or watching movies, would a free standing shelf be ok for that, even attached to the wall?