apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I did something very similar in my bedroom! I couldn't afford a headboard, so I painted a flat chocolate square in my eggshell blue wall...which then happened to be the perfect size for one of my oil paintings! Hopefully these links will work...

or not..how do I share links to pictures?

i like the color combo.

i have a question though, i'm not from earthquake country so bare with me, why remove the headboard? i just don't see how a headboard would collapse on you. the bed is usually made to absorb shock ;) if the earthquake is really bad, wouldn't the walls start cracking and pieces of the ceiling would come down, so the bed breaking would not be a priority? again, don't be offended, i'm just curious.

I like it!

Let's try this....

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/amiencc/home/saleitems012.jpg

IMO, the "Earthquake Country" thing is kinda lame - living your life for years "What If-ing" a 30-second event were to occur...

Color me unimpressed with this - it's just a vertical stripe on the wall. I'd paint stripes in the rest of the room (good color choice, BTW) and get a real headboard for that bed.

It seems a little timid, and it is.

elinka189 - a headboard attached to the bed is not a problem. Hanging anything heavy like a mirror or a picture frame or sculptural item over a bed is not particularly smart in an earthquake prone area because it can fall off the wall and hit you in the head. Perhaps the posting person doesn't like traditional beds with headboards attached or doesn't have one at the moment.

I like amiencc's a lot, but I don't think the one in the main post looks very good. Maybe even some more pillows on the bed would make it look better.

love the overhead light fixture -- how did you make it?

I agree the one in the main post needs more...maybe a color that contrasts more against the main color...or stripes of the main color going through the accent color...or pull the accent color onto the ceiling...or use a third color inside of the accent color...this one is just a little underwhelming. I think more pillows on the bed would help as well. The bed itself doesn't look as welcoming as it could.

(and thanks! I'm glad you like mine hee hee!)

i think that brightly colored lampshades would make a big difference. carry some of the color punch up the wall a bit.

I know what you mean by not wanting to have headboards...

I was holidaying in Indonesia when one night I woke up thinking that somebody was shaking my bed. The headboard started to shake as well and luckily I managed to stop it from falling on top of my friend's head who was still sleeping. Imagine if I was not awake yet...we may have had concussions from the impact! That's when i realized that its actually an earthquake that we were experiencing. So amienka and LilyC, i think having a headboard does pose some risks...

I thought the paint idea is great as a substitute. Good job!

as long as you are happy with it, that's all that matters.

it just looks like a painted wall to me.
amiencc, nice work, is it fabric or a painting or what?

i dont have a headboard either, but covered a piece of foam, from a furniture delivery, with fabric for a substitute and like it much better than a headboard. and it's in place with velcro.

I've seen painted headboards of this nature that 'work", I agree-- this one doesn't work.

Problem is: the paint color chosen for the headboard is the same hue as the walls, slightly deeper shade. The color used SHOULD have been tied into the bedding color somehow-- similar hue or shade.

sassydo, it's a painting of mine! I had that painting sitting on the floor for months, having no clue where to put it, then the lightbulb went off one day. The chocolate block it sits on is just leftover paint, the opposite wall at the foot of the bed is painted that color.

That's a bright idea you had to cover the foam and just attach it with velcro! Clever!

"earthquake country"? i'm with bepsf, this is a sad cliched excuse.

haven't heard of eyelet screws, anchor screws, toggle bolts, l bracets or high test line wire i guess? i can assure you, my 48" framed lithograph headboard and a bookcase full of studio pottery aren't coming down in "THE BIG ONE" unless my whole home does.

here's a post idea.....HOW TO SAFELY HANG A PICTURE / MIRROR / PLATE TO A WALL. Might as well learn something while you're posting away.

I think some of you are being a tad harsh about the original poster's reason for not wanting an actual headboard. It involves a FEAR, and such fears are usually not the most reasonable or rational of feelings. He or she described themself as being paranoid, so obviously they realize that they might be worried about nothing.

Try convincing someone who's afraid of flying that the chances of something going wrong with their airplane is slim. You won't get anywhere.

And really, a "sad cliched excuse"? Someone's concerns and fears are now being called a sad and cliched excuse? An excuse for what, exactly? If they didn't like real headboards, they could just easily come out and say it. I'm totally sure they're just trying to cover up their lack of knowledge of hanging and securing methods by pretending to be concerned about earthquakes and what toll one might take on a person's hanging possessions. That makes sense.

