It's a common misconception that decorative headboards are feminine, so let's take a look at some headboards that work to dispute that myth. These babies accomplish a lot more than merely telling you which way to lay down.
Images: 1 Nuevo Estilo via Doorr; 2 Massucco Warner Miller via Dwellers Without Decorators; 3 Miles Redd via Domino; 4 La Maison Boheme; 5 Erin Martin Design; 6 via Decorpad; 7 Cabin on the Water; 8 Gary Spain Design; 9 Elle Decor via Dwellers Without Decorators; 10 Design Sponge.
Resources: West Elm has some good masculine headboards, including a tailored tufted grey one, and a handsome grasscloth one, all for under $500 for a king. Ballard has some classic nailhead designs, and you can pick from a wide range of fabrics, from solids to manly stripes, though it will run you closer to $800 for a king size. If you're feeling more of an English clubby aesthetic for your bedroom, Horchow has a tweed wingback headboard that's $1899 for a king.
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Love the wood scraps, and the caption.
#10, the cardboard thing? That's a joke, right?
I would love to be able to scroll through images, rather than click on a picture to reload the page. Something like realsimple's website. I don't even mind scrolling down the page.
I just find myself going to AT less often than I used to, because of the way I have to view the images. Also, the thumbnails are tiny; can't tell which ones would be of most interest to me.
Sorry for the rant. Some nice headboards.
SO pleased to see one of my driftwood headboards (#7) posted up here and looking very manly with the Rough Linen bedding (www.roughlinen.com). Didn't do it with my bare hands though - I used a nail gun, it took about fifteen minutes start to finish and was absolutely free.
Comfortable too - the knobbly bits are all above head level, and the only fallout is an occasional barnacle.
I have stopped even trying to look at the pics, janeymac, you aren't alone. I want a sumptuous, easy picture show like desiretoinspire.net.
@TriciaRose - I LOVE that bedding.
A mirror over the bed makes the room feel larger? O who are you kidding? I'm thinking the mirror is there for other reasons
Headboards are always so crazy expensive, for what they are. I like the repurposed doors for this reason, but I think it's harder to pull off.
These are masculine headboards??? I guess then I am too. I love these simple solutions. Many headboards are just so over-done.
classic, simple, elegant furnishings have no gender.
some of these headboards are very stunning and
developed with a finished interior. it is all about
pulling a room together.
Ha. I can never be satisfied for long...
I was feeling all smug and proud of myself for making a salvaged wood coffee table...
( http://justanothertreehugger.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/from-a-barn-to-my-apartment-the-story-of-a-plank-of-wood/ )
Now I'm sitting here scheming a headboard like #7. I love that bedding too - but I have a feeling that texturey linen would be a SERIOUS cat fur magnet.
TriciaRose - on a scale of 1-10, how crafty/talented do I need to be to create something similar?
Traveling in Morocco and Tanzania, I saw stunning carved panels like #4 frequently, and priced fairly. So I'd sit there staring at them for 20 minutes trying to imagine how I'd possibly get them back to Boston, then I'd pout and walk away. I absolutely LOVE that look though...but have a feeling its way out of most normal folks' budgets.
I love every one of those headboards and would own any of them--and I'm a woman. I see style not so much of a specific masculine feel. As for that mirror, sistervashti, it would have to be at a different angle to see anything sexual, if that's what you're implying. It would have to be veryyyy secure for me to be comfortable. I would be afraid of it falling from all of the 'activity.' wink-wink. Also, love that Rough linen bedding.
@janeymac How coincidental, I went to check out RealSimple after you mentioned it and ended up at this article http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/decorating-how-tos-10000001171352/page2.html>Link<a/>. And it's done just like this Apartment Therapy style of click, reload, click, reload...
Agree with janeymac on all points.
janeymac is right. Viewing the photos is awkward and I do it less and less.
@janeymac etc. I agree that it's awkward as well, but I think a better way to get this complaint heard is to directly email the webmasters at http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/main/contact
I have to say I find the labeling of masculine and manly outdated. Can a woman have any of the featured rooms featured in this series? Have you seen Meg Ryan's home in Elle Decor recently? "It ain't no dainty digs"
I have enjoyed looking at the rooms in this series just not the titles.
What makes these rooms "masculine" is the lack of pattern and color choice. Not the headboard. I agree with patrick when he says the use of words like masculine and feminine are somewhat outdated. My hubby loved our toile wallpapered bedroom - we moved and he wanted it recreated!
Not really a fan of soft headboards... but who cares? LOL Dig those beams in the ceiling! Yeah....
Thank you for all the comments on my headboard and my Rough Linen bedding! I'm chuffed!
Mandakate, the headboard couldn't be easier as long as you have a good source of driftwood. I collected for quite a while, and thought about it a lot, then one day leaned it against the wall to place each piece then whacked away with my nail gun. There is no wood below mattress level, mainly because I wanted the bed as tight to the wall as possible, and also some of the pieces weren't very long. I add to it every time I find something interesting.
If you're asking how talented you have to be to create the linens - very! : ) I have a Maine coon and haven't noticed an extra cat fur problem - and it is very tough, withstands one client's Newfoundland! It softens too: that picture was of a very new duvet cover with the characteristic post-wash 'treebark' texture, gone after a couple of nights.
Once I slept in a bed with a feminine headboard (a quilt of babies, wedding rings and VC Andrews book covers) and woke up gay. True story.
I love the driftwood headboard and the anti-headboard. Honestly the curvy headboard is becoming cliche. Glad to see some uncommon ones here.
The linen's aren't hard at all to contruct. Finding quality linen from good dye lots is the tough part. I used to get vintage linen sheets are the Pasenda City College flea market - they were the perfect marrigae of hand, weight, texture. I miss those.
I wholeheartedly agree with janeymac! Commenters complained when AT changed it a couple of years ago. To those who want a change, email the editors. Me? I just visit less frequently. Too bad. AT was practically my home page.