You might read Shela's post and realize that there is some danger posed by hanging things above beds. It's not like this fear is totally unfounded.

Now, as for the actual painted headboard - I like it. Not everything in a room needs to be painted brightly or stick out in a colorful way. I like sleeping areas to be a bit subdued.

Wow, maybe the person who knows all about "eyelet screws, anchor screws, toggle bolts, l brac[k]ets or high test line wire" should post a tutorial or link to some useful information about them.

In the meantime, this post addressed exactly some of the issues I've been thinking about lately. I don't want a headboard, am new to the west coast and have never had any need to worry about framed pictures or shelves flying off walls, and don't know how to hang a framed picture safely without damaging the walls of my rental apartment (I've had bad experiences with toggle bolts). I'm living with a blank wall over my bed as a result. Paint seems like an interesting way to address both the earthquake issue and the simple issue of not wanting or having a headboard. I can also see a lightweight item (maybe even one of the horizontal frazier & wing sculptures from the nearby post?) working. What other ideas do people have about working without a headboard?

lovely

I did the same thing for my desk that had to be in the bedroom: floor to ceiling blue in the desk's width (in a white room), it delineated that area AND gave visual pleasure as well


and still does now that the desk is gone

Healthyhome, I think that is a great idea to create a post on how to safely hang even the heaviest of objects. I have a 5 foot shelf hanging over my LCD TV and what an expensive disaster it would be for that to fall off the wall! It won't, I hung it properly, but still a logical concern.

But I have a feeling the blogger was just trying to set a story for the reason behind no headboard that was more interesting than "I just don't like headboards" or "I can't afford one". I hung mine the way I did because they take up room I don't have and I don't need one more thing to take with me when I move. I have a feeling if the blogger was really that afraid of "The Big One" they wouldn't be living where they do.

Then what about the mercury leaking when the CFL light fixture thingie falls off the ceiling? (referred to in an earlier post about that thing I'm not going to look up right this second).

I'm more wondering why the room looks pretty blank. I'm not really stunned about the paint stripe. It's a good idea marginally effective in this case. There's a red and orange (salmon? coral?) bed and nightstands, about 8 vertical feet of nothing special to look at at all, and then that lantern chandelier to "tie it in." I just don't see a look coming together here yet. Keep working on it. There are things you can hang on the walls that won't crush or impale you.

ehhh, I prefer actual headboards.

i DO like your quilt though, where can I find a similar one? I'm in the market for a couple new ones.

I like the look and feel of a bed with no headboard. I think the paint stripe on the wall is an improvement over a blank wall, but maybe not the most effective "painted headboard". Will some other readers post pictures of more successful painted headboards?

I really like this.
However I don't think this would work for me. I like to move around my furniture alot.

While I'm not in love with this personally (seems kind of underwhelming, don't like the gloss paint or the colors), I'm really surprised that people are being snippy about the earthquake concerns. Growing up in LA my mother drummed into my head for years that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER put ANYTHING hanging above the bed. I've gotten past that as an adult and we do have a very securely hung picture (in a lightweight frame) over our bed now, but people do grow up with it and it does give me an occasional twinge of worry-- it's really hard to predict how things will move in an earthquake! And it's not that paranoid to worry about it-- the Big One is a matter of when, not "what-if," and while it's certainly not a reason to leave the state, it's worth thinking about when decorating your home. Actually, that would be a fun post for AT:SF-- earthquake-proofing your stuff a better-designed and cleverly stored earthquake kit. Any takers?

I think it's very, very pretty!! love the lamp/now for some big scrumptious pillows!!

I don't like the execution.

Right now it doesn't strike me as a headboard as much as it does just a stripe on the wall. Obviously this won't work quite as well due to the light fixture, but I think it'd look great if you draped a sheer fabric from the ceiling so it looked like a faux canopy bed. I think the painted headboard would have a greater impact that way.

Interesting idea, but I'd prefer more contrast.

It's subtle, but interesting. It's not a headboard by any stretch of the imagination, but it adds simple visual interest. I like it. The real question is, why isn't the crown molding flush with the ceiling? That's bothering me.